Light My Fire [Nalu] {The FT Love Chronicles; Book 3}

Chapter Sixteen

~Lucy~

“Are—are you s-sure this is the right way?” Lucy asked Eliana, clutching onto Natsu's right arm tightly as they walked deeper into the creepy building. Although it couldn't have been that old, the place looked like an old haunted house that someone would write ghost stories about. The bricks were faded and crumbling, and spiderwebs hung from most of the ceiling. Small footsteps could be heard as the rodent inhabitants of the building scurried away from them and into hiding. “This place is giving me the creeps!” She cried.

“Once we find stairs, we should be able to get to the cellar,” Eliana said. Although it was dark, Eliana led them confidently through the building, almost as if she had been inside it before.

“What if they did build this over top of it, and there is no way of getting to the cellar from inside?” Natsu asked, skeptically. Lucy didn't really blame him for wondering; they had been following Eliana around for almost ten minutes, and they still hadn't found a way underneath the building.

“Then we'll just make a way down there,” Eliana shrugged.

“Over here!” Happy called from behind Lucy, causing her to jump and her grip to tighten around Natsu's arm. “I think I found a trap door in the floor!”

“Nice job, Happy!” Natsu smiled, pulling the rusty handle of the small door up to open it. With a loud creak that echoed through the empty halls around them, it opened to reveal a set of downward-spiraling stairs which disappeared into the darkness, leading to the unknown beneath them.

“Let's go,” Eliana said, beginning to walk down the stairs.

Natsu grabbed her arm before jumping in front of her. “I'll go first,” he told her, fire in his palm making a makeshift torch. “I have the light source, and I still don't trust you, to be honest.”

“Fine,” she frowned, crossing her arms. “I'll follow behind Lucy then, just in case anything happens.”

“In case of what happening?” Lucy asked, nervously. She never relaxed her hold on Natsu as they slowly descended the stairs into the cellar.

“I don't know,” Eliana shrugged, smiling in an attempt to ease Lucy's fears, “I'm just taking precautions and preparing for anything.”

“R-right,” Lucy nodded, not really feeling any safer. I'm sure this place has bad vibes, considering what happened here. I just hope the experiment notes and everything are still here so I can use them to help Eliana! I need to unseal her magic so that she doesn't have to live in fear of hurting anyone. If I'm lucky, those wizards will have written down how they sealed her magic—or how to undo the spell on her.

“N-Natsu, I don't like it down here,” Happy said as they continued walking. Lucy noticed that he was shaking slightly, so she scooped him up with her free arm, squeezing him against her chest reassuringly. “Th-thanks,” he told her, holding onto her shirt.

“Don't worry, little buddy, we'll be in and out of here in no time,” Natsu told him.

“Does any of this look familiar Eliana?” Lucy asked. When she didn't answer, Lucy turned to look at her. “Eliana?” Lucy stopped walking, bringing Natsu to a halt with her. Eliana was no longer behind them, nor could Lucy hear her footsteps from anywhere close.

“Where did she go?” Natsu asked, walking back up the stairs a few feet.

“She was right behind us a minute ago,” Lucy frowned. “I don't think I sensed her going back to the spirit world, either.”

“Maybe she did and you just weren't paying attention,” Happy suggested.

“That could be it,” Lucy said, but she didn't think that was the case. She definitely would have sensed one of her spirits' gates opening for them to return to the spirit world. Something about this doesn't seem right. Maybe she's a little afraid because of the bad memories she has of this place, so she decided not to follow us.