Waking Dreams (A Gruvia fanfiction)

Chapter 11: "Fake" Part 3

"Gray?"
"Please find Juvia quickly."
"Juvia is waiting for you."
"Please. Please save Juvia!"
Gray stopped in his tracks. For a few hours now, he had been hearing Juvia's voice echoing in his head. He didn't tell anybody, though. Their first priority was to get out of this labyrinth, and the others would only get worried if he told them. I'm coming, Juvia. Just hold on a little longer.

So far, their group had grown by two people. They had managed to find Lisanna, who had been running from more of Nightmare's monsters, and Gajeel, who didn't seem to be doing anything other than wondering around and sulking because he had lost his cat again. Apparently Pantherlily wasn't in the labyrinth.
They had been wandering around for quite a while now, searching for other guild members. Levy did a quick head count to see how many members they had so far.
"Let's see....Gray, Natsu, me, Gajeel, Lisanna, Cana, and Wendy...I'm not forgetting anybody, right?" The members shook their heads. All they needed was one more person. One more, and they could find Juvia.

The hallways were dark and seemed to go on forever. All of the staircases spiraled into eternity. The windows opened into a dark void. There was nothing except the dark stone room. At least, that was all she had seen. Juvia suspected that there had to be more to this place where Nightmare was keeping her. It seemed to exude terror from the walls. She was given the best care by his shadowy attendants, who said nothing, but dressed her in fine clothes and styled her hair to Nightmare's desires. She shuddered at the thought of him. Juvia wasn't sure why he wanted her, but he scared her. She wasn't sure what he wanted her for, either. He had come into this room where she was being kept several times, but had only talked with her. His words didn't make sense to Juvia. She could tell they were in the language she understood, but she didn't comprehend them. She always felt exhausted after he left, like their cryptic conversation had taken away her energy for the day. And when she slept, she saw things. Sometimes they were horrifying things, monsters and demons crawling out from shadows and flames and smoke. Sometimes, she saw happy things. She saw visions of a younger Nightmare, who didn't look nearly as evil or threatening, and a beautiful woman with long violet hair and ram's horns. They seemed happy together, like a couple discovering love for the first time. And occasionally, she saw things that did not make sense. She saw her guild mates in a labyrinth, searching for a way out. She saw them with the woman who had been with Nightmare. She saw them fighting each other. Whenever she saw these things, she would call out in her mind to Gray. If she could somehow reach him, surely he would find her and break her out of this place.

"Fake." The word sent a chill down Natsu's spine. He looked over to Lucy, who seemed just as stunned as he was. She let out a nervous laugh and said shakily, "Come on, that's ridiculous. How could I be a fake? Do I look fake to you?"
Lisanna spoke up from the back of the group, her head hanging low. "Has Nozomi ever been wrong?"
"We won't actually know if she's right or wrong until we make it out of the labyrinth," Levy pointed out.
"We have to decide. Is she fake or not? If she is, then we have to find the real one. If she isn't, we'll have killed our friend and won't have any way out," Gajeel said gloomily.
Lucy spoke again, distressed. "Guys, I think I would know if I wasn't me, right?"
Before long, the group began fighting. All of their shouting voices seemed to mash together into an incomprehensible ball of confusion. Just when he thought things couldn't get worse, Natsu heard Nightmare's laughter echoing through his mind.

My my, we've got quite the dilemma here, don't we?

At that, everybody ceased fighting and froze where they stood.

You've got to decide, Salamander. Is your precious star the real deal or not?

Natsu couldn't bring himself to reply. At this, Nightmare seemed to scoff.

Oh, we're playing that game, are we? Well then, shall we make our game more fun?

"No!" The word had barely escaped Natsu's mouth when the ground around him and the rest of the members began to shake and separate. Before long, there was a yawning chasm between them. Looking to his side, Natsu realized that Lucy was still with him.

Hahaha, what will you do, Salamander? I'll make you a deal. If you kill your star, who may or may not be the real one, I'll let you go back to your friends. You have three minutes to get it over with or I will kill you, and your friends will be stuck in the labyrinth forever. Enjoy!

Nightmare's voice faded away. Natsu and Lucy both stood there, trembling at the news of this new 'game'.
"You have to kill me, Natsu."
Lucy's voice cut through him like a knife.
"Luce, I couldn't! Even if you're not real, I couldn't possibly..." Natsu's words broke off as he choked back a sob.
Lucy made her way over to him and held him in a tight embrace. "It's okay. If you kill me, there's still a chance that you guys will be able to escape. Like Nightmare said, we can't be sure who's fake and who isn't, not even the fake ones themselves. You have to do this for everybody else. If you were in my position, you'd do the same thing."
The truth in Lucy's words was unbearable. Natsu could feel everybody staring at them from the sidelines, anxious to see what would happen.

I am getting bored, Salamander. Shall I give you a weapon so that you can do this properly?

The sound of a knife clattering to the ground echoed throughout the labyrinth. "Go get it." Lucy whispered, "Use it. Please. For everybody else. For...the real me, if I'm not her."
Shaking, with reluctant hands, Natsu picked up the silver knife by the ruby-adorned hilt. He held Lucy close to him one last time and whispered through his tears, "Lucy, I'm so sorry. I love you."
And then he plunged the curved blade into her chest.

"No! Don't make Juvia watch any more! Please! Please, she cannot stand it!" Juvia struggled on her knees against Nightmare's strong hold. He had been forcing her to watch the situation between Natsu and Lucy, holding her back by her hair and clothing no matter how much she protested. And he laughed the whole time.
Now, as it seemed that this would soon come to a devastating end, Juvia could bear to watch no more. She could not stand to see one of her best friends killed by another guild mate. Her hair was falling out of the elaborate style and some of her fancy clothing had ripped, but it didn't matter. She fought Nightmare's hold, screaming. "Please! Don't let this happen!" When Natsu dropped Lucy's bloody body to the ground, Nightmare only kept laughing as Juvia wept. "That's more like it, Rain Woman. Beg for me more."

A/N:
Hello my lovely readers! Wow, I can't believe this story has over 2k reads!!!! So yeah, sorry about this heartbreaking chapter....I really like it though. You get to see more of the creepier side of Nightmare. I hope this has left you with questions and anticipation. Because it's spring break, I'll try to update once more this week. Thanks for reading, commenting, voting, etc. Please continue to do it! I love hearing from you guys!