Early the next morning, Lucy heard loud shouts coming from the courtyard below her room in the tower. Curious, she peered through a gap in one of the window's shutters. Something big was happening below. Servants were milling about the courtyard making frantic gestures.

She tried to pry one of the wooden panels open for a better view but stopped when she heard two sets of footsteps coming up the stairwell. She backed away from the window and looked at the door expectantly.

There was a metallic jingle and then a small click as a key slide into the lock. The doorknob rattled but didn't open. Two men began speaking on the other side.

"What's the problem Azuma?" The man speaking sounded worried.

"The Master must have cursed the door. I can't open it."

"Dammit! What are we going to do?"

"I could just blow up the door," offered Azuma.

"I'm still here!" shouted Lucy. She didn't like the sound of a potential explosion ten feet away from where she stood.

The two men began to whisper and Lucy pressed her ear to the door.

"I think we should still question her though. If we can find out who her friend is, we stand a better chance of tracking her down." It sounded like the man named Azuma was speaking.

"Look, the Master must have cursed the door for a reason and I don't want to risk pissing him off. Remember what he did to Zancrow last week? That could be us."

"That could be us if we don't find the other girl," said Azuma.

"Hey, that's on Keith. I'm going to be a good little servant and join the search party. He can't fault me for that. Are you coming?"

"No, I think I'll try my luck here."

"Suit yourself."

There was some shuffling and a moment later, Lucy heard footsteps exiting the tower. She smiled, imagining Levy's escape. If the librarian could evade the servants and make it back to Fairy Tail, she could send for help.

Lucy looked at the door, waiting to see what the remaining servant would do. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the door shattered. Lucy jumped back, shielding her face from the flying debris.

The man with crescent-shaped earrings who had laughed at her yesterday was standing in the doorway.

"Wait, wait, wait," she said, waving her hands.

The man ignored her and grabbed a fistful of hair. "Where did your friend go?" he demanded.

Lucy stood on tiptoes, trying to ease some of the pressure on her scalp. "I—I don't know."

"Do you think you're safe just because Lord Zeref doesn't want you harmed?" He pulled her towards him and whispered in her ear. "I can think of lots of things to do to you that won't leave a mark."

The window shutters began opening and closing frantically. The man looked up, startled. "Why does he use such creepy fucking magic?" he said in disgust.

While distracted, his grip had eased and Lucy managed to twist free. She tried to run past him but he grabbed her wrist.

A slow smile crept across his face. "I see you are a member of Fairy Tail."

"Wha-what?" she asked.

"The stamp on your hand," he explained.

Lucy clenched her jaw. She had forgotten about the moniker. Frustrated, she tried to pull her hand back.

He laughed. "That was easier than I thought. Thank you my dear. Now I can alert the others." He started to walk towards the door, pulling her behind him.

Desperation began to sink in. If he told the other servants that Levy was a member of Fairy Tail, they would know her desired location and would have a much better chance of catching her. Lucy had to try and stop him.

With a shout, she kicked the man's leg, causing him to stumble. He let go of her and she jumped on his back, wrapping an arm around his neck.

"Ouch! Why you little bitch—" He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her off but Lucy held on tight.

"Get off me!" The servant began moving around the room, bumping into the furniture and walls. He gasped for air.

He stopped fumbling and seemed to gather his strength. Suddenly, he bent forward and flipped her over his head. Lucy's back hit the floor, knocking the wind out of her. She struggled to breath asher attacker did the same. The two of them sounded like smokers who had just run a marathon.

Her opponent recovered more quickly. Coughing, he stood up and looked down at her. With fury in his eyes, he grabbed her collar and lifted her up.

"Don't—" Lucy choked. The shutters were flapping violently again. It seemed that they were going to come right off their hinges.

The man punched her in the side of the face and sent her flying. She hit the floor but managed to look up, disoriented from the blow. She couldn't feel any pain yet, but knew it would be coming.

He came at her again, and this time Lucy knew he wouldn't hold back. He was twice her size and her precious keys were gone. All she could do was watch in horror as he advanced.

As if in slow motion, the look in the servant's eyes changed from rage to shock. It took Lucy a moment to realize what she was seeing. A large wooden stake was sticking out of his neck and blood was spraying everywhere.

She looked around the room. No one else was there but the shutters were still banging open-and-shut. As she looked closer, she saw a piece of wood missing from one of the panels.

Zeref's curse must have somehow backfired and attacked his own servant.

She looked back at the man who was now bleeding profusely. He was on his knees gripping his neck. With a final gurgle, his hands dropped to his sides and he fell face-first to the floor.

Lucy felt his neck and found a weak pulse. He was alive but needed immediate medical care. She ripped a piece of his shirt off and wrapped it around his neck, hoping to slow the bleeding. If he was lucky, another servant would find him as soon but there wasn't much more she could do for him now.

She walked down the tower's stairs and jogged towards to castle's main exit. It appeared all the other servants had joined the search party because she didn't have any trouble. However, once she got to the gate she found that the iron portcullis was down. She tried the lever but it wouldn't budge.

As she tried to assess her options, something cold slid up her ankle. She looked down saw a thick metal chain crawling up her leg.

She tried to shake the chain off but it reacted quickly, wrapping around her ankle and lifting her off the ground.

As she dangled helplessly and upside down ten feet up in the air, a familiar silhouette came into view.

"I didn't realize Celestial Mages were such good escape artists. This is the second time you've almost managed to get away from me." Zeref crossed his arms and looked up at her.

"Actually, I count three times." Lucy swayed back and forth, letting her arms hang. The blood was rushing to her head.

"Three?" Zeref tilted his head to the side. "Let's see, there was the mad dash to the train, whatever this is…," he waved his arms at her. "Oh, you must be counting your plan to use Gemini as a decoy. I suppose that does make three. Very good indeed."

He looked around the courtyard. "Tell me, do you know where all my servants are?"

Lucy didn't say anything.

"Of course. You seem to only speak when you have something rude to say." He motioned with his hand and the chain lowered her to the ground.

Lucy stood up and dusted herself off. She eyed the chain nervously. It was swaying back and forth like a cobra ready to strike.

"Do I need to restrain you?" asked Zeref.

"No."

"Good, then follow me." He began walking towards the main castle.

"Wait—there's a man who's bleeding to death in the tower. If we move quickly, you might be able to save him."

Zeref gave her a questioning look. "You tried to kill one of my servants?"

"No. A piece of the shutter flew off and hit him in the neck."

"Ah, he must have been trying to hurt you."

"Yeah, well he was successful." Lucy touched her cheekbone. It was starting to swell.

Zeref turned and started walking towards the main castle again.

"Wait," said Lucy. "Don't you want to help your servant?"

"No."

"Why not? He's your servant and he needs help."

"Well, he's not doing a very good job serving me, now is he? Besides, I haven't eaten breakfast yet."

Lucy sighed in disgust. "He was still alive when I left. If you help him, he could explain where all your other servants are."

Zeref looked up at the tower and then back out the main castle. Lucy suspected that he was calculating walking distances. "Fine, we'll go speak to my servant." He looked at her. "Why do you look happy?"

"I'm not. I'm just glad we're going. I felt kind of bad about leaving the guy like that."

Zeref shook his head. "Any slight amount of respect I might have had for you is now gone. Come on, let's go."

A few minutes later, they reached the tower's bedroom where Azuma was lying face down in a pool of blood. Lucy knelt down beside him. "Azuma, can you hear me?"

Nothing happened. Zeref rolled his eyes. "Now we have to go all the way back down the stairs and wait for the others to return."

"Give me a minute, will you?" She shook Azuma's shoulder. "Azuma, are you alive?"

He turned his head slightly.

"There! You see that? He's alive." She pointed enthusiastically. "Now just use your healing spell."

Zeref sighed and knelt beside him. "Sana."

Instantly, Azuma began to stir. With some effort, he was able to sit up and speak.

"Master Zeref, you saved me." His voice carried a touch of awe.

If these servants only knew how much their master truly cared, they might be a little less willing to do his dirty work.

"What's happened here? Where are all the servants?" asked Zeref.

Azuma's smile faltered. "The blue haired woman has escaped. The other servants are looking for her." He glanced at Lucy. "I was questioning this one when she attacked me."

Zeref looked irritated. "She's a Celestial Spirit Mage without any Celestial Spirits. How much of a threat could she possibly be?"

Azuma fell forward, pressing his hands and forehead to the ground. "I'm sorry Master. Please forgive me."

Zeref sighed and shook his head. "I should kill you for your incompetence. The only reason my spell would have hurt you was if this woman's life was in danger. I thought I made it clear to everyone that she wasn't to be harmed."

"I'm sorry. I was trying to get answers and got carried away." The servant lifted his head and banged it against the floor.

Zeref put his hand on Lucy's shoulder and began to push her towards the door. "This is inconvenient but we can adjust." He looked back at Azuma. "Get up and call off the search."

"Are you sure Master?"

"Yes. If I need another bargaining chip, I suspect I will have my pick of the entire Guild within a few days. In the meantime, I think I'll try another strategy."

He gave Lucy another small push and she stumbled out of the room. When they were out of the tower, he turned to her. "I'm starving. Have you eaten breakfast?"

Lucy looked at him suspiciously. "I'm not hungry." Her stomach rumbled and the corner of Zeref's mouth twitched.

"You don't have a choice. Besides, if you go along with my plan, perhaps no one has to die."

She held her stomach, angry at its betrayal. "Is that a promise?"

"I can't promise that no one will die but it is a possibility."

"Well, I guess it's worth hearing. Breakfast it is."

*bigdream3r – thank you for the reviews. So, I started this story 3 or 4 years ago. Then I got pregnant and had my little girl and didn't write for 2 years so a lot of this is based on an older storyline. I hope this doesn't bother my readers.

Next chapter will be posted next Monday. If there is anyone who would be willing to beta this story, please PM me and I will send you the rest of the story. I'd like to thank catwho again for feedback she has provided me but I love feedback and the more the better!