PHASE ONE

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~~L~~
Now, I'm... I have no idea where I am.
Darkness. Everything is dark. No matter where I go, I can't see anything other than complete darkness. I feel myself moving, but I can't see anything.
This is nothing like sleeping...
My body, it burns.
It feels like I'm laying in magma.
In a heated volcano.
My skin feels as if it's melting off, behind so much. It's so incredibly hot.
My mouth is dry, and my lips feel cracked.
It was so hot, the only thing cool was my own tears, which I always allowed to run down my neck. They were surprisingly cooling. Though, anything would be cooling compared to this heat.
I've been in this area for at least three days..
I tried finding an exit, but to no avail.
No matter how hard I searched it felt like I was going no where.
I was supposed to be sleeping..
That's what the spell said.. Or what I thought it said..
My mind... is burning..
Someone... Please...Help me... It hurts..
For the first time since I was here, I finally felt like giving up completely.
My body emptied of hope and my eyes became full of tears.
Teardrops fell from my eyes.
I felt pathetic.
I was crying in a time like this?
...
The second the salty tears hit the area I was sprawled out upon, it left a blue circle.
This was the first time my tears had touched the ground. I usually just let them evaporate off my body. This blue circle was, unusual. I used my remaining energy to sit up.
I touched the blue circle, and it felt like jello?
It was solid, but very gelatinous.
The surface was cool, and provided relief to me. It felt like a popsicle.
I began to cry tears of joy.
It was so relieving. So cool..So nice..
I was still burning up, but I was grateful for the small bit of cool I had left. As my other tears began to hit the scorching ground, they too transformed the ground. The ground I was laying transformed from rough and hot rock into cool gelatin.
The circles spread and enlarged wherever my tears fell. Eventually, I had a small surface of cool to lay on, and fell asleep.
~~~~
When I awoke, my crying continued. But my sobbing would ultimately be what saved me.
The blue circles were always expanding, but I was still pushing out as many tears I could.

If I kept this up I'd be dehydrated soon, but I couldn't help it. This was the only way I could flip this around.

The tears dropped and spread, but I'd never have enough to cover the entire floor.
I was originally crying because I was in pain, but the tears of joy spread faster...
Could this be some form of challenge?
To spread, my joy perhaps? Or maybe...My hope,
and happiness. Maybe if I show signs of happiness, more of these cooling circles will appear.
The only way I could find out would be to try it.
I smiled, and I saw a very tiny blue circle grow.
I let out a small giggle.
I quickly came up with some improvised compliments. "What a lovely message to send! It makes me happy!" I said loudly. It seems anything positive works, or any emotion in general.
A giant blue circle grew, making a strange noise as the turquoise colored oval spread.
I had to be going somewhere with this!
I stood up proudly and yelled "I love you! I love my guild! I love my Celestial spirits! I love family! I love my friends!" Listing the things I loved seemed to expand the circles immensely.
I thought for a moment, and remembered more things that I absolutely adored. "I love magic! I love Fiore! I love Blue Pegasus! I love Lamia Scale!" I yelled again. This was easy! I just had to say what I loved! In a sense, all of this love stuff was making me feel a bit hopeful. I just continued yelling good things, until all of the ground turned blue.
I sat down for a bit, I felt like this was much easier than I had thought.
I poked my finger through the gelatinous surface I was sitting on, out of curiosity. White smoke began to flow out of the the hole I made, and I backed up instinctively. The white smoke formed a shadow like silhouette, that emitted pale white light. It spoke up.
"Well done, Lucy. You have surpassed the first phase. Next, you will be placed in world entirely strange. Your only objective is to remain reasonable.
Your score on this trial is, eighty-seven point four percent. Congratulations, you have earned your wings.
Your wings will carry you physically, as your hope carries you emotionally.
Good luck on the next phase, Lucy."
The silhouette explained, before disappearing. The hole I poked through stretched and grew into a giant hole, big enough for me to fall into. I glanced in, and below the thin layer of blue gelatin, there was dark colored dirt. Worms and insects squirmed inside the soil, making me feel a bit disgusted. I stopped staring when I felt a strange sensation against my back. A ripping pain echoed through me. Cute, bird like wings we're sprouting from my back. It didn't feel pleasant as the wings tore through my skin. It felt like a dozen cat scratches at once, but it was bearable. A little bit of blood trickled down my back from my wings, and I tried my best to wipe it. Despite the pain, I was overjoyed! After all, I had wings! That means I can fly now! I guess there is more to these trials
I get rewarded based on how I score on these trials. So far, it seems I'm passing. I fluttered my wings, moving them up and down. It was like trying to learn to walk again. It felt rather strange to me.
But I was still excited! Who wouldn't be! I realized I had to move on, and I'd have to stop focusing on my new set of wings.
In order to pass the next phase, I have to stay calm. I can do that. No crying, no screaming, no anger fits. No pouting..
I can do this! I started to flap my wings and levitate in the air. I flew over to the hole in the ground, and started to fly into it. It was disgusting, but the only way to pass this was to remain calm. And by fly, it was more like slowly falling. I couldn't use my wings perfectly yet. I quickly flew down the hole, not wanting to see anymore. The dirt was moist, and collapsing in behind me! I ran through several cobwebs, which got caught in my wings and clothes. I tried my best to tear the webs off.
Disgusting!
I flew faster down the hole, as drops of mud fell onto me. Occasionally a centipede or worms would fall on me, which nearly made me squeal. I kept it together though, and threw the creatures off of me.
I started approaching the bottom, and I couldn't bring my wings to stop! They wouldn't stop!
The ground grew closer, and closer. No matter how hard I tried, my wings couldn't stop me. I prepared to collide with the ground ahead. Then, I finally crashed head first into the rocky ground. I collided with the ground and flew backwards, bouncing off my head and falling onto my back against the hard ground. The ground felt weird as I landed against it. The pavement I landed against was cold as ice, but the air was warm. My back was in excruciating pain. I finally managed to rise up from the ground, and kept my head lowered. I felt a little dizzy.
I raised my head and glanced around, as blood dropped from the cuts on my body, caused by my rough landing.
My head had a large gash, and my hands were roughly scraped.
My arms were scraped from my palms up to my elbow. I used my sore hands to feel my face and see if my head was bleeding. Surely enough, I was. My forehead was gushing blood, and I felt a little shocked. There was nothing I could really do.
My nails were covered in dirt, as were hands and arms. Even my tights had moss and dirt on them.
As I began to focus on my surroundings, I noticed something.
Glass people were everywhere, but not near me.
These people.. Were made of gray stained glass.. they were walking oddly, but seemed to be just doing average activities.
Some were walking with strollers, or holding each others hands. Some even had pets on leashes, all made of the same glass,
I tried to focus on something else.
The looked down at the ground I was sitting on. Around me was grass, which was a dark green. It was almost black. I hesitantly looked up, and I nearly panicked. All the strange people turned and looked at me. Fear and dread began to churn in my stomach, but I remained as composed as possible. Tranquility was what I needed to win this.. I took a few deep breaths, and felt myself calm down a bit. When I calmed down, they stopped focusing on me and I stood up. A loud warbling sound happened, and the creatures all disappeared. I suddenly felt dizzy. My vision went spotty, and I passed out once again.

~Fairy Tail~
Everyone stayed very quiet in the guild, nowadays.
Before, they were so lively.
Someone whispered the word Lucy, and everyone was drawn out of their thoughts. Despite the fact that most Fairy Tail members talked bad about her before she left, they felt guilty now. They had realized the error in their ways.. "I hate to bring this up, but everyone is thinking it. Am I the only one who thinks Lucy is safe? I believe that she is. I..I still feel like Lucy is alive. It's like I can feel her magic. Maybe she is somewhere, just a while away. In another town..." Mira stated, out of the blue.
After a slow few minutes of awkward silence, Wendy spoke up. "When a mage dies, their magic leaves with them, getting rid of the connection they previously had with anyone. However, Lucy's magic can still be felt. It's weird. Also, if Lucy was attacked, like Natsu thinks is going to happen, or if she hurts herself, she wouldn't be noticeable. Her magic wouldn't still be, well, around."
The guild members exchanged hopeful glances. There we're starting to cheer up as the discussion began. There were plenty of people who thought that Lucy was going to.. Hurt herself. Or that Lucy was going to be targeted by other guilds because she was a previous member of Fairy Tail..
"And, do you guys really think that one of Fairy Tail's top mages would just let a random guild take her down that quickly? No. Lucy is a fighter, and she is smart. She wouldn't let herself get killed by a rival guild, and she wouldn't just give up." Cana added, standing up drunkenly. Cana was drowning herself in alcohol even more now that Lucy was gone. A way for her to swim in her sorrow.
People began to smile, and chuckle a bit. Suddenly, someone else spoke up.
"Damn right! She was a Fairy Tail member, there is no way she would allow herself to give up like that!"  Makarov agreed, speaking loudly.
"My children! Do not frown any longer. I can feel that Lucy is still alive, she is just not here, we need to contact Loki for confirmation, though. Is there anyway we could do that?" Makarov asked.
The guild whispered among each other.
"I could contact him telepathically!" Warren said, stuttering a bit. Macao patted Warren on the back and cheered. "Way to go, my boy!" Makarov said.
Warren closed his eyes, and focused as hard as he could. Putting all of his magic into one message, he tried to contact Loki. The only thing he said was, "Loki! The guild needs to talk."
A few seconds later, Warren spoke again.
"I put all my effort into it. I'm pretty sure I got through to him. I think that was the hardest message I've ever sent." Warren said, rubbing his head.
Suddenly, in a flash of gold light, Loki appeared.
"What do we need to discuss?" He asked, readjusting his glasses.

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