Okay, I'll be honest guys. This chapter is mainly an excuse for me to torture Natsu even more. ^^; *raises shields* As such, it is mostly filler and entirely skippable since it contributes relatively little to the plot, but if you want a better grasp on Natsu's character later (which will be critically important to the story down the line), you MUST read this, as this is a vital character chapter. This is my first time visibly torturing a character psychologically, so…I hope it's not too off.

To Zangetsu50: Be patient; that point will be touched upon later on in the story. It won't be in this chapter, but it will definitely be addressed later.

To treeofsakuras: I'm admittedly not a big fan of that pairing (because I fail to see the legitimacy of it ^^;), but I'll see if I can work in a platonic moment between the two later on. :) And you'll see their reactions next chapter.

To Guest: You posted a review for the last chapter on December 15th. To answer your question (if you're back to read this, anyway), that is left up to your imagination, but in all honesty it was the most likely scenario.

WARNING – there is disturbing imagery/implications in the scene at the end of the chapter. If you are planning on reading this chapter but such material disturbs you, I advise you to skip it. Trust me; you'll know when it's coming once you see it.

Ch. 8: The Final Hours (Part 1)

Three hours.

Three hours left until I start razing this country to the ground.

Three hours left for me to play with you.

Will you make it to the end? Or will you break before it's over?

Show it to me…the limit of your endurance.

I hit the ground on all fours, gasping.

"This…has got to be…some kind of…sick joke…" I managed between gasps, struggling to keep myself from falling flat onto the ground. "What…the hell…"

Ohh, you're too funny, Natsu, it said, sounding amused. Is it really that much of a shock to you?

I gritted my teeth in anger, but it wasn't like I was able to actually do anything. The best I'd managed to do with this demon was suppress it for several minutes – and I'd nearly lost my heart doing that. After that, it had cranked up its cruelty up to eleven and made me watch myself beat on Lucy again…and this time, she would've died if it hadn't been for Sabertooth. It had tossed out all its conceptions of "holding back" (if it ever had any to begin with) and beat her senseless.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that it hadn't been me and therefore shouldn't blame myself, but the guilt washed over me anyway. It may not have been me that had nearly bludgeoned her to death, but I didn't do anything to stop it. I couldn't do anything to stop it. All its vulnerabilities had been fortified, and I wasn't able to find any weak spots in its willpower.

And now, it had only let me go just to screw with me again. It knew that I wouldn't leave on my own, so he gave me back my freedom right at the moment that I could've used it the most, yet couldn't bring myself to. This heartless thing didn't know when to draw the line – or maybe it did, and it just didn't give a damn.

"I don't get you…" I panted, my arms shaking beneath my weight. "Why…why're you doing this…"

Why am I doing what? You'll have to be more specific than that.

Its tone was so patronizing that I was tempted to snap back at it, but I couldn't lose my composure here.

"Why'd you…let me go?" I demanded, though the words lost some of its sting thanks to my labored breathing.

It's because I'm tired, silly boy, it chided me. Do you seriously expect me to stick around after being tossed around like that?

"Don't you lie to me," I said, glaring down at my bruised knuckles as I spoke. "You never get tired…and you never get hurt. You're just…trying to mess with me. I know you are."

That may be so, it answered, but how am I supposed to accomplish my goals when you're the one all beat up?

"Yeah, right," I scoffed under my breath. "You don't care about what happens to me. It doesn't matter to you. You can still use me however you want…no matter how beat up I am."

I could almost hear the demon whistle in my head. Well, and here I took you for a fool, it remarked. Not bad, little gecko.

It didn't get any more blatant than that for him when it came to calling me an idiot, but at that moment, I didn't care. "Bastard…"

Goodness, can't you think of anything more original than that? it teased me. I know you can; I see it all right here. Why don't you say them out loud?

I tightened my fists as I managed a weak smirk. "Heh…I'd never be able to wash my mouth of those words if I ever said them out loud."

And trash talking isn't new to you? Don't give me that excuse.

"Unlike you, little hellspawn…I know when to draw the line."

Oh, come on. That wasn't even your best.

"Shut up."

Geez, you're boring me to death here, you know.

If only that would actually happen. "I don't care."

You're making me regret letting that blonde bimbo go free now, it grumbled. You're only entertaining when I play with her.

My anger spiked up a couple notches the minute he mentioned her. "Ohh, yeah; I'm sure it was," I growled. "Don't you dare touch Lucy again; you sick bastard. You nearly killed her!"

Yeah, that's right. And?

"What the hell are you gonna get out of murdering her?!" I yelled, ignoring the breathlessness and letting my voice echoing across the cavern. "You're only going to piss off Fairy Tail by doing that! They'll never forgive you!"

Oh, I'm well aware of that, it said. But it doesn't matter. That's where I'll be starting, so it makes little difference to me how your pathetic little guild reacts.

My heart clenched in trepidation. "What?"

That's the guild you were once a part of. What better way to start off my work than by having you destroy your former home?

"No…" My stomach flipped in horror. "Y-you wouldn't…you wouldn't dare."

I can and most certainly will. And it'll be positively delicious.

"No!" My hands went up to cradle my head in an attempt to stop the flow as the images started to trickle in, but it did little to help. "You can't do that. You can't! You wouldn't!"

Well, I guess we'll have to see…and besides, since when did I ever take orders from you, dear Natsu? it inquired. All traces of teasing were gone – the demon was getting serious now, which wasn't a good sign. Honestly, it's almost pitiful.

"You can't do this!" I cried, shaking as more images floated into my head with no sign of stopping. "There's no way! There's no way you can!"

And how… The area around my heart suddenly started to burn again, making me choke in shock and panic and leaving me mute. …will anyone stop me?

"They…they'll stop you…!" I wheezed, trying to blink the spots out of my eyes. "Fairy Tail…will definitely beat you!"

My, what a bold statement, it noted. You do realize what you're saying, don't you? The one that they'll be hurting won't be me.

"That…doesn't matter," I gasped heavily, trying to keep my arms from giving way. "They…already…know that…"

Do they, now?

"They'll…definitely…stop you…" I was interrupted by a brief coughing spell, but I didn't stop talking. "I…know they will…because…" I struggled to right myself, but I only managed to topple backward against an ice column. "…I believe in them."

Such obstinacy, it said coldly. Well then, I do believe that a wake-up call is in order.

My eyes narrowed as I stared out uneasily into the darkness of the cavern. "What're you talking about?"

You're only deluding yourself with these half-truths, boy, it said tonelessly. It's about time that you took a good look at reality.

"What does that…" I blinked once in confusion, and I was suddenly in a different place. The change was sudden, but I had no trouble recognizing my surroundings.

"Wh-what the…" I stared up at the huge marble building that was our guild hall. "How did I end up back here? Wasn't I in a cave a second ago…?" I looked around me, but there was no one to see. The entire courtyard was empty. I then stood up, pushing myself up against the marble pillar of our gate, and growled in suspicion. "What's the big idea, demon? What do you think you're pulling here?"

There was no reply. That meant that I was alone…but how was that possible? Was this some sort of dream, then? That was the only explanation I could think of.

"This is getting weird…" I muttered. I stared at the front entrance, which was slightly ajar. I could hear faint voices on the other side of it. Curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to take a peek at what was going on inside. I walked to the door quietly so that no one inside would hear me. The voices grew clearer, and I could recognize the voices speaking and understand what they were saying.

"I can't believe that guy!"

I stopped in my tracks. I'd know that voice anywhere – it was Gray. What were they talking about in there?

"Chill out, Gray," another voice said – this person sounded like Cana. "Getting upset won't get you anywhere; don't you know that by now?"

"How else am I supposed to react?!" he shouted at her indignantly. "That bastard nearly killed Lucy! Excuse me if I'm not at least a little bit pissed off!"

"I didn't think for a second that this would happen," a third voice said worriedly – Mirajane. "Natsu wouldn't hurt Lucy like this. It's just not possible."

"Yeah? Tell that to all those bandages on her and the blood on the floor!" I heard a table being knocked over. Gray must be crazy mad if he was doing that. "Didn't you hear what Sting and the others said? Natsu was beating her to death! He nearly killed our comrade! I'm not gonna let that slide by just because he used to be a member of Fairy Tail!"

"I'm sure that this is all just a misunderstanding," Mirajane started to say, but Gray interrupted her by slamming his fist into another table.

"Like hell it is! There were witnesses, Mira; they say he was the one who did it! I won't forgive him! Not for as long as I live!"

"Gray –"

"Stop it!" A new voice. This was Lucy. "Guys, just…just stop."

Their voices quieted down at her request.

"Lucy…" Mira said quietly.

"Look, you guys," Lucy went on, her voice shaking. "This is hard enough for me to accept as it is. Don't go saying that Natsu was the one who tried to kill me, because it's not! Natsu would never try to hurt any of his allies! You guys should know that better than anybody else!"

"But –" Gray started to say again, but Lucy wouldn't let him finish.

"I know already!" She sounded close to tears now. "I know…don't remind me. I just…I don't know what I should do…"

"Didn't we promise Natsu that we'd bring him back?" another new voice said – Wendy. "That's what we have to do. We just have to figure something out."

"Yeah, I know," Lucy answered her dejectedly. "But none of us stand a chance against that demon. It'll end up killing us, and Natsu will just be hurt even more. And…I don't want that! He's been hurt enough as it is!"

"There's just no other choice, Lucy," yet another new voice spoke up, and my spine chilled when I realized who it was. And judging from the collective gasps from inside, they were just as surprised as I was.

"Lisanna!" Mira gasped. "How can you say something like –"

"I don't like it any more than you do, Mira," Lisanna went on. Her voice was unsettlingly solemn. "But what else can we do? If we're to guess, that demon will end up coming to our guild first, right?" Her voice broke before she continued. "Let's just be honest with ourselves here. Can anybody here beat Natsu in a straight-up fight the way he is now?"

It was disturbingly quiet in the guild hall, and I wanted more than anything to burst right in and tell them otherwise, but my entire body was frozen. I couldn't move a single muscle to even peek inside to see their faces – I was paralyzed. My face felt cold and clammy – my entire body was shivering.

This couldn't be happening. My friends at the Fairy Tail guild…were giving up on me? There was no way this could be real. They would never do something like this! They'd promised to help me and get rid of the demon, didn't they? What kind of crap were they spewing now? It didn't make any sense! Just trying to wrap my mind around that possibility was giving me a freaking migraine!

"This…this can't be real…" The trepidation in my heart wouldn't go away no matter how slowly I breathed, and it was growing into a bigger and bigger pit by the passing second. I could barely stay standing. "Th-there's no way…this is fake…it has to be fake…"

What a typical reaction for a human, the demon's voice suddenly rang out in my head. It was so loud that I was wondering if it really was just in my head or actually echoing all around me.

"You!" I growled in fury. "You're the one showing this to me, isn't it? You're the one showing me this stupid illusion!"

Hey now, who said that this was an illusion? it chided me. And I would give you credit for figuring out the only possible being that could've done this…if it weren't for the fact that it was stupidly obvious.

"What did you say?!" I cried, balling my fists angrily. "I dare you to say it again!"

Hmm…don't feel like it.

"You…!"

You know, it's really funny how oddly your puny little minds work. You deny the truth, right to its face. You only believe what you choose to believe, and never think about any other perspectives of the world than your own. It's pretty sad, if I'm being honest.

"Shut up!" I yelled, tightening my fist against my chest again. "You're lying!"

Am I, really? it said lightly. You're only proving me right, you know. That right there is you denying the hard truth. Your stubborn mind just can't accept reality for what it is because it is not what you wish to see.

"STOP SCREWING WITH ME!" I practically screamed into the sky. "I'm not gonna believe a damn thing you say! They're all lies! ALL OF IT!"

I didn't even stop to think about the strange fact that no one from inside the guild was coming out to investigate the ruckus I was making. In hindsight, it probably wasn't all that strange – because this was nothing more than an illusion that the demon was showing me. None of this was real, and I didn't need or want to act like it was. This guild, this town, and everything in it were only figments of my befuddled imagination. A hallucination.

Whew, you are a FIGHTER! the demon remarked. That raven-haired friend of yours was right; you really are the most hotheaded human I've ever seen. Reminds me of our little fight at the Tower of Heaven.

I happened to blink again, and all at once I was back in the ice cave, slumped against the towering ice pillar like I'd previously been. The sudden change in scenery and position damn near gave me vertigo on its own; the contrast in color and temperature was too much. I gasped and gagged, but I managed to avoid hurling.

"Damn you," I wheezed in difficulty once my stomach settled down. "Damn you all the way to hell…"

Hey, now; you should behave, it warned me. That was just a toe in the water. You're going to jump clear in now, and you WILL behave. I won't have you screaming in my head while I'm destroying Fiore. That would be terribly inconvenient and irritating.

"SHUT UP!" I cried incessantly. "All you're doing is filling my head with lies! How the hell is that going to keep me from yelling at you?! And that's my head you're talking about, you asshole!"

You mean to tell me you've forgotten my advice already? Goodness, you're thick.

"I'd hardly call that advice," I snarled. "You're just telling me to believe everything you show me! That ain't gonna happen – not on your life or mine!"

Whoa, hold on a second there, sport, it interrupted. I don't ever remember forcing you to believe me. If anything, you're forcing yourself to believe otherwise. I only told you to think twice, not change your mind. Don't go twisting my words around.

God, the demon was infuriating me so much that it made me want to break something. Is it apparent to you yet why I hate this thing with a burning passion? If not, there you go. Honestly, if it wasn't obvious to you before now, I don't know what the hell you've been doing this whole time, but you sure as hell haven't been paying attention to anything.

"Oh, very funny," I muttered dismally. Geez, this demon was talking in circles around me; it was driving me nuts. I had no idea what to believe anymore.

Huh, I guess you can see that as a joke if you want, it mused. I mean, unless you were being sarcastic.

Okay, it had to have been pretty obvious that I was pissed off at this demon already. But see, there's a clear difference between pissed and extremely pissed. And there was absolutely no doubt that I was officially in the second category as of that moment.

"Geez, are you trying to piss me off?!" I snapped irritably. "Why can't you just shut up already; you're driving me crazy!"

Oh, am I, really? Ha, that's the best news I've heard all day.

That stopped me in my tracks. "The heck does that mean?" I demanded, wary now.

It means that I've been succeeding in dealing with you so far, my dear fire wizard, it said smugly. Even so, I still haven't gotten quite as much done as I'd hoped… Its tone then abruptly changed into an unsettling snicker. I'd better fix that posthaste, shouldn't I? I can't afford to be behind schedule for this occasion.

In spite of myself, I raised my hand to face – which was slick and slippery with sweat – in a vain attempt at curbing the inevitable illusions that would soon bombard me. "What…what are you planning on doing this time?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly from the fear. I sounded unbelievably pathetic to myself, but I couldn't really do much to control my emotions right then.

Only a little heads-up, my friend. A preview of what's to come, if you will.

"A…preview?"

Yes, exactly. I don't want you freaking out at the moment of, so I'll be knocking it out of the way now so you'll endure it like a good boy.

Before I could so much as consider thinking about protesting, a blink later I was once again pulled out of reality.

I found myself standing outside again. The sky now a deep orange thanks to the setting sun. The light of the sunset colored all the buildings in the city the same color as it set over the hills, the bright orange dulling into more opaque shades at an alarmingly fast rate.

At first, I couldn't gather where this was – I knew I was standing in some kind of small town, but I wasn't able to remember the name of this place until I saw the crumbled ruins of a mansion at the far side of town. I strained to see the burnt remains from where I was standing, and after another moment of staring, there was no mistaking it.

"Hold on a second…that's the mansion belonging to that perverted rich guy!" I gasped. "No way…that means…I'm in Shirotsume now? But…why here?"

I was pretty confused at this, and that was probably because I'd been expecting to be back at the guild, only this time I'd be seeing it only as heaps of rubble. This tiny town was definitely not at the top of my list of important places. Sure, this place had been where Lucy and I had gone on our first mission together as a team, but we hadn't been here too many times after that.

Secondly, it looked perfectly fine to me. No destroyed or burning buildings, no people screaming and running in terror, nobody hurt or dead – nothing had happened to the place. It just looked like a typical day for the townspeople milling about in the roads and kids playing with each other in the streets. This was supposed to be a preview of things to come? I didn't get it.

Wow, were you always this short-sighted? The demon's voice came out of nowhere, nearly giving me a heart attack because I hadn't been expecting it to pop up in the middle of an illusion.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.

Well, that's a stupid question. I've always been here, shortstack. I can talk to you whenever I please. And of course, I'm here to clear up a certain something.

"What now?"

What you're seeing here is the prelude of the destruction. Nothing's started…yet.

"…'Yet'?" I repeated uneasily. "What do you mean by that?"

No reply. Of course it disappears right when I actually want to hear it talk.

Pretty soon, though, I realized that it didn't need to. It was finally dark out, so it was easy to see the crimson flames now suddenly blowing up a section of a town, one at a time over the screaming of the townspeople, until the entire city was glowing in an eerie blood-red hue in the in the light of the inferno. People around me were running, stumbling, collapsing in terror, their bodies aflame, screaming in bloodcurdling agony as the fire burned their life away slowly and painfully. People were lying injured, dying, or dead in the middle road, where I was standing, from the debris, the smoke and ashes, and the fire. I could hear the kids of the town crying out in the distance, for the parents that could no longer hear them.

All through this, I was frozen in utter shock. Up until that moment, I'd never dreamed that I'd ever see fire as something that was evil – I mean, I've grown up with the stuff, and I thought I knew it pretty well. Fire was wild and free, and it wasn't something that could be easily controlled, and it could be easily waywardly destructive if put in the wrong hands. Still, if a person puts their heart in it, the fire will provide for the one using it and do whatever they want it to do.

And yet…here it was, that supposedly warm, beautiful fire heartlessly devouring an innocent town. And my magic had been what had caused it. I just…I couldn't comprehend that. I wanted to run away from this; I didn't want to look at the pain and chaos that my magic would be bringing to the innocent people of this town…but where could I go? I couldn't escape this. I'd be doing this with my own hands, and I wouldn't be able to run away from the blood staining it from that point on. It was just one city –a small one, at that – and I would already be weighed down by the lives of hundreds of unsuspecting citizens.

It shook me to the core that I would be forced to do the same thing over and over again until this entire nation was nothing but fire and brimstone…or if my Fairy Tail friends managed to stop me before that. But what were the chances of them accomplishing that sooner than later? After seeing all this, even I was starting to doubt whether they'd be able to accomplish this in a timely fashion or not.

I don't know how much time had passed since I first heard the explosions, but the entire town was now unnervingly silent save for the crackling of the towering flames ravaging its remains like it was some feral, ravenous beast. No more screaming, no more buildings falling…nothing.

"Mommy…"

I must've gone without hearing another human voice for much longer than I'd originally thought, because I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard that voice – and it sounded extremely close. I whirled around frantically in an attempt at finding the source of the voice, and came face to face with a little kid.

Though the kid was badly burned and his clothes were so charred and blackened that I couldn't tell what they were supposed to be, I still knew that it was a boy – he looked around four or five years old, and he was bawling his eyes out.

"Mommy…Daddy…where'd you go?" he sobbed again with fear clear in his voice. "I'm scared…I wanna go home! I want my mommy and daddy!"

The very fact that this kid was still alive after all the carnage was shocking in and of itself, and his injuries were downright horrifying, but that wasn't the worst part about seeing him standing there all by himself in the middle of a levelled city, crying for his parents who were probably already dead.

In one terrible moment, the vision of finding an empty field on that fateful morning with tears streaming down my face flooded my mind – and that nearly crippled me on its own. At least, it would have, if it hadn't been for the scarily familiar voice I heard right then.

"Hey, kid; you okay?"

I just about had a coronary at the sound of it, and my body moved against my will in search of the speaker – only to find me standing there, not ten feet from where the kid was standing and wailing. It was utterly surreal seeing another one of myself, even if it was just an illusion.

He – or I, depending on how you looked at it – was looking at the boy in concern as he spoke, but I knew that it was nothing more than a mask. This was the demon talking through my body with my voice; it definitely wasn't me. It couldn't care less about the kid if it wanted to.

But the kid didn't know any better, and he definitely didn't know anything about the demon. He was desperate and scared; he was probably willing to look to practically anyone for comfort by this point, even a total stranger. He took one look at the demon, and his eyes overflowed again as he rushed at me wailing, passing right through me and into the illusory copy's arms. I knew it was just an illusion I was seeing, but that phenomenon still really freaked me out.

"What the hell…?!" I breathed in shock, staring at my hands in disbelief before turning back to the kid, who was now sobbing into the other me's vest. "What just…?"

I didn't really have time to ponder it, though, because the kid began blubbering in his teary and terrified way, "They're – they're gone! Mommy and Daddy are gone! I – c-can't find them! I – I want my mommy and daddy! I'm scared!" Then he dissolved into even more tears as he finished his plea for help.

The longer I watched, the more it tore me apart on the inside that I couldn't do anything to help him myself, even if he wasn't real. Right now, he was only a figment of the mind, but this very same boy could still very well be real and alive right now in the real Shirotsume, and this would inevitably happen to him in the coming evening…if what the demon told me was a lie – which was very likely. I didn't even want to think about what the demon might do to this innocent kid.

But of course, the universe seemed hell-bent on not giving me the satisfaction of mental or emotional relief – because what the demon proceeded to do next petrified me in sheer horror.

He just patted the boy's head in what looked like a soothing manner as he murmured, "Hey, don't cry. It'll be okay. Everything will be fine; don't you worry about a thing."

The kid then raised his watery gaze into my (the demon's) face in what looked like hope. "R-really?"

The demon flashed a fake smile of reassurance at him. "Yeah, of course. Everything'll stop hurting real soon; I promise." He then pulled away to stand up and extend a hand. "Come on. I'll take you to your parents."

The kid stared at his outstretched hand for a moment, and he tentatively reached for it halfway before pausing briefly.

"No," I muttered in panic, unable to do anything other than watch. "No, don't do it…don't take it…it's all a trick…"

The kid looked unsure for a moment, taking the time to now reconsider his actions and come to terms with the fact that he'd been talking to someone he didn't know this entire time – then he made the mistake of looking up into the demon's face again, likely in an attempt to search for guidance. His expression betrayed nothing but compassion and friendliness; it looked flawless. It would fool anyone who didn't know he was already pretending or had never met me beforehand, therefore having no background knowledge on my personality.

"C'mon, kiddo," he encouraged him. "Your mom and dad are waiting for you. If we don't hurry, you won't be able to see them anymore."

"No, don't do it!" I cried desperately as the boy started reaching for his hand again, forgetting in that moment that none of what I was seeing was real. "You can't trust him! He's a monster; he'll kill you!"

My pleas fell on deaf ears – I wasn't a part of this vision; nothing in it could or would be affected by my presence – but that sure as hell didn't stop me from trying anyway. I knew it was fruitless, but even still – I couldn't keep myself from calling out to the kid in panic as he borderline brushed the demon's fingers with his, "Stop it! He's lying to you! Don't take his hand; you can't! DON'T DO IT!"

In the end, however, all my begging was for naught. No matter how much I yelled and screamed and pleaded with the kid to avoid taking his hand, it made no difference. The minute his tiny scarred fingers clasped around my big and calloused ones, his small and fragile body erupted in flames – and he was immolated so quickly that it was over before I even blinked, and all that was left of the boy was a corpse burned so badly I couldn't even recognize it as a person anymore.

I could do nothing but stand there, frozen in utter horror at what just transpired as the demon released the dead boy's blackened hand and let his body crumple onto the ground like a disheveled rag doll. The grin that graced his lips then appeared even bloodier thanks to the crimson glow of the raging flames in the night illuminating and shadowing his face, accentuating the unhinged giddiness he was showcasing.

"That was almost too easy," he chuckled unpleasantly to himself. "Yet, the timing couldn't have been more perfect."

Some part in the back of my mind where I wasn't completely overwhelmed with panic wondered what he could possibly mean by those words…then he turned halfway behind him with a satisfied smirk .

"Hey," he drawled carelessly, turning around in full with his hands on his hips. "Where were you guys this whole time? You missed the best act of the party!"

The moment I managed to focus on who he was talking to was about the point where most of my self-worth and confidence were shattered, and I blanked out from the shock.

The last thing I remembered seeing was the image of a very familiar group of people standing before him – wearing expressions ranging from horrified, shaken, and utterly furious on their faces.

They were my closest friends from Fairy Tail.

Guys, am I condemned yet? Am I?

Ahh, this chapter ended up short! DX Not that it's a bad thing; it's just…damn it; this story is driving me nuts. It makes me want to punch things. Hard. Multiple times. I love this story to death, but Goddamn it – it frustrates me to NO END.

Back when I said that the next few chapters would get crazy in chapter 4, I wasn't kidding. I mean, c'mon; four more chapters in and Lucy gets kidnapped and majorly tortured twice, and Natsu gets brutally mind raped in this one – and as you can see…I'm not done with him yet. (I'm splitting this chapter into three separate parts, because seriously – pardon my language – fuck it.) Brutal character development, right here. Ugh, and I promise that all this graphic and brutal torture-for-the-sake-of-torture will stop soon; I swear it. Seriously, the fact that I was able to crank this out without going insane surprised me more than anybody, and I will confess that I am getting really tired of this. ^^; But we'll have to wait a couple more chapters for that… *sigh* :( I'm tempted to take a break…but I can't. Blegh…

Well anyway…I hope to see you all back in the next (decidedly and thankfully less disturbingly mind-rapey) update.