It's been a hot minute. I'm back, for now, not going to make any promises, but out of all my stories, this is the one I want to write.

I reread all of the comments y'all have left me and literally whipped this up in two hours so I'm apologising in advance

Love you all for sticking with me on this one

Ghost Town

Take a walk in a ghost town

The sky is as black as crows

Ultear was strange. She reminded Lucy of Lyon in a lot of ways. She was cold, determined to become powerful, and had a rough exterior that made Lucy question her plans. Not outwardly, of course. But Lucy was cautious. Brain had brought her here and she didn't trust Brain.

Who knew how long Ultear had been here, how long Brain had been working to get inside her head, weave his way into her subconscious and turn her into a puppet.

Lucy didn't trust Ultear.

She did, however, long for a friendship with her.

Lucy's loneliness became apparent much quicker than she had thought it would. She had only been at the bureau for three days, and yet, she was missing everything that made her enjoy life. She missed Gray and Lyon, and Ur, and snow. She hated the desert, hated that the winds caked dust onto the windows and that the heat seeped through the mechanical structure of this place.

She wanted snowstorms and blizzards and snowmen, and snowflakes.

She wanted everything that made her feel warm.

The entrance to their room opened with a slithering sound, and Lucy looked expectantly at the opening. Three workers stood, all looking at Lucy. Ice trickled down her spine; the bad kind.

"It's time," they said in unison.

Lucy looked at Ultear, in desperate need of not feeling so alone. The girl sunk herself further into her book, ignoring Lucy's pleading stare altogether.

Lucy stood shakily, aware of the tears building in her eyes; something was wrong, something about this place and the people and Brain was all wrong and Lucy wanted nothing more than to escape. She walked over to the workers, they stepped back when she walked through the door and began walking down the hall.

They escorted her down the hall, left at a cross-section, then upstairs on the left, through a security door, through one another, and then, there she was, in the training room. It was bigger than any room Lucy had ever seen. There were three doors coming off of the room she was in – an observation room, she supposed – one that would take them back the way she came, the second leading into a medical room with supplies and a metal table, the last, to a much more ominous place.

There was a deep canyon in that room. Light shone down through holes in the ceiling, casting light on web-like wiring. Large generators and machines stood along the walls, probably powering it. Lucy gulped, looking at the workers as they opened the second door, moving into the medical room. They looked at Lucy expectantly.

"It's time."

She walked hesitantly over. There were two more workers in the room, the original three left, the door sealing shut behind them. Lucy looked at the two workers. One was the woman that gave her the marks, Olivia, the other she didn't know. He wore a uniform similar to the workers, but without the headpiece, instead wearing a mask over his mouth and nose. His eyes were covered with glasses, they seemed to shine menacingly at Lucy.

The wall rippled and opened behind her, Lucy turned quickly, tensing further when she saw Brain. He needs to trust me. She forced her shoulders to relax.

"Sorry for not seeing you earlier, Lucy, but I've been very busy making sure you get the best treatment you can."

Lucy looked over her shoulder, then back at Brain. "Thank you for your consideration."

He smiled, it should have been comforting; admittingly, he almost sold the lie. "Now, let's get you up on the table, we have to give you some… medicine to help with the symptoms you have."

Lucy sat on the table hesitantly. Olivia smiled over her, attaching cuffs to her wrists. Lucy jerked away, "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Sometimes the treatment causes the body to twitch or spasm, dear, we're just making sure that we're preventing injuries." Before she could process it, there were cuffs locking onto the left wrist and ankles. The man went to the side of the room where shelves adorn the walls, selecting three different needles, all bigger than any Lucy had ever seen.

He came over to the table, pressing the syringe and making sure the medicine would come out. Lucy felt cold on her arm, her head jerked, watching Olivia move the disinfectant wipe away. "Three, two, one." Lucy watched the first needle go in, wincing the entire time. The man started pushing the syringe, Lucy could feel the numb cold go through her body.

See, time moves fast as a hurricane

But it's so strange

It feels so slow

Lucy felt dizzy, the world was spinning and her eyes were barely keeping up. She tried to speak but found she couldn't. She was tilting, falling, flying, dropping all at once, unable to discern what was up and what was down. Her mind was numb, unable to form a coherent thought.

She felt a sting on her arm, lower than the needle.

She tried to blink away the dizziness, then all of a sudden, the world stilled.

She gasped sharply, eyes wide as she looked around the room with hyper-focussed senses. She heard the Oliva's breathing, felt the end of the needle in her arm, could sense Brain in the room although she couldn't see him. She could taste the ethernano in the air, sweet and bitter and sour and tangy. She focused on it, imagined it all lighting up, like stars in the night sky, fireflies when the night is perfect.

Lucy watched it all move, all shift, swirl and swirl and swirl until it was a tornado of light over her head. It moved closer to her, closer and closer and closer until she could feel it entering her body, filling something inside her until it was full. But it didn't feel full. She needed more, more of the ethernano and the fullness.

Another sting on her arm and Lucy felt like she was stuck in a bad dream. She thrashed and kicked and screamed. Deliora was there, rampaging, killing everything, doing as he was designed and created to do. Her mother, her father, Gray, Lyon, Ur, all there, watching her. Their eyes were gone, empty bloody sockets stared back like marionettes. "It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time—" Lucy shrieked, hands going to her ears to drown out their voices, eyes closing so she didn't have to look. "It's time." She screeched and thrashed, felt something inside unravel and snap, a wave of something coming out of her.

The world went quiet.

Lucy looked up, eyes blurry from tears, sobs wracking her body. She saw Ur first. Her gaping eyes were wide open, ice leg glinting in the moonlight. The only thing that held her up was the golden spear of ice through her chest. Her mother and father were huddled together, shielding themselves from her. Lyon was on the ground, body twisted in a manner no body should be in.

Then there was Gray. He was in front of her. His eyes were gone, but blood tears ran down his face. He was on his knees, praying for her to stop. A vine of ice wrapped around him, constricting, cutting off any movement or sound, digging into his flesh with its thorns. If it weren't for the stillness of his chest, he might have been alive.

Deliora stomped closer to her, grinning, sneering. Lucy shuffled back, praying that he would leave or kill her too. He knelt down, staring at her from his position well above her.

"We're not so different, you and I,"

Lucy wished she could deny it, but as she looked around, at everyone she cared about and beyond, she realised that she had done it.

She sunk further to the ground, hunching over her knees and clutching her ears.

There was something holding her, like the cuffs but coiled. It dug into her skin, wrapped around rather than locked in place. It sliced into her skin; something was wrong. Something was wrong. Something was wrong.

She saw the face of a half moon, half sun, eyes blinded by light shining down on her. She grabbed at the wires, holding on. Something was coming, she knew it, deep in her bones and far into her soul. Pain sparked up the snake-like coils. It wrapped around her, consuming her.

Lucy screamed until there was not another sound in her body.

A dark world consumed her.

See the ash and the dust

Feel it slipping through your hands

Falling on the shoes and the shoulders

Of the ragged man

Gray looked at the lily Lucy left him. It was the same golden colour as her magic, the only real indicator that she had made it. Fairy Tail thrived around him. He longed to be a part of it, desired for it to be his family. But there was a distance between him and the guild.

Only Lucy could fill that difference.

"What's that?" Levy asks. She's nice enough, Gray thought so, anyway. She reminds him of Lucy, always with a book and always wanting to learn. It's nostalgic. Gray doesn't think he should be nostalgic at age eight, but he is. He sinks further into the chair.

"A lily."

Levy hums. "Whoever made it must be very talented."

Gray nods absentmindedly. Levy goes to find Cana after a while and Gray gets fed up with the guild, walking outside and down to the river where he can train.

"Gray right?"

He turns, looking over his shoulder. He frowns at the man. Brain. "Is this about Lucy?"

Brain sighs, looking down. "I'm afraid so."

Gray swallows, "What about her?"

"I'm not sure how much you know, but Lucy sought me out so I could help her control her unstable magic." Gray stayed quiet. "We commenced with an extensive and… thorough training, and unfortunately, she did not survive."

Gray felt a punch to his gut. His eyes watered, he held them back. "Thank you for letting me know. Does she- is, um, where is she buried?"

Brain smiled sullenly, "Unfortunately there wasn't enough of her left."

Gray thought he was going to be sick. He turned and walked away, Brain doing the same. Gray walked down the slope to the river bed, slipping and sliding down, not picking himself up. He held a hand over his mouth, muffling his cries, clutching the lily to his heart.

He did not think of the note that came with it.

Sometimes it gets so dark in here

Oh, I see it turn

The emptiness that moves within my soul

Well, that's that. Just gonna say this once LUCY IS NOT DEAD.

Cool, now that that's been covered, have a lovely day.

leave a review, they literally force the fingies to type.

Hope you enjoyed :)

Until next time

~MyFictionalFantasy