Stay With Me

Chapter 19

When Lucy arrived at the tower that Cana and Levy pointed out on the map, she was in worse shape than ever. Sweat poured down her forehead as she limped to the front entrance. The guards held up their weapons as she approached.

"Who goes there?!" One guard demanded.

Lucy panted, "I-I..." but couldn't answer because every word she spoke felt like knives were stabbing her continuously in her side.

Thinking she was a threat, the guards took action and harshly put her hands behind her back.

"Leave her be." A disturbingly familiar dark voice boomed and the guards let go. Lucy looked towards the entrance and a hooded figure emerged from the shadows. But, trailing behind him was a small girl with pink hair. Lucy's eyes widened as tears formed in the corners.

"Nashi!" Lucy yelled and held out her arms. Nashi ran towards her mother and jumped in her open arms and hugged her.

"Mommy!" Nashi exclaimed. "I was so scarred!" She said and she hugged Lucy tighter.

Lucy kissed her forehead and squeezed Nashi. "It's okay, I'm here." lucy said and pulled Nashi so she was looking at her. "Listen to me Nashi. There should be people who can help you if you run that way." Lucy explained as she pointed in the direction Nashi should run. "I want you to go with them."

"What about you?" Nashi choked, for she was on the verge of tears.

Lucy pulled Nashi closer and hugged her tight. "Don't worry about me. " She whispered. "But hey, " Lucy started as she pulled Nashi away again so she could look at her. "Daddy will be there." Lucy said.

Nashi's eyes gleamed. "Really?" She asked hopefully. Lucy nodded her head in confirmation and hugged her one last time.

"Smile for me." Lucy told her. Nashi looked Lucy in the eyes and flashed a very similar smile to Natsu's. To her satisfaction, Lucy smiled back at her and motioned for her to run. "Now go, I love you so much!" Lucy said and Nashi took off.

The man whispered something to one of the guards and suddenly they were all running towards her and cuffing her with cuffs that prevent you from using magic. They roughly pushed her up multiple flights of stairs when finally they reached a floor that she was shoved into and fell to the ground.

"Leave us." The man commanded and the guards obeyed. He then walked up to Lucy and leaned over to her level as he examined her. He closed his eyes and sighed. "It's a shame really." He said as he pulled on her chains and she was forced to follow him. "Such a beautiful woman... But I have to kill you." He placed the chains around her wrists onto a hook that was right above her so her arms were in the air.

Lucy felt like she was getting weaker by the second. She was now so tired that she could barely keep her eyes open. Her head hung low as her her body became more limp. Her side was killing her. Literally...

She weakly looked up as she saw the man uncover his head. He has dark purple eyes and pitch black hair. His pupils looked almost like a dragons and he had a smug look on his face. "Like what you see?" He asked and Lucy's head dropped because her neck could no longer support it. "Aww." He said as he placed his finger under her chin so she was looking at him. "Tired?" He let go and her head fell forward again.

He then walked up to a table and picked up a scary looking weapon. It looked like a tube but a spear at the same time. Lucy struggled against her chains but got no where.

The man seemed to notice her reaction. "Oh this?" He asked. "This is just what I'm going to use to drain all the magic power out of you and then kill you." He said in a creepily cheerful voice and then started rambling about it.
~~~~~~

Everyone could see the tower as they came closer. They were almost there when a small girl came running up to them with tears in her eyes and they stopped.

"It's Nashi!" Someone called and Natsu ran up to her and picked her up. He held her firmly in his arms as he ran back to everyone.

She sobbed a little before she spoke. "M-my mommy t-told m-me to run." She stuttered. "B-but she s-stayed behind!" She cried and then sobbed into Natsu's chest.

Natsu gently handed her to Erza. "Don't worry." He said soothingly as he let go of her. "We'll find her." And with that, he bolted towards the tower.

"Wait, Natsu!" Gray yelled as everyone followed behind him. "Idiot." He mumbled to himself.
~~~~~~

Lucy watched as the purple eyed man walked over and turned on some sort of machine. He fiddled with some buttons and switches before he turned to Lucy and smirked evilly.

"W-what's... Your name?" Lucy whispered. Her breathing was beginning to be more shallow and she was getting to the point where she couldn't even feel the pain in her side anymore.

The man looked surprised at her question and just looked at her. "Why should I tell you?" He asked bitterly.

Lucy sighed and tried her best to look him in the eye. "Because," She said. "Im going to die anyway... Might as well known the name of the person who caused it all." She glared at him and he chuckled awfully. That was half the reason she wanted to know his name. The other reason was because she actually wanted to stall. She knew that the way he was going to kill her was going to be more painful than the pain she felt when she was poisoned.

"You really wanna know?" He asked as if it was a joke. Lucy nodded. The silence that filled the room seemed to have lasted hours but was only minutes when he finally answered. "Fuzen." He said simply and turned back to the odd machine.

Lucy thought of more questions to ask... But could think of none.

"Shit." She then heard him mumble to himself and kick the large metal toy. She sighed in relief when she realized it must have been some sort of malfunction. He banged on it over and over again before saying, "It's useless." In extreme disappointment.

Lucy's eyes fell but she wasn't quite asleep, or dead. She simply just didn't have the strength to hold them open anymore. Seconds later she could hear yelling and fighting.
~~~~~~

Guards were charging towards them as they were ready to fight. Everyone bolted and let out a war cry while running. The guards used their weapons to fight while the guild used their magic. The only problem... There were a lot more than expected. They definitely out numbered the guild members.

While everyone was fighting, Natsu ran into the tower to find Lucy. He climbed a few flights of stairs before he heard mumbling and cursing on the third floor. He lit on fire and smashed through the wall. When the smoke that he created cleared, he could see Lucy chained to a wall and a man with pitch black hair shielding himself from the flying rubble.

Natsu lit his fists in fire, ready for battle. "Give Lucy BACK!" He snarled.

Fuzen smirked and faced Natsu. "Bring it on." He said and they circled each other in a fighting stance like boxers in a ring.