There were no windows within the basement prison cell, and the constant hours of laughing and chattering that came from the guildhall didn't help Lucy in figuring out what time it was. It was like the Dark Sparrows' guild was never empty, reminding her of Fairytail back in her time-dimension. All she had was Happy and Wendy to pass her time through socializing and playing games, but, it wasn't like she was complaining. She's never been in a dark guild's prison before, but she and Wendy had definitely opted from taking the short end of the stick by having Natsu and Happy as their guard keepers.

Within the week they've been there, today was probably the only day that Natsu was gone for more than half the day, but she did agree that he needed to go out on a mission with his guildmates before they came down there to get him themselves.

And yet, even though he was gone for only a day, Lucy couldn't help but miss him...

"So do you think that Natsu's coming back tonight? He did say that it was only going to be a day's trip." Happy asked, all the while poking a Jenga stick from the tower. They played sitting on the floor, with the cell bars in-between them, with Lucy and Wendy having to stretch their hands past the metal bars to play their turn. Happy's paw was big enough to knock the whole structure down (which he did a couple times), but with enough practice he was finally starting to get the hang of things.

"He probably did come back," Wendy mused, her eyes trained on the tower as it trembled, as if her gaze alone could keep it from falling. "But... it is late, right? He could've gone home."

Happy successfully nudged the Jenga block out its place, and he activated his wings to gently stack the block on the top of the tower. "Yeah, it's past midnight, actually! You both should probably go to sleep."

Lucy assumed it was nighttime, but she couldn't bring herself to sleep. She was hoping she could see Natsu again. "Okay, okay… but not until after this game! And besides, Natsu wouldn't go to his house without coming to get you first, Happy."

Happy pondered at that for a moment, before nodding his head in agreement. "You're right... but if he doesn't come tonight, then I'll just sleep with you guys!"

Wendy laughed. "You can't stay overnight with us! What if someone comes looking for you?"

Suddenly, Happy's smile dropped, and looked desolately to the floor. "I don't think anyone would come looking for me… Only Natsu would care that much…"

Lucy didn't know how to respond to that. It's expected that Happy doesn't get much love from a dark guild, but it still hurts to hear that Happy would have to deal with that.

Wendy's lips were pressed together, and Lucy could tell Wendy didn't like what she heard either. But whatever she had to say, it went unsaid, as they all heard the door upstairs unlocking.

Natsu slipped through the door, looking thoroughly drained and tempered. His exhausted frame reminded Lucy of how he first looked back when he first kidnapped them in Fairytail's infirmary: an ominous mist that escaped him as he held deep hatred and blame towards himself. She later learned that was because he accidentally hurt Happy, but she could only wonder if he was feeling this way now. Lucy and Wendy stood up, the game of Jenga long forgotten. Lucy grabbed onto the metal bars, trying to get a better look at her friend. "Natsu… what's wrong? Is everything okay?"

When Natsu looked up to Lucy, some of his anger seemed to visibly dissipate. He let out a sigh, slumping onto the wooden chair. "Nothing. Everything went great . Besides the fact that I couldn't have acted more stupid today in front of my whole team."

Happy looked very concerned for his comrade. He flew on the table in front of the dragon slayer, and sat there, close enough to be an arm stretch away from a comforting shoulder touch. "What happened, Natsu? You can tell us."

"Diesel killed a man today. But… there was no need for that. We were done with the mission, and… he was retreating!" Natsu stopped himself before he could get too heated up. His nostrils flared as he exhaled, as a failing attempt to calm himself. "I found that very disturbing… but that's not the point. I shouldn't have acted up from that. We are dark mages after all… that's the sort of stuff we would do. So… I don't know why I got so mad at Diesel."

Wendy looked… guilty? She wrung her wrists nervously, and it seemed there was something she wanted to say. Finally, with enough courage built within her, she managed to peep it out. "Sorry, Natsu… This is all my fault."

Natsu looked at her, confused. "How is this your fault, Wendy?"

"A few days ago… I told you things that don't line up with your guild's way of thinking. And that's… that's what made you angry with yourself, right? I'm not saying that I regret what I said, because it's true -you shouldn't kill people because everyone deserves to live- but… this all contradicts with your guildmates' thinking… and I don't want you to get in trouble."

Natsu's eyes softened. He got up from his seat and made his way to Wendy. He crouched a little, so he could be at her eye level, and patted her head. Wendy's eyes widened as she looked at Natsu in confusion. "You're… not mad at me?"

"How could I be? All you did was open my eyes to the goodness in this world. It's my fault for losing my composure in front of my guildmates, because I should've known they wouldn't express the same feelings as me. But you and Lucy… people like you are what reminds me that there's hope for this world after all. So… never apologize for telling the truth to others… okay?"

Wendy scrubbed a tear off her face with the back of her hand. "Geez, Natsu… To think we were trying to cheer you up, not the other way around…"

Lucy could only watch this scene play before her, too afraid that her budding in could break the moment. She was sure she saw the old Natsu do something like that to Wendy in her time dimension. And their interaction... it was like only something you would find with an older brother showing love to his younger sister. He was telling her not to be afraid, when it was he who was afraid himself.

Natsu stood up, accidentally knocking down the Jenga tower beneath him. His face deadpanned, as he looked at Happy with an unamusing arched eyebrow. "You brought Jenga?"

Happy jumped in front of the blocks in defense. "You left us for the whole day, Natsu! We got bored!"

Natsu rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help his smile from showing on his face. "Don't tell me you got this game from the guildhall. And you're lucky it's not Jenga night, or else those people would go crazy looking for this game."

Lucy stifled a laugh. "Sorry… but Jenga night in a Dark Guild? I have trouble imagining that."

"Oh yeah? Well, then you'll have trouble imagining a lot of other things we do."

Natsu bent down and started picking up the pieces. "Let's go and put these back, Happy, before one of the guildmates comes down here looking for it."

Happy slumped at the sight of Natsu cleaning up the game, like a child seeing his mother picking up his toys. "Finnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." He dragged on, before contributing himself to scooping the wooden blocks off the floor.

Once the pieces were all reassembled, Natsu looked over his shoulder to Lucy and Wendy as he headed to the door with the Jenga box in his hands. "Well, it's gotten pretty late, so Happy and I will head out now."

"Get some sleep, you two!" Happy exclaimed, and after exchanging goodbyes, the boys were out of the room.

Lucy sat on her metal bed, noticing how Wendy hadn't moved from her spot. Instead, she continued to look at the door they just left from. "So you think… that Natsu isn't actually mad at us? For what we said?"

Ah. She was still worried about Natsu. He was the top mage of Dark Sparrows, but it's obvious to everyone that his mind was somewhere else. And right now, he has to choose between his guild's ideals and what's truly right in this world. As far as they could tell, this was definitely taking a toll on him.

This made Lucy think back to her present dimension. She rarely saw the old Natsu deal with so much pain. He was always the care-free spirit with his big smile and overflowing energy. It was impossible to tell that this tall, black-outfitted, pierced-up young man in this time dimension was Natsu. Instead, every time she saw him, it was like he was carrying a large baggage of pain and suffering.

And yet, this Natsu could be so gentle at times, and he always put others in front of himself. He not only risked everything to save Happy's life, but he did it again for me and Wendy. Lucy had gotten to know him the past few days, and she concluded that he had never let go of his morals of life and family.

Lucy shook her head. She was focusing on the wrong things. How were they going to get the old Natsu back with all of this going on? She needed to get back to Gray and Erza, before this war got out of hand. If this Natsu was suffering, then the only way to fix things was to bring the old one back.

Right?

Wendy was looking at Lucy, patiently waiting for an answer. "Lucy? You spaced out for a minute."

Lucy blinked at Wendy, who had pulled her out of her thoughts. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking."

"Are you worried about him too?"

The Celestial mage shook her head. Natsu may be going through a lot, but he would get through it. "You don't have to worry about him. He's strong."

Wendy could only sigh in response. "He's strong, but what he's doing is risky. What do you think his dark guild would do if he betrays them? What if they hurt him?"

Lucy knew that Wendy was right. Natsu wasn't going to please his crew if he didn't want to kill anymore. "Don't worry, Wendy. Natsu knows what he's doing. And once he finds a plan for us to get out of here, we're going to make sure he is safe too."

That earned a smile from the younger girl. She nodded, wiping her cheeks dry before more tears could fall.

"Oh come here," Lucy said, before pulling Wendy into a gentle embrace. "Everything's going to turn out okay. I promise."

Wendy stifled her tears, her smiling growing bigger. "You're right, Lucy."

Lucy was going to say more when the door upstairs unlocked. She nudged Wendy with a smirk on her face and whispered. "Well. Speak of the devil. I bet Natsu came back to take our Uno cards next."

Wendy covered her mouth and giggled, as the footsteps made its way down the stairs. Lucy looked up to ask Natsu what he needed, and froze.

It wasn't Natsu.

It was Siren. She stopped at the last steps of the stairway, looking straight at Lucy. Her hand was curled into a fist, and a scowl was fixated on her face. "I know he took Fairy tail's healing mage, but you're the other chick he kidnapped?"

Lucy's heart stopped. A flood of fears came crashing into her mind before she had time to process any of it. Why is Siren here? How did she get the keys to get in? What's going on? She averted her eyes to Wendy in a panic.

The dark mage slowly approached them. The only sound hanging in the air was her boots scuffing the concrete floor, and her hand brushing against the blood-stained table.

Lucy bit her bottom lip, at a complete loss on what to do. This is Natsu's girlfriend. How should I act? "Y-you're Siren, right? We don't want any trouble-"

Siren grabbed the metal bars like a viper striking to attack. The bar rattled, causing Lucy and Wendy to jump. " Shut up. " She said, her voice dripping with poison. Siren's eyes swiped from Lucy and Wendy, her scowl deepening at the oversized shirts and joggers they were wearing.

And that's when Lucy deeply regretted asking for a change of clothes that night they were at Natsu's house.

"Those are Natsu's clothes, you got on?" The dark mage seethed, her eyes mainly trained on Lucy.

Yikes… Lucy shivered. How worse could this get? But Lucy gritted her teeth. She would not be intimidated by the likes of her. She stood up from the bed, with one hand resting on her key pouch, just in case if Siren was going to do anything to hurt them. "Yeah, they are. Happy gave them to us after Wendy healed him."

Siren, with her milky brown eyes glinting with rage, pressed against the metal bars to get as close as she can to her captives. "Give them back."

Wendy blinked twice. "… What?"

Siren thrusted forward, banging her fist against the metal bars. "Give them back! Is he your boyfriend? I don't think so. You two are prisoners of war. Fairytail scums who are nothing to us Dark Sparrows. I don't know what type of mess you've been feeding into my boyfriend, but I'll have you know that you're screwing up his head. He's confused enough as it when it comes to dealing with the enemy, and I do not need you two adding onto his problems!"

The anger radiating off of Siren was dangerous, and for the first time, Lucy was thankful for the metal bars separating them from her. "Siren, I'm not taking off these clothes, they're all I have—"

"And you— " Siren reached for a bloody sledgehammer from the table and threatened it towards Lucy. "I remember you from Solona village. Don't think I didn't see that connection you had with Natsu when you two first met."

Lucy quieted immediately, her eyes trained at the weapon directed at her. Lucy had noticed the sledgehammer the moment they arrived at the cell, along with small tweezers, knives, and pliers that littered the table. And now… she regretted not asking Natsu before to move them out of her sight.

Siren continued to wave the weapon in Lucy's direction, her jaw clenched and lips drew back in a snarl. "The last time Natsu had that look was when he first met me. If you even have the slightest idea of touching him, then I will rip your fingers apart one by—"

"Ren, what are you doing in here?"

Lucy looked behind Siren. It was Natsu, his grip knuckle-white on the doorknob as he slowly closed the door. Happy was by his side, his eyes wide in fear. They're here. Lucy breathed, and she could hear Wendy sigh in relief.

"Hey Rennie, is everything all right?" Happy asked, a wavering smile on his face.

Siren whipped around to face Natsu. She swung the sledgehammer back, gesturing to the girls in the cell. "Everything is NOT all right, Happy, ever since Natsu brought these brats into his life." Her voice was scratchy, as if she was on the verge of tears.

Natsu took slow steps down the stairs, his voice taking on a well-practiced calmness. "Siren… What are you talking about? I literally only used them to heal Happy. Besides that, you know they mean nothing to me." He spoke the words smoothly, as if the lines were all rehearsed.

But Siren wasn't buying it. She cocked an eyebrow, seeing through his lie. "Oh yeah? If you only used the little one to heal Happy, then why did you take this other girl here?"

Natsu gritted his teeth, angered by her persistence. "Ren, I told you already that I held her as a hostage so Wendy wouldn't try to escape. What is up with these questions?"

"Wendy, huh?" Siren's eyes bore at Natsu, and Natsu held his gaze. For a good moment, no one attempted to break the tension that wrung within the air.

And finally, Siren broke her gaze. Her eyes fell on the bloody sledgehammer resting in her hands, before her eyes swept to Lucy and Wendy in the cell. Her gaze made its way back to Natsu, and she began making her way to him. "Oh, it's nothing, really. I was just dying to torment these girls, but since you're here, why won't you do it, Natsu?" She held out the weapon, waiting for Natsu to accept it.

Lucy almost puked. Right there. The color was draining from the two girl's faces, until they were as white as sheets of paper. Siren was asking Natsu to torture them. Lucy launched forward to the metal door, her knuckles turning white from her grip on the bars. This is so wrong. How could she-

Natsu was completely thrown off guard. He looked at the sledgehammer dumbfounded, as if he's never seen it before in his life. "...Me?"

Siren shoved the weapon closer to him. "Yeah, didn't you say before that you tortured these girls into healing Happy? Why won't you give it another go?"

Natsu didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. He just couldn't bring himself to hurting those girls. He looked down, his hair shadowing his eyes. "Siren… I—"

Siren slammed the butt of the sledgehammer down on the table, shutting Natsu from speaking. Happy flinched from the resonating sound of the weapon. "Come on, Natsu! You've become too soft! What happened to that fearless guy I knew and loved? I know why you bandaged their guildmarks! It's because you're afraid of hurting them!"

Siren stormed back to the cell bars, closing in her distance with the Fairy Tail mages. Natsu could see Lucy tremble as Siren got only a few inches away from her, and he scowled at the sight, taking a step forward. But Happy's paw went on his shoulder, shooting him a glare.

Siren reached into the cell and grabbed Lucy's arm, earning a surprised yelp from the blonde mage.

Lucy gritted her teeth as she tried to wriggle free from her restraint. "Would you let me go!-"

"Shut up! This isn't about you." Siren seethed, before turning back to Natsu. She lifted Lucy's arm, showing the white bandage wrapped around her hand. "You've been resisting the power Master gave you. But I'm not letting you fall into weakness. So, let me help you."

She ripped off Lucy's bandage, exposing her pink insignia.

Siren walked back to Natsu, and shoved the sledgehammer into his hands. "Go on, hurt these Fairy Tail brats."

Fairy Tail. Natsu clenched the weapon in his hand, his hand trembling with struggled control. Not only did Siren say their guild's name, but she showed him their guildmarks too. He felt that sickening sensation erupt within him. That burning desire to attack and kill. Fairy tail. Fairy tail. l. Her voice repeated in his head, growing louder and louder until he lost all sense of his surroundings. During that war, he used to lose all sense of direction, running rogue like a chained beast. And now, he felt lightheaded. His head was spinning, and all that surfaced was a growing desire to shed blood. He needed to shed blood. It had to be done. The powerful urge inside of him was not going to let him do otherwise. And soon enough, his vision was clouding red to only his targets with the guildmark. And he suddenly realized that he was beginning to forget the sound of suffering from his victims…

"Natsu!"

Happy slapped him hard in the face, snapping him back to the presence. Clarity returned to his eyes, and his face slowly fell from the ruthless smile he wore moments ago. His fingers held a white-knuckled grip onto the sledgehammer.

What was he just doing? He wasn't really going to hurt Lucy and Wendy, was he? But Natsu caught a look of untold fear in their eyes, and Siren held the greatest smile. Natsu looked at Happy, his hands trembling. "Crap... I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

Happy sighed in relief, and he shook his head. "No… but it looked like you were going to…"

Siren's smile dropped, and her eyebrows snapped together in rage. "No! Stop holding back Natsu! You almost had it!"

Natsu looked back at Siren, with his jaw clenched. He placed the weapon back onto the table. "No Ren! That's not happening! You wanna hear the truth? These girls aren't prisoners or hostages to me. They are my friends! I would never intend on hurting them, not when I have a say in the matter!"

"Fine." Siren grabbed the sledgehammer and turned to the girls, her hard eyes still trained on Natsu. "If you're not doing it, then I will."

"Enough. Both of you."

A deep voice rang from behind. Natsu looked behind him, searching for who spoke.

Siren looked his way too, and soon everyone was staring at the wall behind them.

"Did someone…?" Wendy whispered, but she quickly fell silent when a green magic circle formed, and a group of people was revealed. Master, Seph, Ruby, and Diesel were all standing there, with one of Master's servants turning off his invisibility spell.

And suddenly, it was as if the place felt a look smaller. The oxygen in the air thinned, and Natsu could feel his breaths quickening.

Oh no… Natsu gawked at the sight. How long have they been standing there? Just how much worse could things get?

Lucy protectively pushed Wendy behind her, as they slowly backed up into the darkness of the cell. Happy cowered behind Natsu's frozen stature, and Siren sighed in relief.

Natsu swept his eyes over his family, fearful of their powerful aurora. Diesel held a furious scowl, and Seph stood there with wide eyes, holding a look of disbelief. And Master ... Natsu averted his eyes to the ground.

Siren waltzed over to the new guests. "I was beginning to think you guys weren't going to make it. Do you see how much of a defiance he's become? He doesn't want to admit how—"

"I said that's enough, Siren." Master demanded. Siren's mouth immediately fell shut.

The guildmaster made his way towards Natsu. The dragon slayer held a defensive composure, never breaking his contact with the Master. "Master, about what I said, I—"

"No, Natsu." Master shook his head. His eyebrows were knitted together as he looked at Natsu with distrust. "You've disappointed me. You told me that you've enjoyed inflicting pain on others, and I thought I fixed that fear you had of killing. But from what I've heard, what I've seen, that obviously proves otherwise. I can see you are back to that fearful, timid boy you were two years ago, prior to the war. And I can see that much from your failed attempt with Laxus."

Natsu threw his hand down. "I wasn't timid, I was bold enough to put my foot down against your reckless orders! You know I've always hated killing! It wasn't until you messed up my head, as if I was one of your brainless freaks!"

And at that, Master pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ah, now I see how vulnerable you are. Obviously, you are confused. Do you need me to renew your interest as a dark mage? I simply can not lose my most important pawn, especially since we are once again at war."

Before Lucy could think, she ran up to the cell door and grabbed the bars with vexation. "No! Natsu is not your pawn! I will not let you play with his mind again, like he is some doll! Let him be his own person, without you controlling him!"

Natsu whipped her head to her, his eyes wide in fear. "Lucy." Natsu muttered. She's going to get herself killed.

Diesel shoved past everyone and stormed towards Lucy. "You're the cause of this problem. You keep on running your mouth and filling our kid's head with all this crap."

He lifted up his hand towards her and squeezed his fist. "Metal manipulation: twisting iron." He spoke. The iron bars Lucy held onto released its shape, twisting itself around Lucy's wrists. Her eyes widened in fear, and she bit her lip in pain.

"You deserve to die. "

"Hey, quit that out! Get this off me!" Lucy shouted, but the iron continued to harden and tighten itself around her, making its way up her arms.

Seph stepped forward, his arms crossed as he watched this unfold. "This is the girl who was messing with Natsu? What a pain."

Natsu reached forward and grabbed Diesel's outstretched arm, pushing it down. "Diesel, enough." He spat, his eyes scouring through him. He turned around to the rest of the Dark Sparrows. "Enough all of you." Natsu looked from Master to Siren, and then back at Diesel. "I've made my decision, and it's final. I refuse to kill. And even though I caused it, I will not be partaking in this war. And I'll do what it takes to get it that way."

Diesel shook his head, disappointment written on his face. "So you choose your sappy dreams over your own family. Bad choice." At that moment, he shrugged Natsu's grip off of him, and redirected to Lucy. He twisted his hand, and an audible crack was heard as the iron wrapped around Lucy's elbow tightened enough to break her bone.

She screamed, and Wendy ran to her side, tears brimming her eyes.

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted, rushing to the cell. He grabbed the bars, unable to remove his eyes from the mangled mess of her arm.

Lucy gritted her teeth, but she held her gaze with Natsu. "Don't… worry about me, Natsu. You... n-need to get out of here."

Master tilted his head, a smile rested on his face. "So Natsu, is this the fate you've decided?"

And suddenly, his smile dropped; revealing the true, wicked face of the Dark Sparrow guild master. "You should know very well by now that no one under me has the luxury to live off of their own fantasies. Siren."

"Yessir." Siren came behind Natsu, casting a sleeping spell in one hand.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, and Natsu looked back at her, with wide eyes.

"Wait, Siren! What are you…" Natsu's voice trailed off, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. He went slack, and slumped back into her arms.

"NATSU!" Wendy and Lucy screamed. The healing mage reached out through the cell bars, trying to reach for Natsu as Siren dragged him away.

"Let's go." Master said, quite satisfied, before turning around to make his way upstairs. "You will be taking him to my office."

Diesel dropped his hand, stopping the growth of the iron vines wrapped around Lucy. Lucy watched in fear as he and Seph went to Siren, taking Natsu on both sides and rested his arms around their shoulders.

Seph shook his head with a sigh. "I can't believe this. It's like we're starting all over with this kid. Why does he have to be so stubborn?"

Diesel tsked. "Just know that we'll make sure this doesn't happen again." They followed after the guild master, walking up the stairs, and Diesel looked over his shoulder to see Ruby standing there. "Come on, Ruby-dear. Let's go."

Ruby was in shock, watching the whole scene that had just played before her with wide eyes. She hadn't moved from that spot since they arrived. She looked over to Siren, her eyebrows knit together. "Siren, was putting him unconscious necessary?"

The sleeping mage sighed. "Come on Ruby, you heard the nonsense he was talking. Let's head back with them to make sure Natsu gets the help he needs."

Before leaving, Siren turned back at the girls in the cell. Lucy's arms were still trapped in the warped iron, and Wendy was trying to pry the metal bars open. "Don't worry, I'll be back." Siren twirled the sledgehammer in her hand, before setting it on the table and leaving with the rest. The door slammed close, leaving a heavy echo in the air.

The only one left in the room was a sobbing, petrified blue cat.