Lucy was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of chains rattling. She opened her eyes and looked around her little cell. At first, she thought someone might be in the room with her but after a moment she realized that it was just the shadows being cast by the candle at her bedside. The dungeon was completely underground and she wasn't blessed with dragon slayer night-vision so she had left a small flame burning.

She got out of bed and peered around the corner. Natsu was sound asleep.

The chains moved again and her adrenaline spiked. The sound was definitely coming from the forth cell at the end of the corridor.

It's okay. Aaron has been locked down here for four days. He's probably just going to the bathroom.

Still, her curiosity was in overdrive. There was no way she was going to go back to sleep unless she could see confirm that everything was okay with her own eyes.

Slowly, she got out of bed and picked up her candle. As quietly as possible, she began to walk down the dungeon's hallway. The cell doors and stone masonry was even scarier than she had remembered.

Her pace slowed as she approached the third cell. Cobra was there, sleeping on his side. She took a deep breath and kept walking.

By the time she reached the forth cell, her progress was almost unnoticeable. She was practically inching her way to the last cell. Finally, she reached the chamber and peered inside.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the bed. The blanket was rumpled but no one was there.

Holy crap!

Something rustled and Lucy's eyes shifted to the opposite side of the cell.

She exhaled in relief.

The former Dragon King was standing with his face towards to corner. With a trace of disgust, Lucy realized that her first thought had probably been right—he appeared to be urinating.

She started to head back then paused—maybe she should take another peek just to be safe.

She turned around and was startled to find herself peering directly into a set of dark eyes.

Lucy blinked and took a step back but she was too late. Aaron's hand shot through the bars and grabbed her wrist.

"Hey," she cried out. She looked down and felt her knees go weak.

The cuffs that Aaron should have been wearing to restrain his magic were missing. Looking at his hands, it was obvious what had happened. His thumbs were red and crooked. Using shear force, he had yanked the cuffs off and broken the digits.

"Natsu!" Lucy tried to move back but Aaron had a strong grip even though he didn't have complete use of his thumbs. "Let go of me!" she screamed.

"Lucy! What's happening?" It was Natsu. He had woken up but couldn't see her given the angle of his cell.

She tried to yank her arm back again and this time she was successful. The sudden release of Aaron's grip sent her sprawling to the dungeon's ground. She sat there panting for a moment, not able to respond to Natsu's shouts.

She looked at the bars of Aaron's cell. They were made of the same magic binding metal that the cuffs had been made from. They should hold.

"Lucy, are you okay? Talk to me!" Natsu was pulling on his chains and screaming for her.

"Yeah," she called out. "I'm okay. Aaron grabbed me but I got away. He's out of his chains but he's still in his cell. She stood up and began walking for the dungeon's exit. "I'm going to get Zeref."

Something wrapped around her neck and pulled her towards the third cell. Cobra had found an extra set of chains in his cell and had used them rope her in. When she was close to his cell, he grabbed her arms and held her firmly.

"Damnit, what are you doing? Let go of me." She glanced over at Aaron's cell. The former Dragon King was kicking the bars.

"Aim for the wall!" shouted Cobra. "It's made of quartz. It absorbs magic but isn't completely immune to it."

Aaron changed gears and began punching the wall right next to the edge of the bars. By his second punch, rocks were beginning to crumble around the metal frame.

"Why are you helping him?" yelled Lucy. "Don't you know who he is? He's a maniac—if he gets out, people are going to die." She struggled to get out of Cobra's grip but he held her tightly.

"Yes, and that blood will be on Zeref's hands."

So he was still trying to get his revenge, even if it meant innocent people might die. Cobra was a bigger villain than she had originally believed.

There was a loud crash and part of the wall near Aaron's cell came falling down. He stepped over the rubble and grabbed Lucy.

"Get the hell away from her," screamed Natsu.

"Your brother is on his way," said Cobra. "I can't read his thoughts but I can read the thoughts of his servants."

Aaron glared at him. "You said these walls are made of quartz, correct?"

Cobra's eyes widened. "Yeah."

Aaron picked up a sharp piece of stone from off the ground and then walked over to Natsu's cell, pulling Lucy behind him. He put the edge of the stone to Lucy's neck. "Stand next to the cell door and put your hands behind your back or I'll kill this woman," he said.

Natsu was punching the bars but he stopped moving the moment Aaron raised his makeshift blade. "Okay. Just don't hurt Lucy." Natsu put his hands behind his back.

Aaron lowered his arm and jammed the chiseled stone into Natsu's stomach.

Natsu looked shocked. He gripped the wound and fell to the ground.

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed.

Something cold passed over the room and despite the scene of her bloody boyfriend on the ground in front of her, Lucy paused.

"Damn," whispered Cobra. "That was Zeref's deathwave. All his servants are… dead."

Aaron looked down at Natsu. A pool of blood was beginning to form around him.

Natsu tried to talk. "Lucy… I'm so sorry. If you can save yourself… do it." He coughed and stopped moving.

"Oh God, Natsu!" screamed Lucy. His chest was still rising and falling so he was only unconscious but it didn't look like he would survive much longer."

She turned to Aaron. "If you kill him, you'll kill your brother. How can you do that? Don't you care about your brother at all?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he turned to Cobra. "Can you hold the woman? If you do, I will release you."

Cobra nodded. "Yes. I'll help you."

Aaron handed Lucy over to Cobra who gripped her through the cell's bars. Aaron then walked up the dungeon's steps.

"What's he doing?" she asked. Now would have been a good time to have Cobra's ability to listen to thoughts.

A few minutes later, Aaron came back down the dungeon's staircase but he wasn't alone. An unconscious Zeref was draped over his shoulder. The despair of the situation was overwhelming. In less than two minutes, Aaron had managed to take out Natsu, Zeref, and all of Zeref's servants in the immediate area. It was entirely possible that they were all going to be dead before the night was over.

Aaron carried Zeref to the first cell and reemerged a few minutes later with a set of keys in one hand. He closed the cell door and then walked back to the second cell where Natsu was lying unconscious. He pulled out a wine bag that had been used for the prisoners' water and began gathering some of Natsu's blood. When he had gathered enough, he put the cap on and then put a hand on Natsu's stomach.

"Sana," he whispered.

A green aura shimmered across Natsu's body and he moaned.

"Oh thank God," said Lucy.

Aaron walked towards the third cell where she was being held by Cobra. He spoke to Cobra first. "I know I said I would let you out of your cell, but I won't let you kill my brother."

Cobra smiled up at him, revealing two pointy canines. "That's not a problem. I no longer want to kill your brother—there's other ways I can get my revenge."

"How's that?"

"By helping you be reborn as a Dragon King."

Lucy's heart skipped a beat. Was that even possible? Whether it was or wasn't, Aaron seemed satisfied with Cobra's answer. He unlocked his cell and the two men were soon standing in the dungeon's narrow hallway. Cobra's lifted his hands and Aaron unlocked his cuffs. As Aaron inserted the keys, Lucy noticed that his thumbs had healed. He must have used his healing spell while he was outside gathering Zeref.

Next, Aaron removed the chains from Cobra's cuffs and put the metal bands on her wrists. She wasn't bound by the cuffs, but they would prevent her from using magic. He also searched her and took her two remaining Silver keys and Brotan's necklace. "Let's go," he said when he had finished removing the items.

Cobra pulled Lucy towards the dungeon's exit. On their way out, they passed Natsu and Zeref's cells. Both men were beginning to stir.

"Wait!" said Zeref.

Aaron had just taken his first step up the dungeon's staircase but he paused and turned back.

"Yes, brother?"

"I know what you're trying to do and it won't work. You don't have the blood of a hundred dragons."

Aaron lifted his wine bag. "The blood of a hundred dragon's is running through that Dragon King's blood. This will be enough."

Zeref moaned and rolled over. "But the woman—if you force her to summon Brotan, it may kill her. Please don't do this Aaron. She is important to me."

Aaron paused. "If possible, I'll let her live but I'm going to go through with this one way or another."

"You've only been human for three days—you were a Dragon King for 400 years. Give your humanity a chance. You're dangerous as a Dragon King. The man I knew would never do something to put so many lives in danger."

Aaron starting walking back up the stairs. "You should give up on me brother. I've already given up on humanity."