A drop of water fell on Lucy's face which was followed by several more. Her hands were bound together by... something. If she had to guess, it was probably rope.

She whispered softly, "Natsu...". There was no response. She was alone. Her surroundings were a mystery as well. The room she was in was pitch black. The only sound was the water dripping against the floor.

Lucy stretched her hand at a painful and awkward angle to reach her keys, but nothing was there; not even her whip. Somebody must have taken them once they tied her up.

Lucy fumbled with the ropes for several minutes, but the knot was too strong. It needed to be cut, but there was nothing around to cut it with to Lucy's knowledge.

In the distance, Lucy could hear a clicking noise. It gradually became louder and louder as time went by. Finally, all at once, the clicking stopped.

A bright light illuminated Lucy's surroundings. She was in a cell and standing on the other side of the cell door was a man with grey hair and circular glasses.

"Hello Lucy," said the stranger. "We thought you would never show up."

Gray still did not understand why Erza, Levy, and Gajeel decided to follow him. The only reason he was going to the estate was to make Lucy and Natsu come back to the guild.

"It should not be long now," Erza said. "By the time we climb back down the mountain, it will be sunset." She adjusted the strap on her backpack so casually that you would almost forget that she was carrying two times her body weight.

"Those two have been gone for two weeks," Gray pointed out. "They should have been back by now."

Gajeel looked down at the estate. From this distance, he could barely see it, but he still had a bad feeling. He said, "You guys may want to stick close to each other. There is a dark presence about that estate."

Levy covered her mouth in shock. "Do you think something bad happened to Lucy and Natsu?" She asked. Gajeel could not lie to her, but he could not give her a straight answer either.

Gajeel said, "There's only one way to find out." He took the lead with the rest of the group following closely behind.