"Hello?" I called out. All around me was nothing but darkness. I took a few steps forward, the only sound was the shuffling of my clothes, not even a sound of my footsteps. I started to get nervous and I began to run. My eyes scanning every inch around me looking for something, anything other than darkness. "Can anyone hear me?" I shouted.

"I can,"

I whirled around to see Lilith standing where there was once nothing but darkness. She gave me a sinister grin and rested her hand on her hip. 

"You," I snarled. I turned on my heel and charged at the scientist. As I drew nearer I lunged to tackle the woman. 

"That won't work Darling," Lilith grinned. As she predicted, her form turned into black smoke and I fell through the projection. "This isn't real Nashi," She explained. "We're inside your mind,"

"My mind? Yeah right," I grumbled as I stood back up. I ran at the woman once more in hopes that I could land at least one solid punch. As my fist was about to collide with her face, my feet slipped and my fist fell through the projection yet again. 

"What did I just tell you?" 

I growled and regained my balance, glaring at Lilith's projection. "So this is what? Some weird illusion thing caused by the Alegria curse?"

"Look at that. Maybe you are smarter than you look,"

"Well if this is my mind then where is everything?" I walked and gestured to the huge empty space of nothing. 

"We're currently occupying a space that you've shut out of your memory," Lilith explained.

"Shut out?" I asked. When I turned around to face Lilith I was shocked to see that there was a man standing in her place. 

"Lukas?" My hard exterior collapsed at the sight of his blond locks and soft smile. I wanted to run into his arms and be held by my big brother. His brown and gold eyes were so real... but I knew he wasn't real. "What do you mean?" My voice cracked. 

"You still don't remember those three months after the eclipse gate was destroyed," Lukas explained as he walked towards me. He rested his hand on my shoulder and for a split second I thought I actually felt it was there. "That's because you are refusing to remember what happened. You're shutting out a piece of your life because you're afraid to know what might have actually happened,"

Lukas made a point. I thought back to the week I spent with Paul and Janice. I woke up on the other side of the country with a stab wound and a dislocated shoulder. When I looked in the mirror I barely recognized myself. Did I really want to remember the events that turned me into that?

"It's your choice Nashi," This time it was my mom who stood in front of me, my mom from my time. She had short hair and a blue top with a sympathetic expression. "You don't have to remember if you don't want to," She rested her hand on my cheek and this time I was sure that I felt it.

It had been so long since I had seen my mom. I had seen Lucy so often since we were thrown back in time, but it had been too long since I had seen my mom. Her brown eyes were full of love and wisdom that were so familiar. 

"but know that those are your memories, they're pieces of your life. It doesn't matter if you made those memories in a time that's not your own... They still happened,"

My mind flashed back to my conversation with Storm the night before we rescued Gale. He had said the exact same thing to me. 

I didn't want to remember. 

I still don't want to remember.

...

But they were right. Good or bad those memories were mine, they were a part of my life. 

"I'm scared," I confessed. My mother gave me a sympathetic look as she pulled me closer. 

"It's okay to be scared," She explained. "but remember that you are still standing today despite what happened. They never broke you, because the real you never left,"

I nodded hesitantly signifying that I had made my decision. Mom kissed my forehead and gave me a hopeful smile as she stepped back. 

Suddenly the pitch black surroundings changed their shape. The shadows curled into black smoke that solidified into stone walls and floors with torches all along the hallway. An iron gate slammed shut in front of my face forcing me to take a few steps back. 

I watched nervously as the black smoke curled around my body until I was completely covered. When the smoke vanished, I was in a yellow tank top with white shorts and a denim jacket. I stared at the old clothes that I once wore, holding the hem of the shirt with my fingers. Then the shadows curled around my wrists and formed handcuffs. 

Suddenly I was sent flying back into the stone wall where the handcuffs were linked to a long chain tied to the center of the floor. Stone walls sprung up all around me forming a dungeon cell and I began to panic. 

"This isn't real," I told myself. 

"Good morning my pet!" Lilith cheered as she stalked towards the cell door. She undid the latch and stepped inside the cell. I quickly tried to crawl away from her to another side of the cell, but her manicured hand quickly grasped my arm tightly. I yelped as her nails dug into my skin and she pulled me out of the cell. 

As we left the cell, it turned back into black smoke. I looked ahead to see that the black smoke was forming a large stone wall with ancient symbols and carvings in it. Lilith threw me onto the wall and I was suspended against it. 

My breathing was increasing significantly as I watched Lilith stalk over to a control panel. She smiled sinisterly and pressed several buttons. Then there was a loud hum as a large machine began to come alive.

I stared petrified down the barrel of what appeared to be some form of weapon as it began to glow bright yellow. The weapon fired and hit me directly in the torso. The pain it brought was worse than anything I had felt before. I screamed in agony as I felt something being drained from me. I quickly realized it was my magic power being drained. Only this time it was on a much larger scale than what Lilith and her goons had previously used.

I screamed as tears of pain streamed down my face. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, it kept going. It felt like hours that I was hanging from that wall, I screamed in pain until I could barely utter a sound. Then finally, the draining stopped. Lilith flicked her wrist and I fell to the floor. 

When I looked up I was back in the cell from before. I struggled to my hands and knees when a guard threw food onto the floor of the cell. "Eat," he demanded. 

When I refused to eat, the black smoke changed the scene around me. I was no longer in the cell or hanging on that wall. Rather I was in a small indoor arena with windows where Lilith and her colleagues stood observing from the other side.

To my right, the black smoke formed an angry pack of wolves. The wolves snarled and snapped at me, quickly surrounding me on all sides. I knew I had to fight them in order to stay alive, but I was so weak that all of my attacks were small and a shell of what they once were. 

Just when one of the wolves was about to attack me, it turned back into black smoke. The scene around me faded yet again and this time I was lying on a table in what appeared to be an unfriendly doctor's office. I pulled on the straps tying me to the table as Lilith approached with all kinds of tools.

I couldn't see what she had done, but I felt pain all over my body. When I thought I would black out, my surroundings turned back into the dungeon cell. I curled up into the fetal position in the corner of the cell and began to cry. 

"Eat," the guard demanded as he threw the food onto the floor. This time I lunged for it and ate every last bit of it like a starving animal. 

"Good morning Dearest!" Lilith announced as she unlocked the cell door.

The scenarios repeated themselves to represent how each day was conducted. 

1. the draining of my magic power

2. eating on the cell floor

3. fighting in the arena

4. torture

5. eating on the cell floor

6. barely sleeping

The cycle repeated over and over again until I thought that death would come for me soon. Death never came. No one came. 

"It's not real," I reminded myself. My voice was barely a whisper over my shaking body.

"Oh but it is," Lilith cooed. "This all happened in those three months you chose to forget. It may be a dream now, but never forget that it was all very real,"

The world around me turned pitch black and I was alone in the darkness. 

"You chose to see this," Lilith's voice mocked. "And now you are too afraid to move because of it," She laughed.

"No," I said firmly. "I escaped your prison because I still had the hope and strength to make it out alive. If I didn't have that then I wouldn't be standing here today. I'm alive because you could never break me," I sat up from the fetal position and onto my knees. "Do you hear me?!" I cried out. "You'll never break me! I'll make it out alive! I'll beat you Lilith! And I'll get back to my home every time! No matter what you put me through, you can't break me,"

Suddenly a golden light erupted from my body. It spread like a sun shining in a dark cave. The black smoke and shadows vanished into nothing and my surroundings turned white and gold.

The tears that had streamed down my face dried and I was finally able to smile.

"You did it,"

Standing in front of me was my father. His smile was warm and soft. I couldn't help but flash the famous Dragneel smile.

He slowly approached and crouched down in front of me. He outstretched his arms and pulled me into the warmest hug. This time when I hugged back, the projection didn't fall away.

"We are so proud of you Nashi," He whispered.

"I was so scared," I confessed.

"I know Baby," He ran his fingers in my hair and kissed my head. "It's okay to be scared. That younger me out there is scared right now. He's terrified that you might not make it out of here alive, but he's still fighting to make sure that doesn't happen. That's what courage is; doing what needs to be done even when you're scared. That's what you need to be right now. Can you do that for me?"

My dad pulled away and looked me in the eyes. I nodded and brushed a piece of hair back.

"That's my girl," He smiled, kissing my forehead. "I love you Nashi,"

"I love you too Dad,"