Weak Lucy- (weak; took all the pain and suffering Lucy had felt through her whole life)

Cheerful Lucy- the Lucy that Natsu met in Hargeon;(has no magic power; took all the emotions of joy and wonder)

Hateful Lucy- the Lucy that tortured Natsu and is now working for Ezell (took all the anger and resentment; has the magic power and most of the intelligence)

Pirate Lucy- the Lucy that became a pirate, amazon, monster princess, village savior, etc. (no magic power; got all the strength; feels no emotion)

Erza's solemn eyes drifted towards the ice mage. The dislocated bone on his knee looked pretty obvious even from where she was watching him. The ice mage stood up on two feet without any support from the wall yet even before he could take one step, he fell face first.

The redhead sighed and walked towards the man. When he still didn't lift his body up or much less look at her, she kicked him lightly "What do you think you're doing?"

But Gray was too exhausted to even move a limb and his body was too numb that he didn't even feel titania kick him. Yet, he still had enough to put on a sarcastic tone "I'm raping the floor."

That only rewarded him with his head being lifted up forcibly and getting thrown to a wall so he was sitting against it. He was still too numb to feel anything at all.

Erza went to him and they sat beside each other in silence. Gray was the first one to talk "Shima gave me some info…"

"Asehi did too…"

"They must've known their fate…"

"I just can't get why they did this in the first place anyway…"

The raven haired mage just chuckled humorlessly "Shima said something about reviving the only thing you can't live without shit…"

Even if he had said it like that, Erza could hear a tone of admiration and anger on his voice. "But damn…" he continued "They were really stupid. It took Lucy to make them realize what an assed decision they made…"

"Lucy? You say?"

"Yeah… she told them what the ones who they lost must've taught about their 'shameful' actions. If they really wanted to be revived or not…"

"It seems that you have a lot to tell… carry on…"

::..::..::

As pirate Lucy went around for perimeter check, Natsu was left with cheerful Lucy who didn't look cheerful at all.

"Neh Lucy…"

"Hmmm…"

"What did I do to you?"

The blonde chuckled darkly "Now you ask?"

"Please?"

She sighed but didn't speak.

The dragon slayer stared at her making it uncomfortable for the girl. Finally, she spoke "Realize it yourself Natsu, that way, you might know how to set it right…"

He sheepishly scratched his head and looked away "If it's about that Lisanna, then I'm sorry. And I'm sorry it took this long to say I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

The blonde maintained her expressionless face "If you can answer this question, maybe I will." Then with pure grave eyes he looked at him "Did your sorry make everything all right, right now?"

"I'm done. Now let's move those lazy asses so we can find the other friggin bodies and Zairen." Pirate Lucy came in before Natsu could answer and by the looks of it, he didn't even have any.

The three walked around the cave until suddenly, they heard screaming…

::..::..::

"Do you think we should follow what Asehi said?" Erza asked as the ice broke on the ice mage's knee.

Gray grinned in pain as the redhead's arms went around it "I think he's just giving us a friendly advice. But to honor his last words, we might as well do it." He bit into a cloth. Then soon as Erza forced his bones to its right places, he let out a muffled scream.

"So you're saying we should follow him?"

After calming down, Gray massaged his knee and said sarcastically "Sure, let's leave Natsu to handle all of it! He can do it alone!" though the weight of guilt obviously pressed on his statement as he said this "But let's not forget ours. After all, he didn't directly say that we could go and find out about what Ezell's up to."

::..::..::

A hooded dark dressed girl released her golden whip and slashed it on a blonde girl crucified on the wall of the dungeon. On every whip, a wound would tattoo itself on the girl's body and each of it made her scream helplessly.

She had no more strength to beg and cry, all of it was already being wasted on her screams. Yet, the pain that the goth was inflicting upon her seemed endless.

That is the scene that welcomed the trio soon as they entered the torture chamber.

The Lucy 2 was the one who cried out and Lucy 4 was the one who seemed to act on instinct and attacked the goth.

Natsu then ran to the crucified blonde and removed her from it. That was when he realized, it was the other Lucy. Lucy 1 aka the weak Lucy. But scars covered her everywhere to the point that she was almost unrecognizable.

It made him mad… seeing his nakama hurt and bruised like that. That was when he also decided to advance and attack.

::..::..::

Lucy 2 and pirate Lucy didn't exactly understand what happened yet here was Natsu, lifting up a beaten up goth on her collar, looking as though he was still not finished with his activity.

"You did it again Natsu…" she spoke… in Lucy's voice.

Natsu's eyes snapped at her.

The girl grinned at him and kicked his stomach.

"You never fail to torment me without any hesitations do you?" came her comment after landing on two feet.

Natsu, too confused to act, just stared at her.

The goth removed the hood and that was when he realized it… she was Lucy… only with dark hair and eyes that complimented her dark clothes.

Her eyes held great pain than he had ever seen and along it was a double amount of hate… directed at him.

"I always wondered how you manage to do that." She stood up and flipped her hair. Then with a seductive grin she murmured "We'll be waiting for you." she turned her back and disappeared.

::..::..::

The two mages ran around the turns and twists the tunnels were giving them. So far, 5 dead-ends and 3 empty rooms.

Gray, after flinching for about the hundredth time, finally fell and taking in a sharp breath.

Erza, noticing his pain walked back towards him and offered a hand. As the ice mage took her hand, his other hand grabbed the nearest root near them.

When he did so, a trap door opened itself below them. They freaked and tried grabbing anything but alas, there was nothing beyond reach.

"ICE MAKE! GRA-gah!" it was not the best time for his knee to make him suffer the pain… again.

Erza unleashed her sword and tried stabbing the wall but, it was too hard that it pierced so little it gave her only 3 seconds to stop falling.

Lucky them, when they landed, it was not a trap. Rather, it led to a small room… that was filled with girl's pictures. Particularly, girls with both brown hair and brown eyes.

::..::..::

Sneak peak…

"Show yourself you son of a goddamn bitch! Underserving creature!"

"Beauty and the beast? That fairy tale?"

Okay… sorry you guys…. I ask for your apology. For the lateness, the shortness and everything else. I still hope you all still continue reading mah stories!