Lucy took in the scene before her, heart thundering wildly in her chest. The Devil's Breath guildhall was blown to smithereens, and smoke still slowly rose off the charred wooden planks that once held up the walls. The guild members were scattered all across the forest floor, tied up and beaten unconscious, thanks to the three Fairy Tail mages that stood in the middle of the destruction they caused.

"What… what did you do?" The words sounded so small and frail as they tumbled from her lips, but Lucy couldn't help it. Terror coursed through her veins as she thought back to her master and the black keys' he'd surely use to punish her. There was no way to escape his wrath now. The moment the guild master was defeated, Devil's Breath would have been wiped from the list in Jude's office just as quickly as they'd appeared, and there was only one person he'd put the blame on.

She was going to be locked in her room for the rest of her life for her failure.

Anger boiled in her blood at the thought, and Lucy's fists shook. No. No. She would not go down without a fight. It wasn't her fault this guild had been annihilated, but she could take care of these Fairy Tail mages and surely that'd win the master's favor. Perhaps he'd be more lenient in his punishment if she were to eliminate the enemy.

The red haired mage was the first to shake off the shock, and a sword appeared in her hand. She shifted her feet, one in front of the other, as she brandished it in Lucy's direction. "Who are you?" She demanded. Lucy scoffed and narrowed her eyes at the blade pointed at her.

"What did you do?" The blonde asked again, hands clenching and unclenching by her side. "Do you know what…" Lucy choked on the words, and just like that the anger vanished again. Lucy felt her shoulder's sag as reality hit her. She couldn't - wouldn't - just kill these strangers. She never did care for mindless murder. Besides, they had no idea the impact of their actions. They were most likely just following their own master's orders. Just like she did.

Lucy began pacing, fingers curling between golden locks as she cradled her head in her hands. "Oh Stars," She muttered as her hands slid down to press roughly against her eyes to keep the tears at bay. "Oh Stars, he's going to kill me. Worse, he'll have Kyoka deal with me and then he-"

Lucy cut herself off and whirled towards the group again, the rage reigniting in her eyes as she took a good look at the trio that stood in the rubble.

The red head was watching her warily, and while the sword was still pointed her way, Lucy noticed the slack in her arm. Briefly she wondered how the woman would react to a whip ripping the sword from her grasp.

The dark haired male was eyeing her, disgust evident as he took in the embroidered guild mark on her thigh. Frost collected at his hands as he prepared for an attack, and ice began creeping along the ground near his feet.

And the pink haired man was looking at her with confusion in his dark eyes as he watched her do a double take.

She didn't know why she hadn't recognized him sooner, though it had been a little over two years since she'd seen him. At the time, he had been laying in a pool of blood on the forest floor, a large gash cut deep into the side of his neck. Lucy had immediately summoned Virgo, and the two worked to stop the boy's bleeding. When they finished the Spirit carted the boy off to the local town's hospital while Lucy continued to run, hoping they'd been able to save his life.

She wasn't sure whether he survived or not. Let alone know he was a mage. A Fairy Tail mage.

Even if she had known it wouldn't have changed anything.

Still, watching as flames flickered up his arms towards the scarf wrapped around his neck, Lucy felt her heart clench. Figures, she saved his life only for him to help end hers. She just hoped they'd be swift about it, because the Heavens only knew her master would make sure she slowly rot for the rest of her life.

Wait. Shit, she thought. These were mages of a light guild. They wouldn't do her the favor of killing her. No, they'd just subdue her and then turn her in to the Magic Council, where she'd still be imprisoned.

Either way resulted in eternal solitude.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Lucy's vision blurred as tears welled up.

Oh Stars. She did not want to have a breakdown in front of these people. She needed to get back to her guild and figure out where to go from there and- no. A lump formed in her throat. She couldn't go back. Not now. "Shit!" she gasped, crouching down and fisting her fingers in her hair.

Heaven's above she couldn't breathe - couldn't think. Images of black keys and wicked grins reminding her of her failures clouded her mind and she just. Couldn't. Think. She needed to get out of there, clear her head… but there was nowhere to go. Lucy tugged at her hair as the panic began to overwhelm her, and she thought she heard the redhead woman say something, but she couldn't register what over the ringing in her ears as her heart beat wildly in her chest and the Spirits were pushing at her magic, trying to force their way through as they felt the overwhelming distress and–

Deep, dark green eyes that were almost black in color suddenly took over her vision, looking at her with such genuine concern, concern Lucy hadn't seen from another human since her mother, and he was saying something and–

Lucy zeroed-in on his moving lips, focusing intently as they formed around words she couldn't hear. "Hey," they mouthed, "hey! It's okay! We're not gonna hurt you."

Behind him the redhead appeared, her brows creased as she watched on, but the boy snapped his fingers in front of Lucy to draw her attention back to him. "Hey," she could hear him now, the ringing thankfully subsiding, "It's gonna be okay. You just need to calm down."

"Tell her to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth, Natsu." The woman said, and Lucy watched as the boy's lips quirked in a slight smile. She was confused, however, as to why they were helping her, and her face must've mirrored her emotions, because the boy - Natsu, the redhead called him - just shrugged his shoulders before settling onto the ground across from her.

"What she said." Lucy nodded, and together they did the breathing exercise as the woman oversaw, instructing them here and there on how long to inhale and to exhale out the mouth. After a few minutes, her chest felt lighter, and although the panicked feeling was still there, it wasn't as nearly suffocating. Her Spirits had quieted, no longer pushing at her, to which she was grateful for because the one that was stubborn enough to fully force his way out was the one she didn't want to see at the moment.

Now that her head was clear, embarrassment hit her like a ton of bricks. The last thing she had wanted to do was have a breakdown in front of complete strangers and of course it was the first thing she did. Feeling her face warm, Lucy buried it in the palms of her hands with a groan. "Oh, Heavens above."

"Are you alright now?" Her head jerked up to see the pink haired boy was still in front of her. His brows were furrowed, as if he was still worried. Lucy nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"So… what was that all about?"

"Natsu!" The woman behind scolded, and he ducked his head as if worried she'd hit him. Lucy cocked her head as the woman simply exhaled sharply and placed her hands on her hips as she shook her head. "Idiot." The woman approached and Natsu scampered out of her way as she offered a hand to Lucy. "My name's Erza." the redhead introduced as Lucy took her hand, the woman helping her to her feet. "Erza Scarlet. I apologize for my guildmate, he can be a little… thoughtless sometimes."

"Hey!"

"It's okay." Lucy interrupted, wary they would start to fight each other from the way Natsu began to stomp up to Erza. "Really, I'm sorry. I was just… just…" Was just having trouble coming to terms with the fact I'll never be free. Never be free from the guild, from the Demons, from her life. Just… stuck, like she always been.

Nothing could ever change that.

"I was just… leaving."

"What!? You can't leave!" Natsu exclaimed as he came up beside Erza. "We're friends now!."

The dark haired male scoffed loudly from his place paces away, rolling his eyes at the comment. "You're such a moron."

"Say that to my face, Droopy Draws!" Natsu shouted as he broke away from Erza to throw himself on the ice mage, abandoning the conversation. Lucy looked on incredulously as they both fell to the ground in a flurry of fists and insults, fire and ice shooting off in every which way. She gaped, looking back to the redhead, who just pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered, "Idiots, the both of them. Every time…"

These strangers were… strange, Lucy decided. Maybe even a little nuts. Who in their right mind would see an enemy and help them out while they had a panic attack? And then declare them friends afterwards? Crazy people, that's who.

But… they were the kind of people to aid others it seemed, whether friend or foe. Like it was just their nature to do so.

As she watched Erza storm over and rip the two boys apart and lecture them, Lucy had a thought. A dangerous one, if she was going to be completely honest with herself, but maybe… maybe this group of Fairy Tail mages could help her. Alone, Lucy could never outrun her master and his Demons, but if she had the aid of Fairy Tail then perhaps she wouldn't have to run. Maybe… maybe together they could destroy her guild. Destroy the Alliance and all its followers. That would solve all her problems, wouldn't it? Rid her home of the dark mages that had taken over the grounds and, hopefully, bring her father back from the darkness he had fallen into after her mothers death.

Besides, the light guilds and Magic Council were already on that path. Perhaps it was time she freed herself from Black Keys and joined the good side.

She told herself, once, that something had to change. And maybe this could be it.

So, with a steadying breath, Lucy approached the arguing trio, who all stopped to look at her.

"I…" She clenched her hands by her sides, nails digging into her palms. Who's to say they would want to help? Maybe they didn't want to get involved in her mess specifically. And yet… they were here. This group had come and rid a village of a dark guild simply because they were asked to. Because that's what a light guild does; help those in need.

She couldn't think of anyone better to ask.

Couldn't think of anyone better to blindly put her trust.

So, sure in her resolve, Lucy straightened her spine and said, "My name is Lucy, and I need your help."

A/N: WOW. Okay. I didn't realize how much plot I changed while editing until this chapter! Nothing made sense anymore so I had to rewrite (and rewrite) this entire thing and I think this is the best it's gonna be.

Also, I don't think I'll be able to update every saturday (tho I will try!) It's been hard to get time to myself bc my husband recently switched to night shifts so I haven't had many breaks from our child (almost 2)

I guess my point is I don't plan on giving this story up, but I do apologize in advance if there's a long wait between chapters.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read/review/favorite/follow