Thank you to all the people who have started to follow this story, it's going to be a little dark here at the beginning so if that not what you're into the just wait till I get a few chapters in before you start reading.

This is a short chapter but I promise the next one will be longer.

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Checking In

Natsu sat in silence as the carriage continued its course. He never knew where exactly the council kept the mages that were turned in. all her knew was that besides for the few holding cells across the country that there was a main facility that wasn't reachable by train. The majority of people sent there weren't usually seen again. At least he had only ever seen a handful of dark mages on more the one occasion. It was the third day of their journey however so he could only hope that they were approaching their destination. His stomach still tossed and turned as the ride continued, however the pain in his heart overshadowed such a shallow discomfort as motion sickness.

Over the trip he had finally come to terms with what the old man and Lahar had said. Since he spent the entire time locked in a steel box he had plenty of time to think. The faces of his guild mates flashing before his eyes. His only comfort being that his last memory with all of them was of them smiling as they prepared to leave for the S-class Trials. Yet it was also his curse, the constant reminder of the what-ifs plagued his mind.

Natsu let his head fall back against the hard steel wall of his traveling cell. The resounding thunk reverberated loudly in the empty box. Natsu looked around confused until it hit him. They had stopped.

The doors to the carriage slowly creeped open as the inside was flooded with light.

"Natsu Dragneel." Came a commanding voice from outside "Please exit the carriage and follow me."

Natsu stood with his arm still shielding his face from the sun as he exited the carriage. His eyes only took a few moments to adjust as he started to take in his surroundings. All around him were twenty foot tall cement walls, to tops of which were covered in razor wire. Natsu glanced along the wall and saw that there was a large tower every two hundred feet of so. The tops of which he could make out the outlines of two people on each. Natsu turned towards the front of the carriage so that he could see where he had come from and maybe guess which part of Fiore he was in at least. His hoped were dashed however as he only saw a massive steel door blocking his view from the outside world.

"Welcome to the pit, Dragneel." The voice called again.

Natsu turned and looked at the one calling him, he was also the only one in the walled square that Natsu was currently in. The man was a beast. He stood as tall as Elfman, his muscles bulging from under his black guard's uniform. A uniform that consisted of what seemed to be black plate armor that formed to the man's body. Along his hip was a black rod, Natsu could barely make out the two lacrima crystals that protruded from the ends. His hair was nearly black and slicked back to show more of his roughly chiseled face, scars from Natsu guessed were prison riots decorated all of his skin that was showing. The most notable being the scar that ran down his right side of his face. It stared above his eyes and ended about an inch below it, a pure white eye was in the middle of it.

"You have been deemed a threat to Fiore and its people by the magical council." The man began to talk again "Here you will pay for your crimes against the people of Fiore and all those of which you have wronged. Here you are nothing while the guards are everything. We are your Gods."

Natsu let out a sigh "Alright, alright geez don't get you panti-AHHHHH" Natsu yelled as electricity arched through his body. He fell to his knees as his body still arched with electricity.

"I will only give this warning once." The man said as he returned the black rod back to his hip "I will not tolerate insubordination." He turned on his heel and started to walk away.

Natsu was still gasping as he watched the man turn 'damn stun rod.' He thought as his grit his teeth. He shakenly got back to his feet.

"This way Dragneel." The man repeated as if nothing occurred only seconds ago.

Natsu only clenched his fist and gritted his teeth as he followed the guard. They walked towards the cement wall in the opposite direction of the gate. As they made it to the gate the guard stopped just a few feet away and stood. Natsu stopped a few feet from him as he looked to the wall.

The guard placed his hand against the wall and Natsu watched as it started to illuminate. Suddenly a yellow screen appeared, it reminded Natsu of the magic that the one pretty boy from Blue Pegasus used.

The guard in front of him retracted his arm "Captain of the Guard, Captain Maximus. Requesting entry to cell block SS-3."

The man in the screen just sighed "I know it's you captain." He yawned "You don't have to be so up to protocol you know."

Natsu studied the man for a second. He had long blonde hair with a similar armor compared to the guard he was standing by. However his face was much more relaxed and scar free. If Natsu were to see the guy anywhere else he would've thought he was a surfer and not a guard for the nation's largest criminals. Natsu looked to the guard beside him. He noticed the golden engraving in the shoulder plate that faced him 'Captain Maximus huh.'

"That's the type of attitude that will cause accidents Corporal." Maximus said as he leveled his gaze "If we don't follow protocol then what happens if we were transporting a mage that specialized in illusions. If his cuffs were not on correctly and he managed to overtake me then-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The corporal said from through the screen making Maximus grit his teeth at being interrupted. "You somehow get beat then all of a sudden there is a prison break. Heard it before." The blonde said as she began to type on the keyboard in front of him.

"If it wasn't for your magic I would have you thrown out for your insolence." Maximus said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, but lucky me." The man winked before he hit one last button. The cement wall in front of Natsu Suddenly began to shudder as he saw part of the rock push out before sliding and revealing a passage. "Have a nice day." He smirked as the connection cut off leaving a fuming Maximus.

"I like that guy." Natsu spoke up getting him a dark look form the captain.

"I'll have his ass thrown out as soon as I get another archive mage." Maximus growled as he walked to the passage "Hurry your ass up Dragneel of do I have to shock you again."

Natsu quickly followed in the man's step as the continued down the long hallway. The rattling of the chains on Natsu's cuffs feeling the air with a metallic rattle.

"Oi when the hell do I get these things off?" Natsu asked as Maximus looked over his shoulder to see what he was speaking of. "I've had these on for over a week. "Natsu said with annoyance.

Maximus stopped abruptly making Natsu come to a halt as well. He turned around to face Natsu who only looked at him in curiosity. He then grabbed the stun rod and unsheathed it.

"Oh so you wann-"Natsu said as he put up his cuffed hands this time determined not to go down without a fight. He wasn't going to be the man's outlet of frustration towards his underlings.

However Maximus ignored Natsu as he stabbed the end of the rod into the wall of the passage causing electricity to arch along the cement.

"What are you-"Natsu began to ask as Maximus pulled the rod back and sheathed it. The place where he had hit began to shake as door began to form.

"This way Dragneel." He said once again as he opened the door. Natsu was suddenly hit with a face full of heat as it was opened. He followed Maximus inside to see the fires that were raging around the room. Though the middle of the room was a thin metal catwalk. Along both sides of it the fires roared.

"What is this?" he asked as he followed Maximus of the cat walk. He noticed the shimmer of magic that surrounded the catwalk and helped it from becoming an intolerable heat.

"This is the smithery where all of the magic canceling cuffs are made in Fiore." Maximus said as the approached the end of the walk way. Natsu walked towards the edge and looked down into the flames. Through the flickering flames he could make out the outlines of several people stocking the fire and keeping it raging. "It if fueled by the prisoners from D block." Maximus said as he noticed Natsu looking down. "Now come so we can remove those cuffs." He said as he continued to walk. Natsu followed him after taking another glance at the raging fires, he took an intake of breath as he sucked in some of the fire, just enough so that it wasn't a noticeable amount. 'When these cuffs come off ill make a break for it.' Natsu thought.

They continued to walk till they reached another door. Maximus opened it and entered, grabbing Natsu by the collar and shoving him forward. Natsu stumbled and put his hands out to catch himself as he fell. However he never hit the ground as he felt something hook the chain between the cuffs and lift him from his feet.

"MMMmm he must be a feisty one for you to bring him yourself Captain." A booming voice said.

Natsu looked to the man, no giant, which was holding him by a hook that was holding his chain. The giant was at least fifteen feet tall. He wore a large brown blacksmith apron a well as a pair of simple jeans. His large gut threatened to tear the apron apart. His bald head and large nose and eyes were the dominate feature of his face. His large hands were nearly the length of Natsu.

"HEY LET ME DOWN YOU BASTARD!" Natsu yelled as he began to kick out.

"HAHAHA He is a feisty one!" the giant laughed as he turned to Maximus "What cell block does this little guy go to once I've fitted him?"

Maximus stood to the side with his arms crossed "He goes to cell SS-3."

"OHhhh so you're a SS class threat, so impressive for such a little guy." The giant laughed again as Natsu started to shout more profanities towards the giant. "Well we can't have you causing too much trouble little guy." He said as he reached back and grabbed a large set of tongs before pulling them from a furnace from the back of the room. He held them in front of Natsu. "Now this will tickle a little." He smirked as Natsu gulped at seeing the white hot tongs coming towards him, he knew he wasn't effected by fire but he something about this made his hair stand on end. As he swung trying to escape the giant his chain finally released from the hook as Natsu began to fall one more. However just like before his fall has halted as he felt a cool goo trapped his ankle.

"Gotcha!" the giant laughed "This one has so much life Maximus, maybe you should teach him a lesson before you set him out." The giant laughed

Natsu looked in shock at the white end of the tongs wrapped around his ankle before giving a sigh of relief "Thank Mavis I can't be burnt. "Natsu felt himself be lifted higher and opened his eyes only to see into the eyes of the giants.

"I told you it would tickle HAHA." The giant boomed "You must not be that bright."

"YOU WANNA GO YOU OVERSIZED FATASS!" Natsu yelled.

"HAHAHA you have guts though little man." The giant laughed.

"So can I trust that you get him to the correct cell Hugo?" Maximus asked for the side gaining the giants attention. "He goes to Hanks division."

"Yes Sir Captain!" the giant said as he grabbed Natsu and took the tongs away. Natsu looked down, barely able to see his ankle now had a thick metal band that matched the same blueish gray as his cuffs the giant then moved the tongs towards Natsu's hands, the cuffs started to melt off for a reason Natsu couldn't understand.

"Then I leave him to you Hugo." Maximus said as he turned and left through the door him and Natsu entered earlier.

"Alright ready to go to your new home little guy?" Hugo said with a wide grin as he carried Natsu in the opposite direction.

As Natsu saw Maximus leave he thought that if he was ever going to make an escape that now was the time. He turned to Hugo before taking in a large breath. Hugo looked to his hand and saw what Natsu was doing. He only smiled "I wouldn't do that little one." He said.

Natsu barely registered his words as he started to build magic since the cuffs were gone. However sudden bolts of electricity started to fly form his ankle and course through his body making Natsu cry out in pain.

"I told you not to do that little one." The giant shook his head as he held the still electrifying Natsu up and put him in an outcropping in the wall. As he set him there he also lowered a metal grate to stop Natsu form running out. "OH Johnny!" the giant yelled as he tapped the wall. Natsu's shock was starting to die leaving only a few electric arches shooting though his body. He looked up in time to see the familiar archive magic reappear on the wall.

"Yo Hugo what can I do for you buddy?" the familiar blonde said with a smirk.

"We gotta take this little man over to Hank for the captain." Hugo replied.

"Alight I'll get him out of there in sec, by the way are we still down for tonight?" Johnny asked as he typed away at his keyboard.

"Of course." Hugo said "its pool night." He laughed as he turned towards Natsu who was slowly getting to his feet. "Oh you're standing already! Captain was right to give you such high threat level." Hugo smirked "well bye-bye." He said as he waved his hand.

Natsu just looked up at him as he started to catch his breath "Bye?" he asked as he suddenly felt the floor disappear from beneath him.

"Prison transfer complete." Echoed the happy voice of Johnny as Natsu fell. As he slid he saw a bright light approaching, he braced for impact as he reached it. After feeling nothing for a few seconds he lowered his arms from shielding his face. In front of him sat another man in black guard's armor. His hair was brown and cut into a flat top, in his mouth hung a lit cigar. To his side was a large black club. Natsu looked around disorientated from his trip.

"What the hel-"

"Welcome to the bottom of the Pit! Night Night." The man said cutting Natsu off. Natsu turned to see what the man was talking about only to see a flying piece of black metal before it connected with his face knocking the dragon slayer out.

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