Always in the dark ( NaLu ) <3

Chapter 16

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SO. THERE YOU HAVE IT. NATSU FINDS LUCY AND THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. PSYCHE!!! LMAO, MY STORY ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE, FOR A WHILE. I HOPE THATS'S OK WITH YOU BECAUSE NOW YOU'RE STUCK ON THIS CRAZY RIDE FOR EVEN LONGER! I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY WITH WHERE YOU THINK THIS IS HEADING, BUT OH, YOU COULD BE TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY WRONG! <(:^~^:)> I ALSO WANTED TO THANK YOU GUYS FOR 4K READS, IT REALLY MEANS SO MUCH TO ME! (And I'm so so sorry that this is late!!) WELL HERE'S CHAPTER 16:

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LUCY* p.o.v.

It was the same. No answers, awkward quietnesses, and Levy scrambling around up above the ceiling. The intern who was also keeping me here, McGarden, her first name was Levy. She was actually really nice, but she got pretty nervous whenever I spoke to her. I guess I couldn't really blame her. I wonder if she even knew what really happened her. I doubt it, I don't even know.

She told me about the intruders, but I didn't think much of it. I would be dead soon anyways, and so would those intruders, probably. Honestly, if the police, royal guards, search squads, and Natsu couldn't find me after all this time, who could?

"Levy?" I called, the shuffling stopped and Levy mumbled something to herself, as if deciding to answer or not.

"Yes?" She finally replied. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, um, do you know what's going on? Like, really really what's going on?" I asked.

"Yeah..." Levy said cautiously.

"And...?"

"Well, you've probably already realized this, but you're a test subject for something. I'm still an intern, even I don't know what these tests are." She continued, "All I know is that it's all for the king. I'm not really sure... I'm still trying to fit some pieces together. Something's weird about all this though, the way the doctors act. It's as if they don't know anything either." Levy suddenly realized who she was speaking to and shut up, quick. "I'm not really supposed to tell you this stuff, sorry Lu-chan." She added sheepishly.

I sighed again, well at least that was more information that I was hoping to get. But it was still like a big chunk of information was missing, none of it made sense. The king, she'd said. Could he be behind this? I doubt it, that was probably just a cover they told Levy. She seemed smart though, I wonder if she'd already figured that out? I hope she does solve this, I hope she lets me live.

A sudden sound caught my attention... footsteps? But they weren't coming from above me, they were on my level. What on earth-land?! A huge smash made me whip my head in the direction of the sound. Natsu and Gray stood by the hole in the glass wall, he'd broken it. My eyes widened, and tears swelled up inside of them. He'd changed so much.

Then I sighed, this isn't real. This is just one of those weird dreams I've been having. I snuggled up against one of the walls and shut my eyes. Trying to make this horrible life go away for a while. But then somebody was hugging me, and it was real. Natsu was so warm. He had come, he was finally here for me. That's when the world went black.

GRAY* p.o.v.

When I saw Lucy, I got the same feeling as when I'd first seen her. My breath hitched and there was a lump the size of Natsu's ego in my throat.

Again. Honestly, this was starting to scare me. But the feeling only got stronger. Suddenly Natsu wasn't beside me anymore, he was inside Lucy's room. She'd curled up in a ball when she'd seen us, I think she was crying. I wanted to run to her, but I couldn't move. My feet stayed planted on the floor where I stood, and my knees buckled. I fell to the floor and nearly screamed.

The room was dingy, it looked as if it could've been clean, once upon a time. 5 years ago. It was smelly, with random peices of food in a corner. There was a large blood stain on the floor, left undoubtedly from Lucy. I could see a scar across her hand, starting on her wrist and curling around until it ended on her pointer finger. She wasn't wearing her normal clothes, but a hospital gown. Her hair was long and untamed, she would probably have to shave it off, there was no way she could fix it.

Natsu bent down and hugged Lucy tight. I would've been jealous, had this not been the situation.

"We'd better g-go." I stuttered and my voice cracked. Natsu nodded subtly and picked up Lucy, carrying her bridal style. I slowly stood up and looked around the corner, I could already hear the guards footsteps.

"Cover me." Natsu said seriously, with a cold, stone-like expression. He started running in the opposite direction of which we came.

"Lu-chan!" Cried a voice desperately from Lucy's old cell. That's when I caught a glimpse of guards coming around the corner. And there were plenty.

LEO* p.o.v.

Our powers have defiantly gotten weaker. I could usually use my own magic power to leave the celestial sprit world, but there was something blocking me. It was so dark and strong that it intensified my strength. But to no avail, I could never leave here. In the human world it had been 5 years, of course for us that was only about 1.

Aries shivered, and I wrapped my jacket around her. These days the spirit world seemed to be getting colder and colder.

"Thank you. I'm sorry." She apologized, biting her lip cutely. I patted her head, she was probably my best friend here.

"I miss the princess." Virgo sulked. It had been even longer for the rest of them to see her.

"Pun pun." Nodded Plue.

Most of us had nothing to do here. We didn't need to eat, there wasn't anything really fun to do. Especially after being stuck here for years. It sickened me to know that I couldn't go out to help Lucy. What could Layla be doing to her?! How old would she be now, 16, 17? Was she still being held in that rotten cell?

The questions bombarded me, and each day I grew more angry. I knew it wouldn't be pretty when I got out. I'd kill them all.

LUCYS DREAM* p.o.v.

It was right there, literally centimetres in front of me. Was it really that hard of a choice? Had I hesitated for too long? One step, and I had to choose right. Or I could die. This was real, wasn't it? To go right, into the freezing ice ocean. Or to go left, into the boiling hot waters. Did it even matter? I would probably die from both of them. But the choice was, what way to die? At the hands of heat? Or cold?

But it wasn't so hard anymore. I'd known all along. I wasn't the one for the cold. I took the step. And plunged into the heated sea.

LUCY* p.o.v.

I awoke from a powerful jostle, I groaned and squirmed. The last thing I remembered was Levy crying out to me. Was that all a dream? I was still inside my glass cell, wasn't I? But the cell didn't move... I looked up to see a man with pink hair carrying me. He was Natsu, but he looked so old. Oh, right. We aren't children anymore. Another jostle made my head whip up, then back down. I heard my neck crack, but I was fairly certain that there was no significant damage.

"Ow-wow." I stammered as we ran into another bump.

"She's awake." Natsu tools somebody without looking at me.

"Natsu?" I asked, my voice cracking. He was tensed up. His face empty of emotion, no determination, no anger, no happiness. Nothing.

"Ok!" Yelled back a hysterical voice. It sounded like Gray's, but much deeper. I yawned and saw Natsu's face soften a bit.

"You can go back to sleep. We'll be out of here soon." He said quietly. I nodded, which was a mistake because my neck still hurt. I defiantly couldn't sleep during this, no matter how tired I was. So I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, hearing Natsu's breaths get heavier and heavier. I trusted him, we'd be safe soon.

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TA-DA!! SURPRISE, NO CLIFFHANGER THIS WEEK! I KNOW SOME PEOPLE LIKE THEM, SO THEY WILL PROBABLY COME BACK, BUT I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT TODAY. ACTUALLY, I GUESS THIS SORTA IS A CLIFFHANGER BUT WHATEVER. SO IDK IF YOU GUYS HAVE INSTAGRAM, MY ACCOUNT IS @fandomforever_ SO YOU CAN FOLLOW IF YOU WANT XD ALSO, IF YOU WANNA POST A PICTURE FOR THIS FANFIC YOU COULD USE THE HASHTAG #AITD BC THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!!

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