Lucy

Rescued

"Lucy!" screamed Levy and Happy, flying above the cave and spotting the group below. They had gotten worried as time had passed and Happy had suggested an aerial view might be more effective.

They landed and Levy ran to where Gajeel had set Lucy down. With the lacrima swallowing her body, it was like she was a statue, only the front of her body still visible.

"She's not...." Gajeel shook his head at her question. "She has a heartbeat, but it's faint." He looked at Happy. "Get Wendy and Freed here NOW. Lily too - he knows all about lacrimas from Edolas."

"Lacrimas?" Gray asked. "Is that what this is?"

"What happened to Natsu?" Levy asked. "Is he hurt, too?"

Gajeel shrugged. "We had to get him to listen to reason."

Levy nodded, turning her attention back to Lucy, studying the lacrima.

"I know you said in Edolas, they turned us into lacrimas, but that was all at once. What's happening here? What spell did he use?" Levy murmured.

Levy looked up suddenly. "You didn't find her keys, did you?"

Gajeel shook his head. "No. I'm sure Porla has them with him if he's sealed them off."

"Damn. We could use her spirit, Crux, about now."

"Not to be a Natsu, but what if we just started blasting it?" Gray suggested. "With his dumb luck, it might work."

"It could also make it worse if Porla put a protection spell on it," Levy stated, "so I wouldn't advise it until Freed gets here. He's better at reading spells than I am."

It wasn't long until the exceeds arrived with both Freed and Wendy. Surprisingly, Lily carried Makarov as well.

"Master!" exclaimed Levy.

"I had to come see. Jose Porla, I take it, from what Happy told me? Damn him!" Makarov yelled. "Where is he?"

"Not here right now," Gajeel replied, looking at Freed. "Well?" he barked.

Freed jumped.

"Give him a moment to analyze the situation," Lily grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Lily," Levy began, "do you know how we can reverse the lacrima's progress, like what happened in Edolas?"

Lily shook his head. "I think if Gajeel did the same thing he did then, it might kill Lucy in her weakened state, since she's not completely a lacrima."

"So," Levy began, thinking out loud, "do we let her finish the process of becoming a lacrima and then break the spell?"

The group was silent, even Makarov.

Freed was the first to speak, circling and studying Lucy from all angles. "You were smart not to try to break the lacrima. There's a protection spell on it that would start the lacrima process on anyone who attacked it with magic."

Everyone's eyes strayed to Natsu, still unconscious on the ground.

"How hard did you hit him?" Gray questioned Gajeel, who shrugged and grinned.

"So why didn't Natsu start the process since he was attacking Lucy with fired fists?" asked Juvia.

"He wasn't really using magic," explained Makarov. "That's more of a physical attack from Natsu."

"So basically Porla set a trap so that anyone who tried to rescue Lucy would then themselves become a lacrima," Levy thought out loud. Her eyes widened. "Master!"