Shocked couldn't even explain how I felt.

Lisanna lied. She tricked, hurt, and stole from me. From Fairy Tail. From the whole damn country.

Of all the experiences I'd had in Earthland, that sent my mind in the biggest whirl.

On one hand, I was relieved to finally know whom Fairy Tail was up against. It had been so nerve-wrecking being in the dark for that long, it was nice to finally be in the know about something.

On the other hand, it was horrible knowing Lisanna was the one pulling the strings behind Fairy Tail's demise. It made me nauseous. It made me woozy. I hadn't known her for very long, but I had been around her more than anyone in Earthland. We had started to become close in the time we traveled together, and it was so easy to trust her considering she was a member of the guild I fell in love with. She seemed so kindhearted, so concerned for her family...

But she wasn't. At least, her actions proved she wasn't.

Additionally... she knew more than she or anyone else led on. Her behavior towards me during her confession was strange. Ardently so. Lisanna didn't treat me like a companion as she had in our time together.

She treated me like she loved me. Like I was important to her. A part of me surmised her behavior as that of an embarrassed girl who confessed to hurting a friend... or in my case, a part of her general family. She didn't just confess to me—she confessed to Fairy Tail too.

But then, another part of me didn't know if I could trust her sentiments at all. She lied about so much, and willingly hurt the people who cared about her. She wasn't who she led on to be. She was fake.

After telling me she was the brains behind the operation, she had her robot man release me from the cage before restraining me again. I kicked and screamed the whole time.

"Lisanna!" I screamed at the top of my lungs for the millionth time, "Stop this! No! Give me Sapphire back! No!"

She stood with her eyes closed and her jaw clenched. Her expression was worn, but resolved as my cries fell on her deaf ears. Her robot man dragged me away from Blue Pegasus's lobby, Lisanna's figure leaving my line of sight. I fought the machine's iron hold, but did little damage in my drained and weakened state. I felt worn too.

It took me down some dark corridors of the chambers underneath Blue Pegasus. The bright, elegance of the guild was replaced with gritty, ominous walls. I felt my heart pound in my chest.

As my protest died down, I noticed some corridors that led to cell complexes. They were all labeled accordingly:

HOLDER | CARD
CASTOR | SOLID SCRIPT
CASTOR | ENCODING
CASTOR | SMOKE
CASTOR | FIRE
(...)
HOLDER | CELESTIAL
(...)

My heart skipped. Lucy is a Celestial Spirit Wizard, I thought. Is she... down that hall?

A silent tear went down my face as I took in the dusty, rusted condition of the hall.

How could Lisanna do that to the guild that loved her? The guild that protected her? Called her a friend, and treated her like family?

I then remembered how she almost reluctantly spoke of her bonds or adventures with the guild with me. Sapphire and I had to ask for her to tell.

Was she skeptical of sharing with a newbie such as me? Had she not felt as tightly connected with them all as everyone else did? Or... did she feel too guilty to talk about the people she was betraying?

I focused on the loud stomping of the machine's footsteps to settle my unwinding mind. I breathed slowly, trying to match my heartbeat to the rhythm of its gait. I gritted my teeth as my heart clenched tightly.

Though I knew Lisanna was to blame, I couldn't help but feel at fault. I should have read between the lines, focused on her more, listened to my gut whenever I sensed something off.

Before I could delve on the matter of my insignificance for too long, I was brought to a dimly lit room with an operating table built into it. The robot man laid me on the table and I struggled to break free. It had each of my movements under intense surveillance, and each time I thought I could slip out of its tight grasp, it would yank me back and continue to strap me down.

I heard a set of lighter feet echo down the hall towards us. I knew it wasn't Lisanna from the sturdier pattern, but my body tensed up regardless. The brainwashed Hibiki entered with a long syringe in his hand, and my heart stopped.

"What is that?" I asked immediately, but received no answer as the caramel-haired boy approached me with it, "No!" I groaned, fighting against my restraints as he slammed his fingers against my neck and locked my jaw in his grasp, "No!" I shrieked as he stuck the long needle into my neck. I cried and winced before I began to loose consciousness.

~~~

I awoke to be met with grey, rusted steel bars. My throat was sore, as was my neck. I groaned as I blinked repeatedly to dull out the sudden brightness around me. I gritted my teeth as my body stirred slightly, and I felt the solid ground around me.

I swallowed before sitting up, "Ah—" I gasped, my hand flying to my neck in pain. I popped my ears, hearing steady, wet flutters around me. They were completely new to my ears, as were the scents in the air. However, I could barely focus on the sounds or smells with the pain in my neck and shoulder being so pronounced.

I was in a dark cell, lying on the floor. The cell was quite roomy considering how loud the spaciousness was behind me. The concrete walls stared at me, making me feel uneasy. The small, but sharp sounds in the space made my heart race, my face flush, and my mind whirl. Before I knew it, I was breathing heavily and felt claustrophobic and dizzy. I shot up from my sitting position, causing my brain spin. My knees nearly buckled before I grabbed on to the bars.

"Hello?!" I called immediately, blinking hard and then repeatedly to settle my spinning head. Once I was stable enough, I examined the outside of the cell. It was completely isolated in a corridor. I saw no other cells along the hallway, and the ends of it seemed never-ending.

"Is anyone there?!" I exclaimed, my breathing coming out even heavier. I was on the cusp of hyperventilating, "Please," I cried, "Help me!"

"'Ya know, kid, that's not gonna work." I heard a deep voice say behind me. I swooped around and gasped, "Now, how's about we settle down before ya hurt yourself."

I wasn't the only one in the cell... I was shocked that I hadn't noticed before... Especially since there were so many others in the room with me. That's where the fluttering was coming from: their heartbeats. As well as their scents—I had never smelled anyone or anything like them in Earthland. I may as well had been surrounded by animals.

One of them got up from his seated position. He walked over to stand next to me before starting to bang on the cell door, "Not gonna work, my ass, Blacksteel!" His sneering voice escalated from irritated mumbling to full on yelling. He was replying to the owner of the first deep voice, "Who knows how many others were added today! I can practically smell 'em."

I inched away from his angry form before I sat in the cell, starring at its walls and the six people who all sat in it with me.

There was a young dark blue-haired girl with pigtails adorned with white cat ears. She had to be younger than me. Her face was sweet but sad, almost hopeless. She looked nothing like the daunting men around her. A deep part of me was concerned for her—the idea of one little girl stuck in a small room with five grown men didn't sit right with me. Yet, she didn't seem disturbed. She was comfortably seated among them. She trusted them.

This relaxed my apprehension towards the guys slightly, and my eyes trailed along their figures.

There was a tall dark haired man. His pitch black mane pooled down to the floor he sat on. He had piercings that took the place of his eyebrows, ran along the sides of his nose and down his chin, and lined the cartilages of his ears. His red eyes gleamed brightly, like a snake's. Their intensity coupled with the size of his muscles didn't settle my unease, and my eyes flickered to the blonde haired man next to him.

This man's size reflected the black-haired man's... if not, rivaled it. His hair was cropped short unlike the first. He wore a fur coat without putting his arms through the sleeves, and the shape of a lightning bolt covered one of his blue eyes. He seemed the most nonchalant of the group, like he'd come to terms with what was happening to us a long time ago.

Two other men sat to the left of the cell. They were both tall, but much leaner than the first two guys. One of them was blonde and had his hair pushed back and out of his face. The last thing I noted about him was the shiny earring in one of his earlobes before his eyes snapped up to meet mine.

I looked to the other one: his polar opposite. As different as the two were, they gave off the same energy. I assumed they were either brothers or close friends.

The other one's gaze was on the floor, lost in thought and disabling me from seeing the color of his eyes. His hair was pitch black like the first man's, but stopped at his shoulders. It hung freely in his face compared to his blonde companion's, and his attire was much more poised. Like that of a knight's, but without armor.

His blonde friend nudged him, and he finally took his eyes off of the floor, allowing me to see the same red color I saw from the first man's eyes. I looked away before he could catch my gaze with his own.

And finally, there was the sixth person. A spiky, pink-haired guy. His interesting hair didn't faze me nearly as much as his attire: a strange white scarf, an open black vest, and black bottoms and sandals to match. I couldn't understand why, but I just knew, in my heart, that he was the famous Natsu.

He looked to be the shortest of all the men but even sitting down I could tell he was much taller than me. He was lean like the last two men, and his fiery green eyes were locked on the cell door. He was pissed.

He called out in his sudden fit of rage, "Lucy! Guys! Where are you?!"

That name. That name made my eyes brim with tears from just hearing it. How dumb could I have been? How could I not have known? Not have caught on?

"Salamander, cut it out!" The long, black-haired man grumbled, "We ain't gettin' out of here anytime soon. Deal with it! Plus, you're scarin' the newbie."

Salamander? Maybe I had guessed wrong? But he mentioned Lucy... I didn't know.

All eyes were on me, and I couldn't help but slump from the weight of their stares. Salamander sat down next to the girl, his face still tense with irritation, but his eyes were soft and liquid-like, "Sorry about that... uh..." He said, wondering what my name was.

"Jay." I mumbled, not able to look away from his kind eyes.

"Alright, Jay," He said, his voice finally matching his gaze and his physique calming down. "Nice to meet you." He said, smiling a toothy smile that made me blush. The feature added to the reassurance in my system.

"Where ya from, Jay?" Asked the pierced, black-haired man, stealing my attention away from the interesting Salamander. I hesitated for a moment before turning to my right shoulder and showing them my emblem. The pink-haired boy, little girl, and first two men looked at me in shock.

"No way." The blonde short-haired man mumbled, looking into my eyes. The pink-haired boy squinted at me.

"Are you a new member? I don't recognize you." He said and I nodded.

"Apparently I came right before you all left."

He smiled slightly, "Well, congratulations. Welcome to the guild."

"Thank you." I replied, my eyes locking on his right shoulder and seeing his red Fairy Tail emblem. Interesting... It felt like I knew exactly where to look to find his... Probably because I instinctively asked for my emblem to be placed in the same spot. No big deal...

"Well, where did you come from originally, Jay?" The girl asked. I looked down, ashamed that I couldn't remember something so simple.

"Nevermind me." I replied quickly, changing the topic, "Who are you all?"

"I'm Rogue Cheney." Said the short, black-haired man. His body language read stoic, maybe even shy. So, I was surprised that he was the first to answer. I nodded to him, almost getting entranced by the liquifying red of his eyes.

"I'm his brother, Sting Eucliffe." Said the blonde with the earring, catching my attention and causing a soft smile to grow on my face. So I guessed right.

"I'm Laxus Dreyer." The blonde with the lightning bolt mark said. My eyes widened as I recalled the name. It was Makarov's grandson. His voice was quite deep, a trait rivaling the pierced black-haired man in addition to his height and muscle. I could sense the authoritative tone in his voice that Makarov had. Though, like Master's, the tone wasn't a cold one. Laxus's aura was warm and reliable.

"Gajeel Redfox." The long, black-haired man simply said, and I felt a little shy from his intimidating aura. I couldn't tell if he was trying to be inviting or was contemplating killing me. His expression was blank and intense and I was somewhat relieved when the girl's voice arose and defused the chilling tone of his introduction.

"I'm Wendy Marvell." She said, her voice soft and approachable. Wendy... My potential guild roommate. She and I had the same baffled expression, but I think the presence of one of us alleviated the other's discomfort. From the moment I met Wendy, I was grateful for her.

"And I'm Natsu Dragneel," The pink-haired boy said, gaining my attention once more. I had been right yet again... So, why did the big scary guy call him Salamander?

"We're Dragon Slayors too."

I blinked, automatically remembering the discussion with Lucy, Erza, and Mirajane about this magic type. Then I noticed how he'd said too. It wasn't like he was adding on to their introductions... It was like he was telling me they were all like me. It confused me.

"'Dragon Slayers too'?" I asked absentmindedly.

"Yeah," Wendy replied, "What's your element?"

I furrowed my eyebrows before hesitantly replying, "Excuse me?" The guild mentioned nothing about elements when talking about Dragon Slayors. Not to mention, Wendy's question further insinuated that I was one of them.

Gajeel fidgeted in his spot before settling down again comfortably, "Your element," He replied, as if I should have known what they were talking about. When he noticed my confusion, he squinted at me, "What kind of Dragon Slayor magic do you use?"

I blinked again before looking at all of them in bewilderment. Didn't they all use the same... kind? My mind was scrambled, "You... You think I'm a Dragon Slayor?" I asked after a moment of silence.

Natsu looked at the others with the same confused expression as the one on my face, "Well," He started, scratching the back of his head, "This cell is used specifically for Dragon Slayors. They do a scan of your magic before they place you in one." My gaze dropped to the floor in shock, "Just wouldn't make sense for them to put you in here and you aren't one of us."

They, I thought. Her.

I was quiet for a moment, and then Wendy's voice chirped up again, "If you're still confused about elements, I'm a Sky Dragon Slayor, so my element is air." She explained, and while I listened intently to her words, my gaze stayed on the floor, "Natsu uses fire, Gajeel uses iron, Laxus uses lightning, Sting uses light, and Rogue uses shadows." Wendy explained.

"So, Jay," Natsu started, squatting down beside me and tilting his head to grab my attention, "What do you use?" He asked curiously.

I starred at him, completely freaked out.

"You have a certain smell about ya." Natsu continued, "It's the only reason I wouldn't say you were one of us. At the very least Dragon Slayors recognize one another's smells or names. But I have no idea who you are."

"Hey, Natsu... Remember what we said about personal space?" Wendy said gently.

"Exactly, back up, ya weirdo." Laxus bellowed and I heard Gajeel suck his teeth.

I wasn't at all uncomfortable with the proximity between, though. My mind was too distracted. As we stared at one another, I couldn't stop thinking about what Wendy had said: Natsu uses fire.

It was bizarre to me, but for some reason I couldn't ignore, I just knew I had known that fact ahead of time.

Natsu didn't seem uncomfortable with my staring. If anything, he was focused on me just as much.

How could I have known this without ever knowing of Dragon Slayor elements? Without ever meeting Natsu?

And then... something happened. An image I did not remember seeing in Earthland flashed across my mind.

It was of Natsu... slinging strings of red fire in a fit of rage. He was fighting. Passionately. Like his life depended on it. Like others' lives depended on it. It was like I was in the scene with him, watching him as he stormed about.

Other images like it surfaced in my brain. He roared fire. He scorched enemies. He reeked havoc in too many towns to count. He was almost monstrous... So, why was I suddenly remembering how much I loved him? I didn't even know the boy next to me, but there was an unwavering amount of awe and adoration I felt from the images of him in my head.

Was it my imagination or... Were these memories?

Suddenly, the images panned away from my point of view. I wasn't in the scenes with Natsu, I was watching them on a screen. A television screen.

Then, there were images crashing around in my head mercilessly. My eyes widened and my hands grabbed at my hair as my body began to lose balance from the weight of the resurrection of who I was. Who I am.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head, turning everything black around me. I felt my body slump to the floor and I curled into a quivering ball.

"Jay?!" I heard Natsu yell.

It felt like someone else's life flashed before my eyes. Piece by piece. All working backwards. Then it hit me.

It was all coming back to me.