A/N- Hey guys, long time no talk! Sorry for the late update, what with Christmas and New Year, it has been kinda hectic over here. I also have an assignment and presentation in for January, so I'm busy busy busy. My schedule goes like this,

9/01/12- My theory test … (ooooh, yes. I passed!)
10/01/12- My presentation (hopefully it went ok)
11/01/12- Deadline for handing in our assignments

The work is KILLING ME, but thankfully I took some time out to complete this chapter!

I know what everyone is thinking, NO! Lucy's gonna DIE! Read on to find out why...!

Enjoy!

P.s- A happy belated New Year, everyone!

Chapter 11

"Lucy must die"

It was pin drop silence, with Virgo and Loki unable to believe their ears. Sapphire just looked on, regretting even the mention of this method. Loki recovered first, exploding with anger.

"What the hell do you mean, Sapphire? There's no point of transporting Lucy anywhere if she has to bloody die in the process!"

"Wait, brother!" Virgo held out a hand to prevent her colleague from taken another step forward. She kept her eyes on the doctor. "Doctor Sapphire, there is more to this, right? Princess will not really die, will she?"

"That's right, Virgo. However, I beg you both to hear my whole plan before coming to a decision." The lion watched her suspiciously as he took a seat on a free chair.

"Go on."

"This plan was designed by myself and a few other magic trained doctors, for the most extreme cases of escape. It derived from the story of Romeo and Juliet, wherein which the hero took a potion to stage his own death." Unable to stay on her feet, the woman sat down herself. "The best way to hide a magic presence is to remove the source, even for a short instance of time. The ' death' I am proposing is to, theoretically, freeze Lucy's soul in another dimension for the duration of the journey. That way, you will be dealing with only a container of the real thing; the body itself does not require magic energy to run and hence can survive with normal hospital care. You will be transporting a brain dead Lucy and can be assured to reach home undetected."

"... There are several problems to this, aren't there?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We have only ever done five hundred such procedures, 80% of them being trial tests and only having a 70% success rate. Also, a person has a higher success rate the less exposed they are to magic itself; presumably because they do not use a lot magic energy in their everyday life anyway. You will also have much more to carry, bringing into account the normal equipment as well as our magic equipment."

Virgo raised her hand to ask a question, "I understand the overall plan, doctor, but can you tell us what this whole procedure will actually require, for the princess to... 'die' and 'come back to life'?"

"That will require for Lucy's soul and body to separate. You can consider this similar to the opposite poles of a magnet, which are joined together; we have to concentrate a great amount of energy into separating the parts and they will try to come together again. The separation is, in essence the easy part of the procedure. We always have the positive outcome of a healthy living body, and a wandering spirit, joined together by a small thread. However, the success rate falls sharply as the time of their separation increases.

As we keep the soul in another dimension, they tend to wander around, sometimes losing themselves within the world. With their string attachments, it should not be a problem to call back a spirit when you want. On the other hand, if the string was to, by chance, break or even disintegrate, then we are confronted by what is known as a 'lost soul'. We have no way of tracking the soul and the soul itself may not ever arrive back in its original container. This results in our patient's body to remain in a comatose condition, with next to no hope of them ever waking up. As Lucy is already in such a state now, it is not only risky, but may become dangerous for her to go through such a procedure.

From what we are facing, it may be the safest route for you, but you have already been told the risk of such an operation. It is up to you, as her spirits, to discuss the best method for you. I understand that this is not very negotiable, but I must know your decision by the end of the day; it is crucial that Lucy begins her journey, or she may not survive another attack." With that said, Sapphire stepped out to leave the two to their thoughts.

...

"(splash)... blurgh... guys, help meee! I'm... drowning!"

"Argh! Something's got my leg... I can't swim... blurgh blulbu. Lee! Hold on to me!"

On opening the giant gate to the first challenge, all the members were swept away by the water gushing into the hall, filling it up and carrying them to a higher level of the building. With them, the floor beneath them also rose, stopping four feet below the surface by the upper ground itself. The funny part came when two fire mages revealed their shared weakness of swimming. Gray, Blaze, Wendy and the cats just looked at the scene before them, almost embarrassed at the two people splashing frantically, unable to reach the surface.

(cough) "Er, dad, should we tell them that it's a reeaally shallow pool? They look like their suffering."

Gray smirked, patting his son on the back.

"Nah. It's better to leave those idiots to themselves; after all don't they look so cute, Natsu saving his unknown son from the harms of a paddling pool?"

His comment led to a lot of sniggers from the group as Happy suddenly produced a camera.

"Aye! Want a go, Blaze? Use it to rule over Lee, just like how I command Natsu!"

"Haha! World domination, here I come!"

...

Thirty minutes had passed before Natsu and Lee finally made their way to the edge of the pool. It seemed that the object Natsu had felt was, surprisingly, the ground! He kept this piece of information to himself, though, so as to not embarrass himself in front of the group and the boy he supposedly... saved.

Said boy was gushing excitedly about the surroundings, having conveniently forgotten about the past incident. The room was a water lover's heaven, full of pools, fountains and even a water statue. Marble and glass decorated the ceiling and walls, reflecting the water in a most awe-inspiring way.

"Wow! Look at this room! Is this really a challenge? 'cause I don't see anything scary or dangerous, or life threatening...WOOAAAH!"

Turning to see what caused the reaction, everyone saw a light forming in the centre of the room; water from every source began to gather, forming into a solid body and a handsome face.

"Welcome to the top floor of the water tower. I am river, your guide in this challenge. Your task is to find a way to pass the gate you opened seven levels below. Your weapons are your abilities and your wisdom; your enemy is water and time. In this confined space, you have a supply of oxygen that will close sources at the beginning of this challenge. This means a limited air supply. In addition to this, your teamwork is crucial and may be the line to your success.

On each floor awaits an opponent. You must elect one person to fight, allowing the rest to move on. If you fail to win, you shall remain on your floor, trapped either until the time runs out, or your team succeeds in completing all the other tasks, seven floors below. Success means you pass to the next round, failure means death of suffocation. You have a time limit of 1 hour and you begin at the turn of this switch.

Good Luck."

The water started to disappear, in its place a lever. Lee looked at the rest questioningly, his hand reaching the metal bar.

"Wait, Lee!" Gray pulled him back, keeping a hold of the boy firmly. "First we have to discuss how to do this. First of all, we need to decide who should be left to fight on each floor; with a time limit, we don't have the luxury of discussing this at the time. The best is for us to predict what might be the best order for us to fight."

"In order to do that, we must first decide who would be the strongest against water magic. Presuming that all use water related weapons, which one of us will most probably succeed in defeating all enemies?"

"Gray would be. He's had training by fighting against Juvia several times and you can expect a great chance of him winning." Wendy started to draw a plan in the air, "Using this as a rough plan of the floors, we should expect about 6 challenges. Gray, as the strongest, I think it's best for you to take up more opponents. That being said, you should fight in the first level and catch up with the rest of us."

The ice mage nodded, ready for action.

"Natsu, I would place you for the second challenge. If, by any chance, Gray could not join us again, we would need our second strength to be close at hand. I would want the boys to go next. As the doctor of the group, I should go as far as possible before fighting; I will make sure to heal you up properly before your challenges." Staring at the boys, the blue haired woman came to a decision. "Ok, I would want Lee to go next; the reason for this is that Blaze uses a similar magic to myself, so know the problems wind users can experience with this element. I would like him to stay close at hand, until it is absolutely necessary for us to part."

On making their final decisions, the group stood nervously around the switch, waiting for a person to volunteer themselves to the task. After a minute, Natsu stepped forward and pulled the lever, promptly opening a door at the far end of the room. Nodding to each other, the group of five people and two cats made their way down, to challenge their first opponents.

No more was said between the nakama.

…

Sapphire Alex looked up from her desk at the sound of a knock. Her patient's spirits stepped inside, evidently wanting to continue their earlier discussion. The woman sighed sadly; never had there been such a tight situation before. Loki and Virgo had to make a choice between two equally disturbing suggestions and, as she would expect, it took the whole time given to come down to this one decision.

Loki let his colleague to tell the doctor; he was barely controlling his emotions from running free and couldn't trust himself from sticking to their choice. It was one that was made after hours of thinking and also emergency contact with the other spirits. In fact, they suggested something that got the two to think over very carefully and eventually agree upon.

"We have come to a decision, but first we'd like to hear if there is a possibility of sending a soul to a specified location."

"We can arrange for the soul to travel in a general direction. If the next dimension is open enough, or large enough, there is a good chance of the soul reaching it. Why, is there a certain dimension you would like to keep her?"

"We would like it for the princess to stay in the celestial spirit's dimension. The spirit king himself is acquainted to Lucy and, having heard from us today, has agreed to watch over her for the period she is separated from her body. The issue is to get her there, but if you can arrange for it to be done, then we choose to travel in this way. His majesty has stationed people at the entrance to the spirit world, so that she can arrive safely."

"That's fine; in fact that would be great! In her state, Lucy will need constant attention, so we all appreciate your king's offer. I shall arrange for this to be done immediately. In the meantime, you must pack all of the necessities for your journey tonight; I will finish at midnight, at which time you must leave immediately. A horse and carriage has been arranged, both of which you can keep. The medical equipment is already stored and ready for immediate use." Walking out of her office, Sapphire didn't look back, or wait for the two people to follow. "I wish you luck."

…

"SHIT!" Gray coughed out a bit of blood. His plan of manipulating the water was not going to plan. On reaching the first challenge, the group had come face to face with a similar figure to their guide. The members left him and moved forward, silently wishing him the best of luck. Confident in his abilities, he had charged into the fight, not heeding the master's warnings; the man had foolishly thought himself slightly above such caution. On knowing the first task was water, Gray was sure that the task was a quick, if slightly hard task. He did not anticipate for the water mage using the ice magic against him.

In the first thirty seconds, it had seemed as if a pace was set. Gray had charged in, allowing no space for the opponent to retaliate; he had landed several hits before proceeding to freeze the enemy. A wrong step meant that his attack came one millisecond too late; the enemy, on seeing this, took the opportunity to swipe at the man and causing major damage. His power left Gray reeling for several seconds too long, making him victim to many more attacks. The small area he did manage to freeze caused the most pain, sharp edges and ice shards left cuts all over his worn body. One had managed to embed itself, deep enough in his back, to even cause an ice mage to shiver from cold.

This is impossible! Gray tried to stand up again, legs and arms shaking from the effort. What the hell had he been thinking? The master had been correct in his judgement of this mission; he had to give credit to the old man though, for trusting in their strengths and believing them capable. And the boys, excited as they were, just went with flow. Luckily enough for him, the opponent was stuck due to ice freezing his legs and slowing him down, so there was time to recover and think. Looking around the room quickly, he noticed nothing but marble walls; the doors had had shut behind him and there were windows or visible ventilation in the room.

Wait! The man paused in his efforts, Go with the flow. That was it!

Standing up slowly, Gray Fullbuster reached his full height and stared straight into the eyes of his enemy before turning and walking away.

"You have a name?" he kept to the edge of the room, walking around slowly. He kept an eye out for any mutations or difference in the walls around him.

"…" The man followed him slowly with his eyes, suspicious of any sudden movements.

"You don't talk? Funny, you're just a slave for the mage, then?"

"I'm no slave."

"Then? It seems sad and cruel to remain locked here for an unimaginable amount of time. You must have been very loyal to Marcello." Aha! Gray caught sight of his freedom when the mage bristled up, offended; just a bit more… "To me it would seem only obsession can allow a person to accept this sort of treatment. Unless, you were lovers…?"

"Why, you…!" his foe lunged forward, deeply aggravated by the taunts. It was the chance the ice mage had been looking for.

"ICE MAKE ANCHOR!" Gray's attack was immediately dodged; however, it had done the damage intended. The enemy was rooted to the spot, several metres away from the centre. Perfect.

In the centre was a small magic circle, one that should relate to the room. Going up to it, ignoring the protests of the other man, Gray studied the patterns. Yep, the room was a magic enchanted room; the only thing now was to remove the seal and move forward. However tired he was did not compare to how the others may feel during their fights; after all, he was supposed to be the strongest of the group. Mustering the last of his magic, the man summoned his key to victory.

"ICE MAKE… HAMMER!" the seal smashed to pieces leaving a small hole in the ground. With the seal, he felt the magic drain from the room. Quietly thanking the stars, he turned to face a statue of his opponent. It was a lucky break for him to remember Marcello's letter; after that, it was simply connecting with the idea of the properties of water based magic. Like the liquid itself, it must have a container in order to work at its best. In this case, the container was the room while in many cases, it is the mage themselves. Behind him, the door swung open with a click and Gray stumbled slowly towards it.

Finally. Freedom at last.

...

"…cy. Lucy?"

….Mmmm?

"Oh, thank goodness. I was just thinking that the spell had gone wrong somehow! Don't scare me like that, idiot!"

"…ty"

"Say that again, I didn't get you the first time."

"…Thirsty."

"Oh. Here… oops!"

"Aquarius! You're drowning her! Here, let me do that… better, Lucy?"

"Yea… thanks, Cap…"

"What is it? I know when you want to ask a question."

"Where… am I?"

"You're staying in the spirit world for a while to recuperate. Don't worry, we have permission from the king himself on this matter."

"…oh… Lee…?"

"Is doing fine, as is Blaze. They miss you a lot. We missed you too, Lucy; don't scare us like that!"

"Sorry."

"It's ok. Now you go back to sleep. It's been a taxing time for you, what with those incidents and all; don't worry about anything, we'll take care of you. You will see Lee again very soon."

"Cap?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

…

To Be Continued

GASP. OH EM GEE. LIKE THAT WAS NEVER HAPPENING IN MY STORY…..

Haha, seriously. Jokes aside, hope you enjoyed this chapter; sorry for the late update and if there are errors in my story. I'm rushing it like usual. If you've noticed, I usually tend to fix corrections myself after uploading chapters, so yeah.

Hope you enjoyed!