Shattered Dreams ||Nalu||

Chapter One

Waring: This story is going to be dark and will contain suicide, gore, and killing. Please don't read if you are sensitive to these things.

Her eyes snapped open and a gasp escaped her lips as she tried to struggle and figure out where she was, tears falling soundlessly despite her attempt to make them stop. Panicking now, she sat up quickly, heaving for air, her body trembling with the effort of not fleeing. Her dark eyes searched the empty air before her, a haunted look in them showing her entrapment in a nightmare.

"Lucy?"

She blinked, the familiar voice snapping her into reality. "Erza," she choked out shakily.

That's right. They weren't there. That wasn't reality. No, reality was her being on a mission, a job, with the rest of Team Natsu, two of which snoring contently on the floor of the room they'd rented for the night. The boys had been "nice" enough to give Lucy, Wendy, and Erza the bed...only after Erza had threatened to throw them into the streets for the night. Unable to help herself, Lucy's eyes scanned each member of the team - especially the contently snoring fire mage. But they were fine, completely unharmed.

"Lucy?" Erza repeated, attempting to capture her attention again. Lucy grimaced. She must have woken Erza by accident. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," Lucy stammered, smiling shakily and wiping the tears away. "Sorry. Nightmare."

Erza's wary gaze softened just barely and Lucy tensed at it. It worried her when Erza was being kinder...sometimes, anyways. And she confirmed she had a damn good excuse a moment later when Lucy found her face smooshed into a hard breast plate. She cringed in pain, rubbing her cheek after Erza had finally released her. "We all have nightmares, Lucy," Erza told her. "They are nothing to be concerned about. They are merely a dream."

"Dreams can come true, though," Lucy whispered, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly. She kept her voice low, not wanting to wake any of the others. She didn't feel like dealing with a tired Gray and Natsu's arguing. "And when nightmares come true..."

"We just make sure that doesn't happen," Erza said simply, as if it was obvious. "Now. Calm yourself and return to sleep, Lucy. We will more than likely be confronting a beast in a fight tomorrow. We cannot have anyone stumbling."

Lucy nodded, forcing herself to lay back down. Erza did the same and returned to her sleep in a few moments, but Lucy found herself lying there awake, memory going over the dream again and again and again. So much had happened in it, it was hard to keep track, but there were a few select moments that had locked into her mind. She shuddered, stifling a small whimper at the thought of them, and then finally just stood, pausing to pat Wendy's head affectionately. The young girl had curled up at the foot of the bed with Charle, comfortable with her head on Erza's feet. She slipped from the room quickly, hugging herself.

She needed a walk. A long walk that would or wouldn't take the rest of the night...she wasn't sure yet. And she knew she'd regret it come morning when she couldn't move fast enough to avoid wounds that were sure to come, but right now...she needed the comfort. So she slipped from the building and followed the curve of the road, barefoot and dressed in nothing but an over-sized T-shirt Gray had lent her and some shorts.

It had been a few months since the Grand Magic Games and the events that had unfolded there. Since they'd become the number one guild in Fiore again. Since the dragons had attacked. Since she'd seen her future self die saving her. She hoped that the future Lucy was back with her comrades again...it would certainly make her feel better if she was.

They had taken this quest up upon Makarov's request when Natsu had nearly burned down the guildhall for the third time. It was an S-Class job, though Lucy didn't really think it need be. Kill a beast? Easy. They'd done it dozens of times, and she wasn't excited to go around killing things, but it appeared Natsu was. He'd wanted to deal with it the second he'd gotten over his motion sickness, but Gray had reminded him about the fact that it was probably more serious than it looked. With their luck, it would be another of Zeref's demons...