Decades Gone By Series: Two Sides to Serenity - Book 2 (Fairy Tail)

Chapter 3 - Patient Quarters

Erza felt sick.

They walked through the corridors, metal and dank, their every step echoing and bouncing off the walls. They passed many different cells, all closed up to block their view of the patients, however, their screams could be heard from a mile away. Some screamed with anger, confusion, fright, but mostly pain and when they made it out of the first few halls of the patient quarters, Erza saw with astonishment that they had arrived to a large metal door with a pass code to get in. The plate above the door read Private Quarters.

Erza wasn't the only one wondering what stood behind the door, for Gray spoke the first few words in a while. "Um, Louisa, what's behind this door?" He pointed and she followed his finger. She was facing another door that lead to more patient cells, which was too Erza's left and on her right was another one with more patients. They had just walked through six corridors of patients and seeing that there were too more doors filled with them made her dizzy.

She leaned forward and pressed her palms against her knees, breathing heavily as Louisa smiled at Gray's question. "Why, that's where everything goes down. Therapy sessions, experiments, shock therapy, questioning. All kinds of wonderful things for our Serenity patients."

Everyone froze, including Erza, when experiments had left her lips. As she unlocked the door, Gray stumbled on his words at his reply since no one else nominated to speak. "Experiments and shock therapy?"

"Why of course. The experiments I'm not allowed to speak of, but shock therapy is the main source of helping our patients get better. Your friend just came back from there. She was just so out of it, that's why it took so long." She passed through the doorway and began walking through more halls filled with screaming.

Natsu moved after her, not hesitating, and Erza knew he was the most eager to see Lucy. However, she did see him twitch at the though of Lucy getting electrocuted through her brain for the past month.

Wendy went after him, her hands shaking and Gray was about to go when he saw Erza trying her best not to throw up. He placed a hand on her shoulder, eyes shaking with concern. "Erza, what's wrong?"

"I-I don't feel so good," she said, licking her lips and biting the bottom one. Her insides felt like they were being turned around and her heart was beating rapidly fast. Her head felt heavy and she knew her cheeks were flushed pink, sweat beginning to bead down her forehead. "L-let's just go."

She straightened up and Gray's grip on her shoulder tightened. "Erza, you can barely stand." He was right, her legs were shaking wildly for she was trying her best not to collapse. She didn't feel like she was going to faint, just felt weak and powerless. She didn't know why, she had felt perfectly fine a few minutes ago before stepping into this small space between all four doors. "Here," Gray muttered, throwing her arm around his shoulder and grabbing her waist, becoming the only thing holding her up.

She didn't say anything as they began to walk, crossing the threshold and trying to catch up to the others. Her vision began to blur, colors molding together and her eyebrows twitched as more sweat fell, her legs feeling like noodles by the time they caught up to the others. When they did, Wendy looked back at them and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Erza! W-what's wrong?!" She ran to her side and immediately tried to heal her, small hands glowing a bright blue, however Erza didn't feel even remotely better. "That's strange. My magic isn't working."

"Why not?" Gray asked, concern growing worse.

"I don't know," she whispered, eyebrows furrowed. Louisa suddenly stopped walking and Natsu crashed into her, the three behind him stopping before they collided with the pinkette, who occasionally glanced from Louisa and Erza.