Lucy forced herself to keep on moving, even though it was hard to make her body obey her strong will.

Heavily breathing she hopelessly tried to make her trembling hands continue keeping her standing with support from the walls of the stone-build tunnel. The tunnel truly seemed endless in Lucy's eyes.

She knew that her wounds were terrible and she knew that they seriously needed to be taken care of. But something was wrong about the pained roar she had heard before. It had not been the usual battle-roar Natsu would let go off in the middle of a fight; it had somewhat sounded more like a cry for help.

Lucy knew that in the condition she was in right now, she would not be any help at all. But that was a fact she did not care one bit about. She just wanted to be sure that Natsu was okay, she could not stand the uneasy feeling in her chest, and that was why she kept her wounded body from falling.

Her body was worn out from the battle between her and a serious opponent. She had not expected that the ugly beast lurking in the tunnels under the enormous castle would be that big a deal.

She had felt so useful when she had told Erza, Jubia, Gray, Wendy, Charle, Happy and of course Natsu, to go on. She had promised a worried Jubia that she would catch up with them, refused Wendy's help (concluding that her skills were more used in the upcoming battles) and smiled gratefully at Erza's proud smirk.

What Lucy had not anticipated though, was that the mud-colored beast was going to be that difficult to kill.

She had used Aquarius, Gemini, Leo and Scorpios for pretty damn long time, and was now completely drained from magic and power.

She weakly wondered whether to just lay down in the water, that ran through the tunnels, letting the dirty stream clean her injuries or just keep on moving. Then another aching roar tore apart the air, sending a new wave of determinism through her.

Even if it was going to drain the very last string of power out of her, she was going to make sure Natsu was unharmed, or at least not dead.

Finally she caught sight of the end of the tunnel and the stairs that lead up to the hall. She guessed the others had been walking there hours earlier. She used the last shot of energy she had left to push herself up the stairs before collapsing into the enormous room.

Taking in the harm that had already been done to the place, she guessed that she was already where Natsu were fighting. Two of the walls were smashed into halves, and the stones that used to be one with the stone-barricade were spread across the matching stone-floor.

She could not take in the rest; her vision grew blurred as she desperately tried to find the familiar face she was looking for. Just the color pink would have made her hopefully cling to the hope that the roar she had heard before was just her imagination.

There. He was right there, looking at her with stunned eyes. His mouth moved, but she could not hear what he said, instead it tucked on the corner of her lips that he were not dead.

Even though he lied on the ground, brows furrowed as he yet again tried to call her, covered in bruises and blood, she knew he was well. What had she expected anyway? Of course he was alive! It was Natsu after all.

That roar had just freaked the hell out of her that was all.

She felt hot tears swell up in her eyes as she gratefully smiled to whatever kind of God that looked out for her and her friends like that.

He had not expected to see her there. Hell, he had not expected to see her at all before the fight with this shadow-electricity-man was over.

He did not know why she was there, or how she got to the entrance to the hall. All he knew was that she was covered in lots of injures, deep wounds and blood.

The smell of her blood made his nose feel like it tore apart. He felt the dizziness as he noticed just how much blood she was actually covered in. It was a sight he would never ever think of having to see.

"Lucy?" He yelled frustrated. He had some problem with his left leg; it had been plagued by a strange shadow-electricity magic, and God damn it was painful. But it felt like nothing compared to the pain he felt inside, seeing Lucy in her current state.

"LUCY!" he almost screamed before he saw tears stream down her face, and got seriously confused when a smile played on her lips. What the fuck was wrong with her?

He desperately tried to stand, crawling along the floor, trying to get to her. What the fuck was she playing at! And holy shit, he felt like giving away his injured leg if he got some fire to eat in return.

To say that he were not literally pissed off when that shadow-guy kicked him in the face, sending him into the wall in the opposite direction of Lucy, was a underestimating. He was ready to rip his head off.

If he had some god damn fire he could easily kick that guy's stinking ass!

"What're you doing, scum. You should focus on the fight instead of a woman!" he hovered, snorting arrogantly.

Natsu ignored him, his eyes was set on Lucy as she weakly glanced back at him. He removed some blood from the corner of his mouth, with his palm, before slowly getting up again.

It was as if realization suddenly hit him; she was in an awful state. So awful that she needed rest, bandages and probably a doctor too, and that had to be soon.

He stood up, forgetting about his pained leg and his own injuries; he was sure to live. But Lucy… It was as if her eyes slowly grew more and more lifeless, which frightened him. Those usually lively and determined eyes were slowly drained for life.

Making his way to her with quick steps, he felt the sudden urge to kill whatever or whoever did this to her. Was it that disgusting beast? The beast that smelled horrible? Had it really been that strong?

He stopped in his tracks as Lucy lifted her trembling hand from the ground, reaching out to him through her tears before being picked up into the air by the shadow-man.

The shadow-man wore a toothy grin as he made a shadow-sword, its blade thundering with electricity.

"I simply can't take that this girl is more worth your attention than I am." The man laughed, making the rage boil inside of Natsu.

"Put her down." Natsu dangerously growled. His aura quickly turning into murderously as he watched the man's grip around Lucy's neck tighten, and how her uneven breathing made the blood stream out of her open wounds.

"Ooooouh! Now you're serious, eh?" the man shot his head back with laughter. The grip around the vulnerable neck in his hands tightened even more if possible. Natsu's heart ached as he heard Lucy gasp for air, whimpering slightly. It stung his eyes seeing the way she frantically clutched the man's hand, trying to remove it from her fragile neck. And when she forced her tearstained face to look up at the man and pleadingly whispered:

"S-s-s-stop." So low and so soft that if Natsu hadn't got his inhuman hearing he probably would not have heard it, it was like a trigger going off. Flames building from nowhere, but his heart, surrounded him as he crazily lunged himself at the shadow-man who's laughter still had not died yet.

The man dodged the frightening attack that destroyed the last wall standing completely with a surprised expression. His face light up in a questioningly smirk as he watched Natsu hazardously make his way towards him again.

"Ohou! It is fascinating me how protective you are for this beautiful young lady." The man rasped softly caressing the weak form in his grasp. Natsu's eyes narrowed dangerously, rage now filling his whole being.

"I TOLD YOU TO PUT HER DOWN!" his voice thundered with fury, startling Lucy who had never seen him this angry. Not even that time he fought Gazille… Maybe this was the look Natsu had given Gerard? Feeling the firm hands around her neck tightening a little again, she winched and made a quick inhaling of air.

Natsu charged yet again, but the man dodged the horrifying flames that angrily tried to catch him again.

"It sure would be fun to see your reaction to death…" the man mused which made both Natsu and Lucy's eyes widen in shock.

Lucy herself did not believe it. The man holding her neck reeked of death, but somehow her heart managed to be calm anyway. She relied too much on Natsu, she really did. But she trusted him. He would stop the man before the dangerous electricity-filled shadow sword reached her body, she was sure of it.

As if realization had suddenly grabbed her shoulders and yelled angrily at her, she noticed just how far away Natsu was from them; no matter how fast he was, he would not reach them in time. She noticed how little power she had left, and how her own hold on the man's hands was beginning to betray her. She noticed just how freaking dangerous that sword looked, and how good the man seemed to control it.

She forced her teary face to look at Natsu. Natsu's insides tore completely apart when her frightened and oh so empty eyes locked with his. Her soft voice echoed loudly in his head, as if she was yelling the words at him, before the man sliced her directly into the stomach and a piercing scream ripped through the air.

His world went red. There were no other words to describe the sensation. Flames were everywhere, calculating themselves as their controllers heart desired. He watched her numb body sprawled on the floor, blood flooding the ground surrounding her, as her lifeless eyes stared into nothing, her soft voice still echoing.

"Help me."

Well, did you like it? : D

This was made out of pure boredom. I don't know if the magic the enemy uses already exists in Fairy Tail, which I really don't hope.

I am in the middle of writing a second chapter, but I don't know whether that would ruin the story or… yearh… Tell me what you think? : )