"Na...tsu..." A name pushed itself from Lucy's thoughts in the form of a breath.

She lay unconscious on a completely stone floor in a dimmed room. Four shadows surrounded her, watching her movements through the dark.

Her hands and feet shackled to hooks that reached deep into the floor of the room.

"She is quite the talker, isn't she, Vallen?" A woman's voice spoke up, projecting itself from the back end of the room.

"I've been counting and over the last hour she has said that name twenty two times. He must mean a great deal to her." A man stepped out of the shadows and into the lightest part of the room.

He was extremely slender and tall, so tall in fact that his nickname was "The half giant".

He has crystal blue eyes that glimmered when the light touch them. His almond brown hair was slicked back with a few strands loose over his forehead.

He had a sharp jawline and perfect cheekbones. This man was Vallen, a water wizard.

"I think she's in love." He smiled passionately, clasping his hands together and raising his shoulders in joy.

"Vallen, enough with your talk of love. I grow very tired of it." A voice of what seemed like a snake floated through the air.

A smaller man took his place next to Vallen. His jet black hair reached to his waist with two strands on each side of his head pulled back to keep it out of his face.

He had dark purple eyes that any girl couldn't resist. He held his hands behind its back and stood with exceptional posture.

They called him Beast, the shape-shifting wizard.

"Beast, we talked about leaving Vallen be." The woman stepped from the shadows as well to confront her teammate.

She was a lovely looking woman. Soft blonde hair with pigtails that touched her mid calves, her bangs cut straight across her forehead.

Her big beautiful eyes were the color of emeralds. Strapped on her back was a giant sword with a jagged blade.

She was Blair, the wind wizard.

The last man said nothing as he stepped into the small circle of people sanding around Lucy's body.

He was big, not as tall as Vallen. But much more muscular. His shorter hair was a deep scarlet and his eyes matched the color of fire.

He was the quiet type who always hung his head low. He is know as Hallow, the magma wizard.

"The client said he wanted her alive. But, I sense something special about her. I believe I'm going to keep her." Vallen spoke up after a minute.

"What about her friends?" Hallow questioned timidly. If it weren't for years of practice his comrades would not have heard him.

"What about them?" Beast replied with yet another question.

"Ah yes, surely they will come looking for her. She was traveling with Salamander. I've always wanted to get my hands on him." Blair smirked at the thought of finally catching the dragon slayer and making him hers.

"Natsu?" Lucy uttered again, breaking the conversation between her captors.

Beast smashed his foot into her rib cage, smiling slightly as he heard a crack in one of her bones. "Quiet, wench."

Lucy's eyes shot open as the pain ripped through her body. She let out a harsh whimper while struggling on the ground. She felt tears in her eyes as she bit down on her bottom lip to keep from wailing.

"Don't you know how to do what you are told, girl?" Blair glared down at her.

Lucy stared up at her. For several moments as Lucy tried to calm herself down they were quiet.

But then she found her voice once more. "You will not have him."

"Excuse me?" Blair questioned, annoyed that this girl was giving her back talk.

"You will....not have Natsu."Lucy forced out as yet again beast took another shot at her ribs.

"Is that so? Are you going to be the one to stop me then? I hate to break it to you, princess. But I am the queen, and I get what ever I desire." Blair spoke with evil in her voice, a kind that nearly sent chills down Lucy's spine.

"Wh-who...are you?" Lucy questioned after a few more moments of breathing heavily.

She could feel one of her ribs jabbing into the side of her lungs. The pain was driving her to insanity.

Desperately she tried to calm herself but the thought of what was actually happening kept her from her goal.

"We are Nightmare Element. A very powerful four man dark guild." Vallen beamed brightly. His enthusiasm Lucy found quite odd.

"What...do you want...from me?" She forced out through another heavy breath.

"Our client is giving us a hefty reward for your return. Unfortunately he only requested you be alive. He was never specific on not wanting you harmed." Blair uttered with her demonic tone. The girl was cold as ice and her aura made Lucy sick to her stomach.

"What does your...client want with...me?" She spoke, every time it got more and more painful.

"Sorry, princess. We don't ask why a job needs to be done. If the coin is good it doesn't matter." Beast laughed, a look of blood thirst in his eyes.

Lucy began to feel more terrified. She was completely helpless against this guild of wicked wizards.

She hasn't gotten her keys back from Loke, which meant she couldn't defend herself.

They had even hired by someone. A man who knew who she was.

She shut her eyes tightly as Beast and Blair began to beat on her. She felt as one by one bones started to shatter and crack.

She was used to this though. She could easily live the through beatings and even much worse.

But that didn't mean she wouldn't feel a thing. Her torso began to throb in pain.

The world around her started to spin. The nauseous feeling creeped down into her stomach.

Her wrists an ankles were sprinkles with blood from her trying to escape the jagged edged shackles.

Lucy felt one last blow, the one that sent her back into her pitch black dreams. A blow right to the head.