Hello, everyone!  Here is another chapter; this one is longer too! :D  I had so much fun writing this one, too!!  I was just like, fangirlin' over here. |D  I hope you all like this chapter, though! ;)  Speaking of which, I dedicate this chapter to Erza_Lucy25!~ ♥  Thanks for giving me feedback. c':  Everyone; make sure you go and fan her! ^^  Ano...I hope you enjoy, ne? ^^  I realled did like writing this chapter; I think this one is much more better written than the last, hehe! ^^;  Feedback is, as always, extremely appreciated!  Until next time!

♡{я у - ¢ н α и}

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Everyone was running through the trees.

Zeke was leading, with Natsu and the others right behind him.  Natsu was now being carried by Happy; Wendy by Carla.  Zeke had offered to carry Lucy when they first set out so Natsu could regain some strength, but Natsu had (strangely) snapped no.  So, Zeke simply summoned a horse-like being from the ground, letting Lucy rest on there instead.  Erza and Gray were running on each side of the creature, acting as Lucy's protectors.  Lucy herself, however, was sleeping incredibly deeply.  She was not disturbed, not even when Natsu exclaimed loudly when Happy "accidentaly" made him hit the ground.

They had been running for an hour or so, now.  They had escaped the labrynth of the underground and out into open woods again, much to everyone's relief.  Zeke had then described where the temple was, giving full detailed information.

Zeke started with saying the temple was not far from the underground lost city, located in a valley in the mountains.  This was good, he stated, because if anything went wrong (they all prayed nothing would) no one except themselves were in danger.  The monument, however, was a different story.  Zeke had described it as the same building as the place where Rater had first sealed Daronyt from the world, saving Ancient Fiore.  So, it made sense that the summoning would be there, since such powerful energy was in the surrounding air of that place.

During this story, Natsu had asked Zeke why he couldn't do certain attacks that he could do when he was controlled by Coven.  Such as the one where he could take away their magic, which would've definately come in handy.  

Zeke's answer was simple.  "Mind control is a powerful thing.  You can do incredible things when not knowing it."  He looked at Lucy, who was still sleeping softly.  "Take Lucy for example."  He turned back to Natsu, who was flying right next to him.  "Star Mist is incredibly powerful, but Lucy is unconscious when she uses it.  I am no different.  Since I wasn't aware of my actions, I do not know how to use those attacks.  Trust me, I would have used them earlier if I knew how."

Natsu let it go, understanding all the talking for once.

Next Zeke explained that they indeed all knew they were walking into a trap.  Coven wanted them to follow; to bring Lucy right into his sights.  Because without Lucy, there was no resurrection, and when there's no resurrection, Daronyt wouldn't appear.  And, of course, Coven would be incredibly insane with rage if something like that happened.  Which was ironic, because that's exactly what Natsu and the others were going to do.  But when they all thought about it there was only Coven; what exactly was Coven planning that made him think he could take on all of them at once?

That's what puzzled - and worried - them.

Zeke came to an abrupt stop, and so did the others.

They had stopped on a large cliff, the woods behind them.  The cliff was at least a thousand feet up, and was overlooking more woods across the horizon.  The wind blew roughly, and everyone stared at the view with determination and commitment.

"We're almost there."  Zeke replied, his eyes narrowed.

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The sanctuary resided in front of them, towering high above on the top of the hill everyone was climbing.

"There it is."  Erza replied breathlessly.

Everyone else nodded.

Natsu dropped to the ground, and waited as the monster slowly disolved into the ground, lowering Lucy to the ground and setting her sweetly to the grass.

Natsu smiled slightly before reaching his hand out and touching her shoulder.

He shook her gently.  "Oi, wake up sleepy Lucy!  We made it!"

Lucy's eyes shot open, and she sat up.  When she saw everyone looking at her with amused expressions, she looked down with embarassment.

"I'm sorry I slept the whole way..."  Lucy murmured, her cheeks slightly pink.

Zeke looked amused, too.  "It's fine, Lucy.  You needed the rest after having your energy drained.  Do you think you're ready to go, now?"

Lucy nodded, standing with sudden determination.  "Absolutely!"

They ran up the hill the rest of the way, and came to the front entrance.

The church-like building was creamy-white, built with brick.  Windows resided on the building, though some of them were broken.  Other than that, the building looked in top shape for something that's been around for hundreds of years.  The doors were dark mahogany, however it was falling apart.  They were broken off the hinges, slouching over almost sadly.  Grass and vines wove over the steps and into the door, but then stopped shortly after blooming a few clovers.  Strangely, the small patches of grass that resided on the steps made it beautiful and seem like a magestic old building.

This reminds me of the ruined building in the Caballeen Forest..  Lucy thought, looking up at it's magesticness.  I wonder if they're connected.

After a few minutes of silence, Zeke turned to them.

"Ready to go inside?"  He asked, his face serious.

They all nodded, and they stepped inside.

The inside was pretty, too.  When Lucy looked around, she saw that the room was circular, and continued to be so as the walls connected with the floor and up to the dome ceiling.  The walls had celestial designs on them, with roman pillars and marbled insides.  There were richly green vines in here too, sprouting clovers and even pretty pink flowers.  The dome ceiling had a jagged hole inside, letting golden sunlight pour inside and form a  spotlight in the center of the room.  The floor was brick, as well.  In front of them were marble stairs, which bent and turned, meaning they were spiral in shape.  Light came from there as well, which must've meant there was another light source.

"Wow..."  Lucy breathed, looking around again.

"Incredible."  Erza replied.  "It's in incredible condition considering how long it's been here."

"Let's keep going."  Zeke replied.  "Who knows how much longer--"

Everyone screamed as the floor opened up underneath them, a giant hole appearing under them.  Zeke clearly didn't expect it, but was fast enough to jump away, landing safely a few feet away.  Happy and Carla were flying earlier, so they were too slow to dive after them.

"Natsu!"  Happy exclaimed.

"Wendy!"  Carla yelled.

Natsu and the others were stolen from their sight, the floor closing.

"Damn!"  Zeke exclaimed.  "He's trying to seperate us!"

Please, somebody be with Lucy!

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Everyone was screaming as they fell, the wind rushing past their faces and their clothes flying everywhere.

"Look out!"  Erza exclaimed, guesturing ahead.

There was no ground, but seperations; tunnels far, far below.  Everyone struggled against the wind, trying to make sure they landed inside instead of on the wall, where the connections were.

But Lucy just couldn't stear; she was going to hit the grooves.

"Lucy!"  Everyone exclaimed, but they sounded muffled against the wind and the blood roaring in Lucy's ears.

Natsu was hysterical, but managed to get himself to plant his feet against the wall, making debris explode from under his sandals and fly upwards.  With all his might, he pushed off, fighting the wind to get as close to Lucy as possible.

Lucy was frozen, watching as the connecting rock got closer.

"Lucy!"  Natsu yelled, flying across the vast tunnel and slowing to a stop a few feet away from her.

"Natsu!"  Lucy exclaimed, fear and shock in her eyes.

"Grab my hand!"  Natsu exclaimed, urgency on his face.  "Hurry, Luce!"

Lucy reached out towards Natsu's outstretched hand, the cloth around her arms flying upwards wildly.  Their hands twisted and they strained to stretch them out as far as they could go, Natsu clenching his teeth as he strived to grab her.

"Hurry, idiot!"  Gray exclaimed, stress coating his features.

"I'm trying!"  Natsu snapped, and he tried again, but their fingertips only brushed.

"Damn it!"  Natsu exclaimed, already seeing the walling at the bottom of his sight.

With a final try of pure determination, Natsu pushed forward and grasped Lucy's hand perfectly, pulling her to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.  They made it just in time, too, because they disappeared into the tunnel and past the entrance.  However, they were slightly too close, because Lucy skimmed her ankle across the rock's sharp surface.

Lucy flinched, but Natsu didn't notice as they kept falling.  Besides; Lucy was too focused on how she was embracing Natsu.

He saved me, again.  Lucy thought, her eyes narrowing softly as her head was buried in Natsu's chest, her hands clutching onto his vest.

Natsu was looking downwards, trying to find something that could slow them down or if the floor was rushing up to meet them.  His scarf was flying around all over the place, and he was grateful it hadn't fallen off.

Grinding his teeth together, Natsu expected the worst.

Soon enough, the ground appeared, and Natsu's heart plummeted.

"N-Natsu!"  Lucy exclaimed, fear evident in her voice.

Natsu clutched her tighter, closing his eyes as he pressed the side of his face into the crown of Lucy's hair.  Damn!

But when he was expecting to hit the ground, they did something different.  Sure, they did hit the rock, but they were at an incline.  They hit the earth hard, but started to roll heavily down the slope and past stalagtites.  Natsu lost his grip on Lucy, and they rolled seperately.  When they reached the bottom, Natsu hit the ground and rolled all the way into the wall of the cave they were now in.  When Natsu slammed into the wall, he would have exclaimed loudly but the air was completely knocked out of his lungs.  Instead, his eyes went wide and his mouth was parted with no sound coming out.  He hit the floor stomach-first.

When Lucy hit the ground, she landed on her back, and her spine arched upwards and she let out a strangled gurgle.  Spit drops flied from her mouth along with a few drops of blood.  She skipped like a stone on water, going from her back to skid along her side a few feet before stopping, dust flying in heavy clouds around her.

Pain ricocheted up her body, but Lucy just had to sit up to get air into her lungs.  She sat on her legs, though they were on either side of her, and coughed and hacked until she couldn't breath.  She had put a hand up to her mouth during her coughing fit, and it was now slightly smeared with blood.

Then she remembered. 

Lucy looked up, horror on her face at the possibilities.  "Natsu?!"

He was still in the same spot, but he was stirring.

Seeing so, Lucy jumped from her knees to her feet, starting to sprint towards him.  But when she landed on the cut ankle, she cried out, falling to her knees and hovering a shaky and dirt-smeared hand over it.

"M-My ankle..."  Lucy murmured, her shoulders shaking in pain as she looked at her injury, one eye closed in pain.  It was bleeding pretty badly.

But she didn't extremely care right now.  Natsu could be much more injured right now.

Forcing herself up, Lucy ignored the pain and jogged over to Natsu, dropping to his side.  He was already trying to get up, one elbow planted firmly on the ground along with his knees.

"Natsu!"  Lucy exclaimed, helping him up.  "Are you okay?"

He was leaning against the wall now, but he was up.  Natsu breathed heavily, his head leaning forward as his dirt-smeared and bruised shoulders moved up and down as he breathed.

"I'm alright.."  He muttered, and relief washed over Lucy.

She suddenly gave him a hug.  "You're an idiot..!"  Lucy replied; she had tears on the corners of her eyes, but she was smiling slightly.

Natsu looked surprised at first, but then his expression softened.  He rested a hand on her head like a child.  "Lucy..."  He closed his eyes, resting his temple on the side of her head.

After a minute of silence, Natsu tried to move again, lifting himself up with the help of Lucy and the wall.

Lucy suddenly stepped on her bad ankle by accident, and exclaimed loudly as she fell to her knees, this time, clutching her ankle as the pain radiated.

"Lucy!  Are you okay..?"  Natsu saw her ankle, and sucked in a tight breath.  "Y-Your ankle.."

"I'm fine.."  Lucy hissed, her eyes clenched tightly shut as she struggled to regain some composure.

"As if!"  Natsu replied, dropping down next to her.

He ripped a part of his clothing off, wrapping it tightly around Lucy's left ankle.  His clothing was a little dirty, but it was definately better than nothing.

"Natsu.."  Lucy murmured, suprised.

Natsu stood, letting Lucy take his hand.  

"Thank you."  Lucy replied, smiling at him thankfully.

He grinned.  "No problem, Luce."

They both looked around.

"W-Where are we now?"  Lucy asked, slightly frightened by the blue-colored and dark cave.

"I don't know."  Natsu muttered.  "It looks like we can only go that way."  He offered her a hand.  "We'd better get going."

Lucy nodded, and Natsu took her hand softly.

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Stay tuned for the next chapter, Chapter 37: Through the Tunnels To Battle!