"If that's your decision, so be it." Erza said. "We'll go back to the guild and inform the Master."

"WHAT?" Evergreen shrieked. The other guild members were shocked by Erza's words as well. "Erza, you can't be serious!"

"This is the path (Y/N) has chosen. Who are we to stand in her way?"

Laxus slammed his fist on the table after he recalled the memory.

"Calm down, Laxus." Next to the blond was his grandfather, who appeared to rather calm about the situation.

"How can I stay calm when we abandoned my fiancee?" He growled.

"We didn't abandon her, Laxus." Erza spoke, walking up behind the lightning wizard. "We're definitely going back for her."

"Yeah, something wasn't right about the situation." Evergreen commented, crossing her arms over her chest. "I have a bad feeling about that Matt guy. He's not right in the head."

"Heh, that's something I can agree with you on." Laxus smirked.

"It's too bad we can't ask Terrell for his opinion." Wendy pouted.

The said wolf companion stayed behind with (Y/N) because "wherever (Y/N) goes, I go" -- those were his exact words.

"I'm sure he's thinking the same thing we are." Erza said with a serious, almost scary, expression on her face. "That most definitely was not (Y/N), no matter what she or Matt says."

"I say we brainstorm," Lucy suggested, "So that we can try to figure out what happened and how we can save (Y/N)." Next to the Celestial Spirit Wizard was Levy, who had a stack of books ready because she knew she would be researching something.

"Well, we all know that she used to be an assassin in an assassin guild." Gray stated.

"And she mentioned missing that life because she enjoyed killing people." Carla continued.

"That's . . not true." Laxus spoke, staring into his drink while he continued to be deep in thought. His words, at the very least, managed to grab everyone's attention. "At least, that's not entirely true."

"What do you mean, Laxus?" Freed asked.

"(Y/N) told me that she doesn't enjoy killing -- the innocents, at least." Laxus clarified, "She didn't like harming people who were defenseless or hadn't committed a serious crime. They didn't do anything wrong, so why should they be killed? She did, however, enjoy killing criminals because she felt like she was getting justice for their victims."

Unless that was all a lie..

"That's an entirely different picture than the one (Y/N) gave us." Carla mumbled, thinking.

"Matt did say that he 'brought out (Y/N)'s true self.'" Erza thought aloud.

The group was silent for a bit as everyone was in deep thought. That is, however, until Levy gasped -- a lightbulb turning on in her head.

"I think I know what happened to (Y/N)!" She exclaimed, hurrying over to the stack of books. Shoving multiple books aside, she finally found, and opened, a book titled Alternating Personality. "This book contains many ways you can alter someone's personality through magical or nonmagical means."

"So you're saying (Y/N) had her personality altered?" Evergreen asked.

"It's possible," Levy answered, flipping through the pages of the book. She was looking for something that she remembered reading about years ago. A few seconds later, she saw a picture of black liquid in a syringe. "but I don't think that's the case." She tapped on the page for emphasis, "I read about this years ago and when Erza mentioned what Matt had said, I thought that this could be what's causing (Y/N)'s sudden attitude change."

"Well, what is that stuff?" Gray asked, looking down at the book.

"It's called Inner Demon." Levy replied, "It's a serum, named after its ability to take someone's darkest desires and bring them to the surface -- building off of it in the process. In other words, the desires you want to could act on, the person you want to be but suppress it, comes out with this serum. So, in (Y/N)'s case, this serum is building off of her enjoyment of killing criminals."

"So, then, to an extent, she was telling the truth?" Lucy thought aloud.

"I feel as though there is more to this. Am I right, Levy?" Erza questioned.

The Solid Script Wizard nodded in response before explaining further. "It may not seem harmful at first, but over time the serum will eventually build off of the person's desires so much that it will become its own being. Not only that, but the desires will be taken to the extreme."

"So, what I'm hearing is," Makarov spoke up, looking quite serious. "if we don't get the serum out of (Y/N)'s system, she will eventually split into two versions of herself and the new version will become a serial killer, not just someone who kills only criminals."

"That's right." Levy nodded.

A thud was heard, gaining everyone's attention. It was Laxus, who had slammed his fist on the wooden bar.

"I'm gonna kill him for turning  (Y/N) into some kind of psychotic murderer." He snarled, his body shaking in rage.

"We don't know how long the serum has been in her system." Makarov reassured, "Let's hope that it hasn't progressed further."

But the way she was talking earlier...I don't know. Laxus thought. If there was one thing he was sure about, however, it was that he was going to save you from your inner demons.

Meanwhile...

"What do you think?" Matt asked. "This is said to be an orphanage. At least, that's what they tell people. It's really child slavery housing run by greedy men. It's a good target."

You stared down at the building, not saying a word just yet.

Child slavery, huh? That is a pretty heartless business to be in. Killing the men will set these children free at the very least.

Is that going to be enough though?  You know, to us, killing is like eating a tasty bag of chips. You can't each just one. Once you start, you won't want to stop.

So you're saying that I'd be so out of my mind that I'd kill mere children?

Well, they have been through a tremendous amount of suffering. They probably wish they were dead. You know, being slaves and all.

But they're just kids.

You're missing the point, (Y/N). Allow me to show you. Let me take over from here.

"Indeed, it is." As those words left your mouth, a grin spread across your face. "The perfect target."

To Be Continued ...