{Natsu POV}No one talked.
No one said ANYTHING.
I was in too much shock to care.
"We've been...What?"
I didn't know what was wrong with me. We were gone for seven long years before. Why did this shock me so badly now?
"We found out you were missing about a year ago." Erza explained. "And we kept on searching for you: Asking the Council, using Warren's magic, the dragon slayers' noses, even Hibiki's archive magic. Nothing worked..."
"It was as if you disappeared from the earth completely." Gray said. "Nothing we did found you."
"And we've been working at it ever since." Levy said. "That is...Until about a week ago..."
Lucy's hand was crushing mine. I was doing the same.
"My disgrace of a dad showed up and kinda revealed where you guys were." Laxus said, crossing his arms. His voice was rougher. "He was just trying to show us how you guys looked, chained up like that with some kind of magical hologram."
"Hibiki used his magic to track the magic, and we found you..." Mira-Chan said.
Silence.
"So...Raven Tail was behind it..." I could hear the guilt in her voice. "Again..."
I looked over at Lucy. Her body was shaking. I looked away, afraid to see her cry again.
"Lucy, it's not--"
"I know." Lucy said, wiping her tears quickly. "I know, I'm okay."
She looked up. "Did you guys...manage to catch them?"
No one said anything. "I see..." She took a deep breath. "That's...Thats alright."
{Lucy POV}
"There's also something else, Lucy." Erza said. I looked at her. Her face contorted into a look of pain, and sadness, and she looked away.
"What is it? I can take it." I said, my voice starting to become softer. "I...I can take it."
Gray sighed. "I don't think you can."
I looked at him as well. "I can take it. Tell me."
He reluctantly stared back at me, then looked away. "Your...Your new guildmark..."
I stopped. My world stopped. Everything stopped. I felt the blood draining from my face as I realized what he meant, and slowly looked at the mark on my arm.
There it was.
Again.
My nightmare.
Again.
My breathing came out in shallow gasps. Natsu saw as well, and a vein popped in his forehead.
"Those bastards...!"
I didn't even realize, but a tear fell my eyes.
"Again...?" I asked. It was disgusting. It was horrifying. I never thought that there would be a day when I look at my skin and want to puke.
I covered it with my hand, and clenched it. It's ok...it's ok, Lucy! Be grateful that you're with your friends, your family! Be grateful that you're alive! Be grateful that you're even here... You even have Natsu with you...be grateful you're here!
I don't want to be here. I don't want to be alive.
I want to DIE.
I clenched my fists tighter, digging my nails into my skin. A line of blood slid down my arm.
"Stop it."
Natsu's hand stopped me from digging any deeper.
"I said, stop it." He said. "Don't do that to yourself."
I let go, and Wendy walked over to quickly heal it. It stung for a bit, but soon, the wound closed up. I watched it.
What the hell did I do to deserve this?
"I'm...I'm going to go take a walk..." I said, standing up. "Clear my head and...stuff."
I walked out of the guild. No one stopped me.
I started to walk in the unfamiliar streets. There was MUCH more change to them than when I was gone for seven years.
Maybe going through it once was okay. Those seven years weren't bad, and we got used it.
But going through it a SECOND time...
The trauma...the amount of sorrow I had to go through the first time...
It was as if Papa had died all over again.
I found myself walking into the East Forest, where Porlyusica's house was located. I passed by her house, but didn't say anything. I continued to walk, lost in my thoughts, when I ended up on a cliff.
"A cliff..."
Maybe life IS telling me to die.
I looked at the waters below me. They were shimmering, and moving gently. I wonder if that'll be ruined soon enough.
I slowly moved closer and closer to the edge.
My thoughts were filled with my friends, my family.
"And I told them I'd clear my head..." I said, a small chuckle escaping my lips. "I guess this is one way..."
I knew I was being dramatic. But...I just couldn't help it. I guess being dramatic was my thing.
I took a step closer and slipped. I didn't yell, and just felt myself plunging closer and closer to my death.
So this is it...
My life is over...
Splash!
The cold water froze my nerves, as I drowned away to the gates of Hell.