All characters belong to Fairy Tail's owner and creator. No infringement intended. Please enjoy. This was my second Fan Fic. Rated T for violence and language. This has been recently updated to improve the writing.

Personal Demons

Lost Chapter One

Natsu and Lucy strode into Fairy Tail. Their steps were methodical but shaky. They were ignoring each other trying not to look. If their eyes met they would be able to see it all mirrored in their eyes. Vomit filled their lungs at the thought. They choked it back in steadying breaths. Act normal. That was all they had to do. Act normal and they could return to before the request. Everything could return to how it had been. The blissful unknown paradise of their life could return. They could be happy again. Was that even possible?

Lucy walked towards the bar. Her steps were growing shakier as the fear began to sweep over her. She felt the eyes of the guild on her back. The eyes were burning holes into her that was making it worse. Burning. Lucy tried not to scream at the thought. That word had become a prison of fear. She had to choke it back. If she spoke about it, it would have to be real. It could've been a horrible dream, right? That horrible thing couldn't have happened to her. No. She was innocent. She was trying to help the world. Natsu would've protected her. Natsu. Fire. She cringed at the thought but her mind continued to try and deny it. She would've been saved before it could happen like before. She didn't just survive the worst event in her life.

"Hey Lucy how was the request?" Mirajane asked cheerfully. The request she didn't want to think about it. Mirajane didn't know anything was wrong. She had to act normal. She couldn't be different. She struggled to remember what she would've said before. What would she say?

"Fine," Lucy managed to say. That was normal wasn't it? Mirajane looked at her. She could tell something was wrong. Lucy felt the pressing questions linger on Mirajane's tongue before she spoke. She somehow knew. No. She couldn't know something was wrong. Everything was fine. It had to be.

"Did something happen between you and Natsu?" Mirajane asked. Natsu. Fire. Lucy covered her mouth trying not to scream. She rushed out of the guild all eyes on her as she left. Tears were lingering on her eyes as she ran. She didn't care that the real problem had been evaded. She was ashamed of her fear and the reason she now cringed at her best friend's name. "That was strange. Hey Levy can you see if Lucy is alright? I think something happened between her and Natsu." Mirajane said. She was hoping it was something good. She had tried to pair the two off for years but they were stubborn. She always thought only a near death experience would break the barrier they had with an actual relationship. However, Lucy's reaction made her worry. It wasn't like her. She was stiff.

What about Natsu? She turned her perceptive eyes towards him. He was just sitting on a bench silent. He looked limp. He wasn't himself. Happy had to be around somewhere. Maybe Happy could do something.

"Sure Mira-chan," Levy said bounding off after Lucy. Mirajane nodded heading off to find where Happy would be lounging with a fish.

"Luc-chan!" Levy yelled chasing Lucy down the street near the river. Lucy stopped as she caught up. She was trying not to look at the river. She was trying not to look at anything. Anything and everything could be a reminder of the nightmare. It couldn't be real.

She noticed the presence of someone. She turned and looked over at Levy. Blue hair. Blue. Lucy cringed trying not to think about it. She was trying desperately to hide it. She didn't want them to know. She didn't want the questions that would inevitably come. She couldn't bare it.

"What happened with Natsu?" Natsu. Fire. Lucy couldn't hold her scream or keep from running away. Her resolve was breaking. She wasn't strong enough to keep it in. She couldn't return to being normal.

Her sudden reaction startled and scared Levy. She knew something wasn't right. She began to feel it in her bones. It was like a dark shadow had barreled into her feeling with a dread that was nearly crushing her. She needed to know and understand. She wasted to help. This wasn't like Lucy. Not at all. Levy followed after Lucy trying to corner her by the bridge over the river. "Lu-chan what's wrong?" She was desperate for answers to resolve the dread.

"I'm fine." Lucy said mechanically. "I'm fine." She started repeating it over and over again. She had to be. She had to convince herself she was. If not…everything would be shattered. Everything could never be the same.

"Lu-chan what happened?" Levy asked again reaching for her hand to pull her into a hug. Lucy screamed staring at her blue hair that was moving closer. Blue! Lucy flared her arms trying to push her away. In the process she lost her balance and tumbled backwards over the railing into the water below. It was all happening in slow motion. It was like a dream. It had to be a dream she thought.

Then she hit the water. Water. Cold. She remembered what came next. Pain. She scrambled frantically to the surface. She swam in frantic bursts with lots of splashing as she reached for the side. She was trying to pull herself out as Levy ran over to her friend's aid.

"Don't walk on the edge Lucy. It's dangerous," the old men in the boat said riding down the river. Levy stared at her friend as she sat on the ground. She hung her head as the water dripped around her crumpled form. Tears were intermingling with the water. She wanted it to all go away. She didn't want to live like this. She couldn't face it. She was a coward. She knew it. She wanted it to disappear. She wanted to disappear.

Erza who was walking back from town witnessed the incident. She rushed over. She was excited to see Lucy again. They had been gone a long time. However, the incident seemed unlike her. As she reached the two she felt the dread over Levy. It wasn't like Levy. She knew right away something was deathly wrong.

"What's wrong? Lucy are you okay?" she asked gently. She wasn't sure if Lucy would respond. She was anxiously waiting.

Lucy didn't look at Erza. She rose to her feet slowly her tears disguised in the water running from her hari.

"Lucy?" Erza's voice broke into her mind. She looked over at her but all she saw was her hair. Red. Fire. Pain. She screamed covering her mouth nearly falling back into the water. Erza grabbed her arm pulling her away from the water's edge. "What's wrong?" Erza asked a little more sternly. She somehow had to get her to respond. She had to speak. Lucy pulled from Erza's grip roughly. She just stood there dripping wet as a breeze blew through them. She seemed lifeless. A zombie just standing there looking at the ground. Erza was trying to understand what they weren't getting.

Lucy closed her eyes but all she could see was fire. The image of red was lingering. Her feet took on a mind of their own and began to propel her away but Erza caught her. She wasn't going to let her go. "Lucy talk to us. Did that Natsu her you?" she growled ready to pummel Natsu if he had. It was her only conclusion. She could never guess close to the truth. Not if she guessed for a hundred years would she have thought the truth was possible. Lucy shook her head no. She couldn't trust her voice. She couldn't trust her mind. The words Natsu meant fire. Fire meant pain. She looked up at Erza and collapsed to her knees startling the two girls. She hid her face in her hands as she began to sob.

It was all over. They knew something was wrong. It was true. It was really true. She could try to deny it. She could come up with a lie. Something else was wrong. It wasn't this. A stomachache. A headache. Anything would work.

"Lu-chan what's wrong? Tell us," Levy said. She couldn't think of anything to say. Nothing could hide it.

"Who did this to you?" Erza asked. Pain rippled through her body and she covered the new key on her waist with her hand. It was growing red as she gripped it. It was a black key. A key few even knew existed. A key that shouldn't exist.

As she gripped the key Levy realized she hadn't see Plue or any of the other Celestial Spirits around. They normally popped out without asking when Lucy was at the guild. At least Leo would be around talking with everyone. He no doubt had helped with whatever the request had been. He was the go to Celestial when things got hard. Nothing about Lucy was right. She almost wanted Leo to pop up so she could ask and Lucy didn't have to say it. She saw how hard everything was for Lucy. She didn't want to give her more grief but they had to know.

"Where's Plue?" Levy asked.

"Home," Lucy managed to say between tears.

"Can you call him?" Lucy shook her head no. "Why?" Lucy couldn't say anything. The black key burned her skin as she held it tightly but she didn't care. She felt worst. No matter what it wasn't coming out. She wouldn't let it. She'd deal with not being able to call her spirits forever if she had to. As long as He didn't come back out she could survive.

"Go away. I'm fine. I'm fine." Lucy said over and over again holding her legs rocking back and forth tears falling down her cheeks. She was trying to convince herself again. She had to be alright. Everything had to be fine.

"Let's take her to the Master." Erza said helping Lucy up. She noticed how she shied away from her red hair so Erza pulled it back into a ponytail. It seemed to help settle Lucy a little. It was at least something she could do for her. She had to hope the Master could do more.

Gray and Gajeel walked over as they entered. Lucy screamed trying to run off again but Erza held her stiffly.

"Come on not you too!" Gray said. He looked tired and deflated. He seemed confused as well.

"You too?" Erza asked. It couldn't be both of them. Something couldn't have happened to both of them. If it did…she didn't want to ponder what could have happened.

"Yeah, Natsu spilled his drink on me and I got up ready to fight him. Like he can't just do that and get away with it. I got up ice in my hand and he screamed. I've never heard him scream like that in my life. He kept yelling 'Ice,' 'Ice' 'Ice' while running out of the guild. I yelled he was a coward and he just kept going. He didn't care. He wasn't getting 'All fired up'."

Lucy screamed at the word fire. Gray stared at her. She was trying hard to break free from Erza but she head fire. The image of pain was rolling around in her mind.

"It's got me worried and Gajeel wanted to find Levy so he was going to cme with me." Gray explained still looking at Lucy with worry. She looks like a scared animal. He thought.

"I've never seen Salamander run so fast." Gajeel said laughing. Erza glared at him and Levy punched his arm. He seemed to not understand what was going on. It was a desperate situation.

"That's not funny Gajeel. Something's wrong." Levy said tears in her eyes. Gajeel clamped his jaw shut. He didn't like seeing Levy with such an expression on her face. If Levy was worried he realized he should be as well.

"Go find Natsu and meet in Makarov's office." Mirajane said walking over. "The two of them are acting out of character."

"Let's go Gajeel," Gray said rushing off. He wanted to know what had happened. He realized it had to be serious to grant the reactions he had seen.

Erza held Lucy as they walked towards the steps. She was shaking and as they walked. She nearly screamed. She felt the eyes burning into her again. There were too many men in particular watching. Men had done this to her. Their cold, burning eyes. She cringed at the thought. If only she could rein in her thoughts but they were spiraling around her.

Elfman walked towards them but Mirajane stopped him.

"Something's wrong. They're going to Makarov," Mirajane said. Elfman nodded.

"They're going to see a real man." Elfman said. Mirajane walked back to the bar. It was all wrong and she knew it. The most horrible thought crept into her mind. She had seen it once before but she dared not say it. She didn't want it to be true. Makarov would be able to tell right away. If he saw it then there was a long road to recovery for two of her favorite Fairy Tail wizards.

Erza rushed Lucy up to Makarov's office and sat her in the seat in front of his desk. She sat there shaking pulling her legs into her chest repeating over and over again she was fine.

"Go get Makarov." Erza said to Levy who rushed out. Erza turned to Lucy. She needed to break this cycle. She had to say something else. "What happened?" Lucy didn't seem to hear her. Erza tried something different. "You went on the request right?" Maybe should could steer her into shaking her head at least.

Lucy thought. Request? Yes. It had been a request. Nothing more. She could say that right? The key wouldn't do anything to her for saying yes. She nodded her head.

"Okay good. You met the poster at the Café in Brookfield right?" Erza said. Lucy thought again. Could she remember? Had they met the poster? It seemed so long ago. So awfully long ago. Yes! No. No. She shook her head no. "Why not?" The key glowed and she held it. It was burning her skin but she didn't register the pain. She just shut down again saying she was fine. Markarov walked in followed by Levy.

"What's wrong Erza?" Markarov asked walking to sit on his desk. Lucy saw his black and red vest. Lucy squealed hiding her head in her legs. She hated the color red. It made her stomach turn.

"The vest. It's red." Erza explained. Markarov changed into a white and blue one from his wardrobe in the room. He already guessed what was going on. He would wait to be sure before he dared utter the word.

Lucy relaxed in her chair. Natsu walked into the room held down by Gajeel. He was trying to escape desperately. Gray was following behind and stood in front of the door blocking it. Natsu saw Lucy and tried to run harder. Blonde hair. Blonde. Pain. His mind was starting to spiral out of control. He felt the fear in the depth of his soul. Fear was in him like it had never been before. He always had the courage before but now he didn't. He didn't have the confidence to say he had any courage. He was a coward. It was his fault. He knew it. This was all his fault. He couldn't face her. He couldn't face the Master. It was like facing a parent. He would disapprove. He would be disappointed. He couldn't stand that. He had to escape.

Gajeel forced him into the seat next to Lucy. If he had to sit and wait he couldn't be close to her. He pushed the chair away from her. They both turned and stared at one another, fear mirroring in their eyes.

Lucy started muttering she was fine again. Natsu just turned and stared straight ahead trying not to think. Trying not to let the memories rush at him. He had to clear his head. It wasn't true. It couldn't be. He was strong. He couldn't fail like this. He never failed like this before. It wasn't possible. Not in a hundred thousand years. No. It wasn't possible.

"What happened?" Markarov asked. Lucy wanted to say something but she couldn't. The key burned her skin more and Erza finally noticed. They all could smell her burning flesh.

"Lucy let go of that," Erza said trying to pry her fingers off it. Lucy went ballistic screaming "Don't let Him out!" over and over again. Erza pulled her fingers from it inspecting her burnt hand. Then she saw the key and nearly whimpered a cry.

A Demon key. How did Lucy have a Demon key? Why did she have one? What on Earth happened to them?