"She'll only last a few more days in here." Juvia ran her fingers through the water, trying her hardest not to look at Lucy's nude body. Through her fingers she could feel the vibrations of a faint heartbeat, the water pulsing with the life that Lucy still clung too.

"Shit." The fire demon groaned as he stared at the girl beneath him. If she so much as died on him, he would bring her back to life just to kill her again. Sending herself unarmed into the demon realm was the worst decision she could've ever made and even with the contact he secretly kept with her it wouldn't be enough to save her life from danger. Her soul was open to any demon to take if they pleased and there was nothing he could do to bring her back.

"How much longer can you hold on?" Juvia asked, all too aware of his contact with her. She didn't know what form he decided to take, but she hoped it would be something strong enough to take on lesser enemies should Lucy get in trouble.

Little did she know the part of his mind he linked with Lucy's soul took on the blonde's own body. The reason he wasn't entirely sure, but he assumed it had something to do with her nudity that he couldn't stop glancing at. Once she was back and in better health he was sure he would pin her down and make a woman out of her. But that wasn't of importance at the moment.

What was most important was the fact that her lips and fingertips were turning blue, her body was quickly loosing nutrients, no where near her end result, and she was slowly meeting her fate. He'd kept her in the dark long enough about his heritage and title and he'd forever hate himself if he let her die by the hands of his brother.

Lucy didn't know what to think of the person staring at her. She looked just like Lucy, so much so that she even had the little scar above her eyebrow that only Lucy knew about. It was so tiny, so minute that no one else was able to notice, but she'd had it since a toddler and could easily pick it out of a crowd to say the least.

Even their voices were the same, granted at times Lucy swore she sounded like Natsu. However she didn't know if it was just her mind playing tricks on her or if it was something that she was actually psychically hearing. Nonetheless she blamed it on the fact that her mind seemed to always drift back to the demon in question.

She wanted to get rid of him, to preserve her life and her happiness for much longer than he could ever provide, but she often found herself thinking about the taste of his lips and the feeling of his skin against hers. She'd only kissed him once, the one time that she had the guts to show how she truly felt about him. She was in love no doubt, but she refused to let herself believe it.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Luce chimed in from behind her. The other blonde was staring at her lips, where her fingers lay. Lucy hadn't even realized she'd been caressing her own lips in the midst of thinking about Natsu's own lips. Her cheeks immediately flushed and she scrambled for an excuse behind why she was doing that.

"Nothing! My lips are just chapped that's all." She mumbled the last part of her sentence hoping that her demonic counterpart would just drop it. If she was anything like Lucy then she would, however if Natsu's persistence ran through every demon's blood then Lucy would be screwed.

"Hmm, not quite believable but I'll let you slide for now. Besides I'm still curious as to why you're here anyways." Lucy sighed mentally, but dreaded confiding in a demon. No matter how many similarities they had, the blonde had a hard time putting trust in the demon before her. Something seemed off about the doppleganger in front of her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it exactly.

For pete's sake she didn't even know if she was alive right now. For all she knew everything could've gone wrong on Mira's fault and now she was stuck in the Underworld for eternity.

"I'm just trying to get back home."

"Now we both know that's a lie princess." Princess? Lucy looked up at herself, at her counterpart that was trying her hardest not to meet Lucy's gaze. Lucy knew that Luce was right, she really wasn't here just to get back home. That would be a waste of her trip if she didn't even accomplish anything.

"I'm here to find a solution. I'm trying to get rid of a thorn in my back." But the more she thought about it, the more she realized this wasn't just for her. "But I also want to save a mother and a little baby I met a while back. I want to save as many Ignacios as I can before I myself wither away." Erza. She had grown fond of Erza and her little baby within the time she'd known them. She hoped that she had found her husband, that Jellal got to hold his child and look upon his wife with love and care.

"I don't want anyone else to die because of some demon's selfish desires."

"So you're searching for Zeref huh?" Lucy didn't quite know who she was looking for, but she assumed that the king was the prime source behind what was going on. So if Zeref was the king then she indeed was looking for him.

"Whoever's head deserves to be on a plate." Luce chuckled.

"I couldn't agree with you more."

Before her loomed the largest building she'd ever seen in her life. She probably couldn't even classify it as simply a building. It was magnificent and more like a castle in a dreamland than a rugged mansion in the realms of hell. All around her she could hear wails of sorrow, of people crying out for a home she knew they would never return to. This was the hell she'd heard horror stories of; the hell that was worse than the life she was currently living.

"So where can I find this Zeref guy?" Luce smirked and pointed towards the castle. Lucy sighed. She didn't want to go anywhere near there. Gargoyles of creatures that could only lurk in the worst of nightmares stared down at her. Men with burning red eyes and black markings along their bodies stood taunt in front of each entrance, not a single weapon in between their fingers. Lucy thought of Natsu's ability to produce and manipulate fire. Perhaps they had some sort of 'power' as well.

Either way she hoped she'd never have to find out. Her only goal was to get rid of the source of her problems.

"You need a plan first. Zeref is heavily guarded by many men." Lucy could tell that very easily. She knew beyond those doors was most likely a fleet that stood between herself and her enemy.

"I need a weapon, something that can make a clean cut. I also need a way in and a way to get to Zeref without any other confrontations."

"You're asking for suicide then princess."

The blonde very well knew that she would die doing this. A part of her held onto the hope that she wouldn't. Eventually her soul would find it's way back to her body. No matter how skilled Mirajane was, she had no way to keep Lucy's soul in a different realm forever. In the end if she couldn't kill Zeref then she could return to her body and consult Juvia. Lucy knew his exact location now and with demonic help from the other side she could surely bring an end to his reign.

"I know, but this is a necessity now. It's no longer a choice of mine."

"If you're so desperate for freedom why didn't you just kill your demon? An Ignacio is no longer bound if the demon has lost their soul." She couldn't quite give an answer to that question. On the surface her heart told her she didn't kill Natsu that day because he was only a temporary fix to the problems of all Ignacios. Deep down in her soul her heart told her she didn't kill him because she loved him. That she could never admit though. To say she loved the very demon that was taking her life was absolute insanity.

So instead she said, "My demon isn't around me on Earth."

"Is that so?" Luce grinned a devilish grin. It wasn't a facial expression that Lucy could have ever made in the entirety of her life. It was something that she'd only seen on Natsu once before, when he knew someone was lying about something.

"I can get you in. I can get you to Zeref, but his blood his on your hands. Not mine."

"Deal."

They shook hands.

I haven't updated this story in what seems like FOREVER!! I'm fixing to start college so updates probably aren't going to start being regular, but they will be more frequent than not. I hope you guys still enjoy this story!!! :))) (This also isn't profreaded at all so sorry about any major mistakes.