Chapter Two! I 'm really glad that you guys liked Chapter 1! I think eleven reviews is the most I've ever gotten for the first chapter of a story! Thank you! Oh, and I have just realized I have been spelling Ms. Spetto's name wrong in all of my stories...

Chapter Two: Dreams and Guilds

I was pinned to the ground, choking, choking, choking…The mutated insect's legs pressed down on me, and I clutched at its human-like hands. I had never liked beetles, and this creature, whose feet were replaced with human hands, made my loathing deepen. I was on the ground and dying. Only twelve years old and my life would dwindle from me in my very own room, crushed under nothing but a six-legged creature that had come from nowhere. Maybe not "nowhere".

It had been exactly midnight when the sound had come. The front doors of our mansion had slammed open, and curious, I had gotten out of bed, my loose nightgown swirling around my delicate body. Then, as I had opened my bedroom door, something had slammed into me, hurtling me backwards. My head had hit the ground painfully, and next thing I knew, fingers had wrapped themselves around my neck.

"Let….me…g-!"

I couldn't finish the sentence. The insect squeezed harder, harder, and looked like it was enjoying taking the life out of me. Suddenly it emitted a horrible, spine-chilling scream and erupted into a volcano of black liquid. Someone strong pulled me out of the way, and as the fluid met ground, the bedroom floor sizzled and disappeared from sight. I grasped familiar hands.

"Daddy!"

"Lucy…" he said breathlessly, and hugged me tightly. He dropped a knife from his hands as he did so, and it clattered onto the ground, melting away from the black tar that clung to it. Next to him was mother, who was swearing besides her comments that it was distasteful and vulgar. Some of the acid had splattered on her gown, and she was ripping off the area that was smoking.

"Mommy…" I gasped, almost touching the dangerous stuff. Mother grabbed my hands before I could do so, crying out in fear.

"We need to get out of here," Daddy panted, and got up unsteadily. He walked over to my bedroom door. "If we close it, it'll buy us more-!"

Suddenly, Father made a horrible yelping sound, then it turned into gurgling. Layla, my mother screamed in anguish, "Jude!"

"DADDY!" I shouted, and was held back by my mother before I could run over to him.

A long pincher had been pierced through Jude Heartfilia, coming from the front of his body and protruding out his back. He lifted a pale hand.

"Get…out of here…"

A sickening squelch was made as the pincher that had been thrust through him was pulled out and some kind of bug made its way through. I screamed long and hard, even as my throat burned from it. The creature was not normal. Besides being gargantuan, it had a scaly lizard's body, and the tail of a scorpion. Its head was of an insect's, right down to the multiple eyes. Layla draped me over her shoulder and rushed over to the window on the other side of the room. Tears were streaming down her face, but she didn't hesitate, even for a second.

"Go!" she said, lifting me to the windowsill. She reached out her hand to pull herself up as well, but her face widened in shock, and went white. "Huh…"

Her hands reached towards her back, and I screamed as that familiar insect weapon from before went through her. As before, it was pulled out at Layla crumpled onto the floor in front of me.

"MOMMY!" I screeched. The bug was right in front of me, whirling is pinchers, eager for the next kill. I hated the thing so intensely, and I went mad for a second. I launched myself off from the window and grabbed its disturbing head. Angrily, I latched onto its pinchers and snapped them off. It squealed in displeasure, and I did the only thing I could. I grabbed a nearby lamp and hit its head as hard as I could. I crumpled to the ground, but did not burst into remains as the one before it had. Throughout the rest of the house, I could hear similar squeals and yelps of the monster before me. Breath quickening, pulse racing, I bounded towards the window, painfully tearing my eyes away from my mother and father and I climbed onto the windowsill. The nightly breeze danced through my hair, and before me, on the night of the new moon, I could not see a thing. Looking below me, I hesitated on climbing down. A shrill screech behind me was heard, and in that moment of shock, I lost my footing and went tumbling down the roof. Shingles shook loose as my elbows or knees hit them, and painfully, I stopped at one of the many statues that lined the corner of the mansion roof. The carving seemed to be of a fish, but I couldn't be sure as it dropped from the edge. With a jolt, I realized I was rolling again. I flung out my hands to grab the roof, and I could feel my hands being bloodied from the process, but it was futile. All I could manage to hold on to was a shingle, which broke loose as I slid down farther still.

My slide down the roof quickened and all fear blocked any screams that I had any intention of letting out. All I could feel beneath me was air as I freefell, and landed…

Branches and thorns scratched my face as someone pulled on my pajama collar. It was consistent and perpetual, as if the individual were trying to get me unstuck from somewhere. I had barely enough strength to open my eyes, let alone help them, so I lay there, useless and exhausted. My mind felt foggy, and I could barely remember anything. Sunlight seemed to stream into my eyes as the person pulling on me freed me at last.

"Lucy dear, are you awake?" an elderly voice inquired, clogged with sorrow. It was Ms. Spetto.

I did not answer. My consciousness was weaving in and out. A sudden dizziness would overtake me, and then I would awaken, only to pass out at once.

"Lucy…"

More pulling. I felt grass rubbing by under me as the maid dragged me to our peach orchard. The aromas hit me immediately, and birds chirped nervously in the leaves.

"Not safe here…"

She was saying, along with, "They said they'll come back…"

I found myself wondering what had happened. All I could remember was watching an old movie with Mother and Father, then going to bed right after Layla had ordered me to brush my teeth…

What had happened after then?

Several horrible images flashed before my eyes. A picture of a multiple-eyed insect with pinchers, one of them soaked with blood. Jude gasping and telling us to leave. Layla widening her eyes in surprise, then collapsing.

I gave out a sharp cry at the memories. My hands clawed at someone's wrinkled face. They reached up and pulled my hands away, settling them onto my chest again.

"Lucy dear!"

I attempted to lift my eyelids, but spots danced before my eyes, and I shut them quickly.

"Can you open your eyes?"

A slight shake of the head. My mouth wouldn't work, it wouldn't move, it wouldn't form the words I wanted to speak.

"Let's get you out of here Lucy."

I tried to speak, but again, my lips would not part. I had a horrible thought. What if I would forever be mute? What would I do then? How would I communicate? Not being able to speak meant no one would ever know of Layla and Jude Heartfilia and what had happened to them….

I could never call the Monster Slayers and ask them to find those creatures. Ms. Spetto knew nothing of them, and certainly didn't know how to contact them…

I scratched at my mouth, willing it to move, willing it to form what I wanted to say…

"Hyaa!" Lucy awoke with a choked scream. Sheets upon sheets of white fabric flew before her and she ripped them away from her, scared, helpless, and not knowing what was happening. Then, the blonde took time to register the surrounding area. Everything was white, and the windows were long, letting sufficient sunlight stream into the room. She was in some kind of infirmary, Lucy concluded, but the infirmary was certainly not in the hospital. So where was she?

She was situated on the bed at the very end of the room. Cautiously, she stood up and her knees wobbled a little. She adorned lavender pajamas – maybe someone had put them on her while she had been asleep? – and she noticed her bloodied sword resting against the side of the bed. Lucy took it, examined it, and held it to her in a fighting stance. The blonde was feeling on the edge. Perhaps it had been her dream, or perhaps it was because her nightmare had befuddled her. She couldn't recall what had happened the night before…and when she tried…when she tried, for some reason, that horrible night five years ago came to her.

Slowly, she advanced towards the shut door on the other side. As if on cue, a bright voice said. "I'll go check on her!"

Lucy, despite her exhaustion, sprinted to the side of the doorway, and gripped her weapon. The wooden door opened and she leapt in front of the individual who blinked in surprise and grinned recklessly.

"You might not want to hold that while you're still groggy," Natsu said, reaching out for her sword. She jerked it back, and set it down as memories washed over her. The octopus rex, the jump, the faint…

You'll love it at our guild!

The words rang in her head, and the blonde looked at the salmon-headed boy with confusion and seriousness. "Is this…Fairy Tail?"

Natsu laughed quietly. "Sure is, didn't you notice the symbol?"

With a purposeful finger, he pointed at a vase. From a distance, Lucy could not understand why he directed her gaze towards it, but as she approached it, she could make out the Fairy Tail insignia adorned on the ceramic glass. A sudden sharp memory pierced as she remembered a certain vase, one from long ago, that had had a heart painted on it. It had sat in the Heartfilia mansion, right in her very own room. With an enraged cry, she swung up her sword and chopped all the flowers blooming out of the vase. The sad remains of the colorful collections scattered onto the floor, petals dancing everywhere. The ceramic decoration itself still stood on the little table it had originally sat on, unbroken and whole.

"Um, are you okay?" Natsu asked her. She whirled around, her eyes ferocious, and instead of backing away like he should have done, he advanced towards her. The blonde, crazy for a little moment, swung her sword at him, and the boy narrowly missed having his head severed from his head. In one swift movement, he grabbed her weapon, wrenched it out of her hand, and held on to her wrist with a strong grasp.

"Mira-!" he started to call, but Lucy was drained of energy. She collapsed onto the ground crying, with her wrist still gripped onto by Natsu. A white-haired girl with her bangs bundled up into a petite ponytail appeared in the doorway, and put her hands on her hips.

"Natsu! You made her cry?!"

"No! She almost killed me! What on Earthland is wrong with her Mira?"

The girl, apparently named Mira, tromped over and pried Natsu's hot hand from the blonde's and gingerly helped Lucy up. Gently and kindly, she started to wipe off the other girl's tears with her soft, delicate hands.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly, and Lucy, for a moment considered lying and saying yes. But she turned over the idea in her mind, and instead shook her head. The memories that haunted her sickened her to her stomach; she would never be okay whenever she remembered them.

"What's with the situation Mirajane?" a black-haired boy asked. It was the stripper from the night before, and this time, he had torn everything from his body except for his boxers. Next to him, a scarlet-haired girl with armor stared intensely at the white-haired girl. If Lucy had recollected everything correctly, these two were Erza and Gray. Erza, being the girl, and Gray being the guy.

Gray walked in, his bare feet slapping against the smooth floor of the infirmary. Unconcerned about how little clothes he had on, he scratched his chest, and looked at Lucy with amusement. "You did a seriously stupid thing last night."

"Oh, please, Gray, you've done TONS of idiotic things. Like now, for instance, where are your clothes?" Mirajane said simply. The black-haired boy looked down at himself and swore.

Erza, adorning an extremely frightening atmosphere approached Lucy suddenly. "Do you know how injured you could have ended up last night? You're just lucky Natsu was there to catch you…or you would have been roadkill! Do you hear me!? Roadkill!"

The blonde backed up, and Mira led her to a bed.

"Erza, don't scare her!"

"But I was just-!"

"Lucy!"

It was a familiar voice. Old, raspy, and kind. The blonde stood up quickly, and swayed a little, but she managed to stay upright.

"Ms. Spetto!" she called, and hugged the little old lady with inviting arms. She pulled back, examining the ex-maid carefully. "Weren't you hurt?"

She smiled, revealing her crooked, yet perfectly white teeth. "Oh, please, I'm not the one who jumped off a monster."

"Yeah, well, the situation was urgent. You could have ended up being a sad little breakfast pancake."

Ms. Spetto just laughed in her dry, crackly way. Suddenly, she turned serious.

"Where's your dagger young lady?"

Dagger? Lucy thought back. Dagger…

She had lost it back in the forest, when that four-eyed elephant monster had charged her. Now that she thought about it, that weapon had been pulled out of the destroyed remains of her house – the mansion had been completely demolished when they had returned to it weeks after. The blonde groaned.

"Eaten up! It was eaten up by acidic blood!"

"Do you have your other weapons?"

"Other weapons?" Erza frowned. "Isn't there just the one?" She pointed to the sword.

Lucy didn't answer, but looked around for that belt she always wore. She finally found it on a bedside table, and dragged it towards her. Deftly, she opened a bag attached to the belt and pulled out the diamond-made knife from it. From another bag, she withdrew a dozen sharp, thin rods that resembled long nails.

"What does that do?" Natsu asked.

Rather than tell him, the blonde demonstrated. She flicked her wrist forward, and the weapon flew out of her hand and lodged itself on the far wall.

"Oh," he said, paling.

She turned the belt and pulled out a pocketknife, a jagged dagger, a Rondel dagger, and Shuriken (ninja stars). She turned the belt yet again and took out a flask of monster acid – the container was enchanted so that the liquid wouldn't gnaw through it – and a first aid kit. Finally, she rotated it one last time and drew out a bag of dried mangoes and a little bottle of water.

"That's a lot," Gray commented meekly, but Lucy held up a finger.

"Wait."

She lifted her left wrist – the one Natsu hadn't grabbed (thank goodness) – and revealed a little braided bracelet. Carefully, she unraveled it, and flinched a few times. At last, she took it off.

"What's that?"

Lucy leaned forward, reached towards the metallic bed frame, and stretched out the ex-bracelet. She held it close to the metal rod and pressed into it with the rope; next, she moved her hands back and forth in a sawing motion. After four times, she lifted her hands and everyone peered at a deep cut in the bed frame.

"Useful for an escapade," she said, holding it up. The blonde laid it down with all her other weapons on the bed. She thought for a minute.

"Oh, and this too!"

She reached up and took a clip off her hair. She ran her thumb over the top and a little blade shot out from it. To demonstrate its cutting ability, she ripped open the mattress a little. The people present didn't seem to mind that she was wrecking their guild's things. Only awe and nervousness was present on their face.

"This is a lot of weapons," Erza said, picking up the jagged dagger.

"Be careful with that-!" Luy warned, but it was too late.

The scarlet-haired mage yelped in pain as the slippery hilt of the weapon slipped from her hand and one of the parts of the blade that jut out caught onto her finger. The dagger fell to the bed again with a soft thump, and Erza was left with a bleeding cut on her right pointer finger. She swore, sucking on the wound reproachfully. Mira, seeing her friend's injury, rushed off to a cupboard to get her bandages.

"Have you used all of these?" Erza asked when Mirajane had begun to tend to her.

"Yes."

"Tell me about how they work."

Lucy cocked her head to the side.

Obligingly, she held up the jagged dagger. "Useful for the more powerful ones. It gives them a lot more pain and cuts because of the blade's shape."

She picked up the Rondel dagger, which was long and thin. "Perfect for when you want to get close, but not too close. It sinks deep into the monster and makes precise cuts. Medium level monsters."

"The Shuriken. You want to use these on all monsters. It pretty much affects them all in some way. It only slows the stronger ones down, but is able to fully defeat the lower level ones."

"The pocketknife. Only for urgent and emergency use. You do not want to use it in fighting. The Hairclip Knife and the Blade Bracelet are to be used in moments where you need to free yourself of any bonds restraining you and preventing you from escaping. Otherwise, don't use them in a fight. This small blade won't get you anywhere."

"These nail-like rods should be used for the small monsters. It won't work so well on the larger ones, even if they're weak. The monster acid – only emergency use. And this…" Lucy held up the diamond knife, "I only use it for cutting through tough things."

"How did you retrieve such an expensive thing?" asked Mira.

Lucy looked away uncomfortably. "From a battlefield."

"Yes?"

"Do tell, please." Erza urged.

"If she doesn't want to say, she doesn't have to," Natsu argued, and Erza and Mira fell silent.

"No, it's okay," Lucy breathed. She shut her eyes, and the images came racing towards her. She began.

I stood in the desolate, wide open space, knees shaking a little, breath trembling. Everywhere, there were bodies. Some awkwardly positioned and others completely serene. The place was deathly quiet and as I walked, even my muffled footsteps seemed like a foghorn blasting through the quiet.

On the other side of the field was a cave. Gaping open and black, it was frightening, scary, and once I was in a one thousand foot radius of the area, the corpses…the corpses stopped appearing. That was how strong the monsters were. The charging Monster Slayers had not accomplished in penetrating the enemy fortress. The land around the cavern wasn't grassy but hard-packed earth, and as my footsteps clicked upon it…they came, the creatures did.

There were two, and they looked like nothing more than wolf cubs. They were utterly small. Only two feet. At first, I thought it was a cruel joke someone had played, that all the people behind me were actually alive and someone had just pulled a massive prank. But their eyes started to glow red…like blood. And when they revealed their teeth, it was spattered with blood, and filled with remnants of bones. Their fangs grew longer, their ears turned into scaly dragon ears, their bodies turned feathery, and their legs were of a cheetah's. Their tails were spiky, but their heads….

Their heads were not normal, no monster's is, but these were the most grotesque I had ever seen. It was a wolf's face, yes, but…Their fangs were so long that some at the top had protruded out of their cheeks; their nose had a set of pinchers growing out of it, their eyes were red and their eyebrows were made of…spiders. Their ears were actually bat ears. And the worst thing of it all…maggots. Maggots were crawling over their bodies, their fur, and they seemed unbothered by it.

Once a monster's form is made up of other living things, you know that it's top level. Already, I could feel the magical power rolling of it, and inside the cavern, I could see a dim glow. I had already unsheathed my sword. And they advanced…

Immediately, they lunged at my throat, and I almost fell down as I batted them away. Maggots flew everywhere, and I felt disgusted by them. What was more, I was angry. Angry that these things had slaughtered so many people, so I charged.

I remember dodging, stabbing, flipping, and being snapped many times. But they were surprisingly easy to take on. I remembered swiftly that time taking on a more powerful monster than them…

But then…they morphed together. Their magic power increased and they howled. It was an agonizing sound that ripped through my mind and seemed to set my insides on fire. I cried, sobbed, but stood up and cut, slashed, stabbed…until it was over. The whole time, I checked my ears to see if I could still hear, and the wolves shattered into pieces of light. Despite my wariness and fear, I held my weapon at the ready and went farther into the cave and came upon this dagger. I believe it used to belong to someone, which is why I don't use it to fight…

Lucy came to the end of her story, shivering. Remembering things was always hard, because she always went back further and remembered what had happened five years ago. Everyone stared at her in shock, but she was focused on something else entirely.

"Spetto…"

"What dear?"

"I had that dream again."

The old lady paled, and a thin line of sweat appeared on her brow. "Again!?"

Lucy nodded, wrapping her arms around herself, and sitting down on a bed.

"What dream?" Gray asked.

Spetto sighed. "When she was twelve, her family mansion was attacked by monsters and her family was…"

The old lady didn't dare to finish. "She has dreams about it."

"Wait? When she was twelve? That means it was five years ago!" Erza gasped, leaping up. Everyone's faces in the room had suddenly switched to an expression that showed something inside their minds had clicked.

Natsu leaned in closely to her. "Are you by any chance a Heartfilia?!"

Lucy nodded weakly, wringing her arms together. "Why-?"

"I've heard enough." It was another voice, and it sounded vaguely familiar, old and demanding. The blonde recognized it as the one from the night before, the one who had commanded Erza, Gray, and Natsu to battle. In front of her stood a wizened old man with a short stature. He looked up at her with arms behind his back.

"I'm the master dear, and I think you better come along with me."

I hope you guys liked it. Ugh, I hate insects and I agree with any of you that thought the maggots were disgusting. I am sincerely sorry if you gagged during the course of this chapter...Please leave reviews and tell me whatcha think!