Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Tittle: The Villain Inside
Note: This fic is destinated to the Graylu week starting today. I will post the continuation of this fic on the other days and under the other tags. So, yeah... this is chapter one.
I don't know if I should put tags in here or when I send the link to the blog, so I'll do both. #graylu #whispers.
Especial thanks: I'd like to thank Choco Forest, who has been an awesome friend and trusted me for almost 3 years to contribute to this event. Thank you so much for being the amazing person you are!
Oh... fyeahgrayluweek, thank you for the explanation you gave me too! I hope you like this little piece.
Day 1: Whispers
Throughout her whole stay in Fairy Tail, Lucy had never experienced so much goodness in one place. People were always seen performing good deeds and helping each other. Fairy Tail was the shining example of an honorable guild when it comes to friendship and loyalty.
But lately, something had been bothering the girl. Late at night in her apartment, while working on one of her manuscripts, she came to the conclusion that her current story involved an extreme duality of good and evil as two opposite forces.
Lucy paused for a second tapping her paint drenched feather over her cheek. The blonde was mesmerized trying to understand why she would create a character that was completely evil or completely good. Such was the image of her creations so far.
It was just out of reality; it was unhuman for someone to be perfectly good or the other way around. She knew she had flaws, yet she was a good person. After a few minutes of contemplation, she realized she had never written a villain before.
No matter how hard she tried, her life was overwhelmed by the feeling of righteousness. She knew villains and fought them, but she had no idea how they felt behind the bad guy's mask, or how they should be put on paper.
She sighed while sitting on her desk. Lucy made a mental search for Fairy Tail's members that could help her understand the core of villainy. Gajeel, Laxus and Juvia were the first pictures that came to her mind since they were once proclaimed enemies.
She discarded Laxus immediately since she didn't have the courage nor level of intimacy to approach him asking about how a villain thinks and act. She could already see his face staring back at her in disbelief. Obviously, the same could be applied to Gajeel.
Juvia was just too hard to deal with, especially if Gray was around. Besides, the water mage was good at heart and pure in her intentions, she just had a tough childhood and ended up being misled in her ways.
Lucy stood up wiping the dust from her nightdress, frustration clear in her expression. She had absolutely no idea how she would overcome this new obstacle and her story was only half way done.
The girl dropped on her bed and curled against her sheets before the lights went out darkening her vision and temporary freeing her from her daily concerns.
Lucy found herself in a dark room held by chains while an evil mage attempted to torture her. She could see Natsu and Happy locked behind bars. Her heart raced and her pulse doubled as she tried to remain calm in that situation.
Just before the dark mage could touch her, she felt the room grow colder and the temperature drop significantly. The aggressor was now frozen where he stood and behind him came Gray Fullbuster. The ice maker was portrayed in an unusual outfit and his hairstyle was slightly different too, but what mostly called her attention was the black mark covering half of Gray's face.
Lucy woke up sweating intensely. She held a hand over her heart remembering what the nightmare she just had was all about; the Avatar guild and Gray's defection. She even smacked the poor mage across the face when he was innocently trying to help Erza.
It was his own fault for being such a good actor, he fooled not just her, but the entire team. Now that she thought about it, Gray had been portrayed as a villain at least three times in recent years.
Gray was the villainous Julius in the theater play they helped arrange, he was judged as a traitor when he joined forces with Daphne to lure Natsu into a fake trap, and finally, the Avatar guild.
He was the perfect candidate for Lucy's villainy intensive course. Lucy raised her tiny fists in joy and returned to sleep excited about her incoming experience as a fearsome dark mage.
Morning lights greeted Lucy's room and its owner jumped out of bed with a carefully planned routine for the day to come. She was the first to arrive at the guild that day. Pushing the gates open, she walked to the closest bench and waited anxiously for Gray's arrival.
The ice maker finally showed up putting an end to Lucy's anxiety. Now for the first stage of her plan, she needed to secure a safe location for a conversation with Gray, of course she already got that covered.
Minutes later, Gray arrived at the guild and was received with a loud invocation.
"Gray!"
The boy turned to meet his friend's energetic greeting and was surprised to see a cheerful smile in return. He wondered what could have caused such behavior, even though he quickly began to enjoy the attention.
"Yo!" Gray raised his hand saluting Lucy.
Lucy leaned close to his ear pressing her hands over his chest and began to induce a heart attack on poor Juvia. The blonde girl whispered ever so sweetly in Gray's ear. She kept a cute smile during her whole explanation, and what a huge explanation that was.
Apparently, Lucy's inability to choose a safe place for her conversation didn't go unnoticed by Juvia, who watched from a dark corner as killing intent started to take over her mind and soul. She moved from her bench and marched towards the pair feeling her sanity malfunction with every step she took.
The water mage was suddenly petrified when she noticed Gray returning Lucy's words with a smile of his own, and worst, he whispered back in the blonde's ear with the same amount of sweetness.
Gray made a face of clear confusion before replying to his friend. "That's a bit odd if you ask me, but whatever… I'm in." He stroked Lucy's hair before fleeing the scene; Juvia was the obvious cause behind his despair.
The remaining members didn't seem to notice the interaction, or simply didn't mind the event. They considered the affection on this level to be common amongst members, Juvia being the only exception.
After receiving a few light insults and accusations without proofs, Lucy ignored an angered Juvia and moved on to her usual routine at the guild, which involved not getting mixed up in general fighting over the most ridiculous reasons; trying to find a rare normal person to spend her time with and plan her evil laughs so it doesn't come out like she's having a convulsion
And that was when Natsu started a fight with Gray, the reasons are still unknown to most of the spectators, not that it mattered in the end. Gray was launched across the guild landing with his back first on the opposite wall. He climbed back on his feet and returned the kindness with a kick straight to Natsu's face.
Lucy watched the pair exchanging blows and offenses. She sat on her own paying close attention to the fighting when she had what she judged to be, a great idea.
"Stop!" She demanded. Her wish was conceived when both boys ceased their battle to listen to her. "I have an idea!"
She approached the duo placing a hand over their shoulders. "You two are going to help me with something." By now, the rest of the guild was already watching the episode.
"Natsu, you'll pretend Gray is a dark mage and you'll keep fighting him with that in mind." She explained to the fire mage who just nodded in return. Fortunately, Natsu wasn't the kind to ask too many questions.
"Gray!" She turned to her other friend with a brilliant smile. "You'll be my villain… I mean, you will be the villain." She corrected her misleading statement. "Fight Natsu like you're evil."
Understanding where the girl was trying to lead them, the ice maker agreed to the proposed and resumed his battle stance. Natsu followed his rival's example and joined in the fight.
Gray raised a hand and looked at Lucy to clear a sudden doubt he had. "Should I play the-" He never had the chance to finish his question as a hard knuckle hit him on his face.
"Oi!" The devil slayer complained furiously. "We're not started yet."
"I never saw the dark mages complaining because I attacked them without their authorization." Natsu barked. "You're making excuses."
"Salamander, that was low! Even for you." Shot Gajeel. Metalicana's apprentice was dully scolded by a concerned Levy.
"Let them be, you don't want to get involved, do you?"
"I do." He honestly answered making Levy regret her question.
The petite girl frowned before retorting. "But you won't!"
Gajeel obeyed failing to notice a snickering Lily trying his best not to enjoy the scene.
Back to the main event, Gray regained his composure and discarded his white coat. A black mark started to spread over his skin, covering the right side of his face down to his right arm. He also pushed his hair backwards reassuming his Avatar hairstyle.
"You just made it a lot easier for me to hit you." Declared Natsu. "I still hate this look of yours."
"You're free to try your luck…" Gray raised his voice in an oppressing way. "Your demise is certain." The devil slayer was quickly catching on the role of the dark mage.
Lucy took out a notebook from her purse and started taking notes.
Natsu and Gray continued to fight as seriously as they ever did in other occasions until Lucy interrupted them.
"Gray!" She called out, distracting the boy who was rewarded with another punch. The unprovoked impact sent Gray on the floor. "Natsu!" Lucy expressed dissatisfaction.
"What?" He shrugged. "He's the dark mage, it's obvious that I will win."
Lucy ignored her simple minded friend and kneeled beside Gray. "Are you ok?" She placed a hand over his fresh lesion.
"This is nothing. Don't worry about me."
"Alright." Lucy leaned to whisper more content to Gray. "Can you play the calm, mysterious villain? I think they're the coolest." She chuckled shortly beginning to feel attracted to the idea.
"No problem." Gray reassured her. "A cool and mysterious villain with a stoic face coming right up." He walked back into the battle already wearing his new designed character.
One might ask why Juvia wasn't interfering with the interactions between Gray and Lucy. The water mage was simply too delighted with Gray's alter ego to be able to pay attention to anything else. Seeing how Lucy was the creator of such a fantastic transformation, Juvia decided to call it truce and let the blonde work.
For the following two minutes, Gray only avoided Natsu's advances blocking his punches when he was unable to evade them. He kept an arrogant look on his face and smirked frequently.
"Ok, pause now." Gray ordered dodging another 'accidental' strike. "A fight between hero and villain needs dialog." He explained before starting said dialog. "I praise your spirit, but your mind is weak. I may overlook this flaw if you consider joining me."
Natsu jerked his arm to his side in denial. "Joining forces with you would mean giving up everything I ever fought for! I will wipe this cocky smirk off of your ugly face."
Lucy suddenly shouted. "Please don't!" Everyone turned to look at her. "I mean… don't take the cocky smirk off of his face…" She noticed people was still staring at her. "You see… I kind of like the cocky smirk on his face, so please… let it be?" She finished shyly.
Passed the awkwardness of Lucy's declaration, Natsu and Gray continued to fight like they were sworn enemies. Natsu would set his fists ablaze once or twice to show how committed he was to the little act.
"I can't lose here." Informed the dragon slayer. "I came too far to give up now. I'll win, for Fairy Tail, for my friends."
The usual friendship speech made Elfman drop a single tear of approval. "That's how a man should is. Well done, Natsu!"
"I will bring you back to our guild, Gray!" Roared the salamander.
"Alright then. I'm coming." Gray replied throwing his hair back into place and retrieved his black marks.
People's reaction varied from bursting laughter to shocked face.
Erza ran up to the ice mage to try and reason with him. "You can't just raise the white flag! You're a villain!"
"Guys… he spoke about his friends in the middle of a fight, if I learned anything about villains is that they should never bring friendship into their dialog with the hero. It's like giving the hero an infinite source of instant energy."
Lucy's jaw hanged down her chin. She couldn't believe Gray's words and its implications. "You're telling me that the only thing we need to defeat our enemies is to bring the friendship subject?"
"Yes… it's a cheap move if you ask me. Always works."
The fight ended without a winner and Lucy remained clueless as how to register that last piece of information. She shook her head forcing reality back inside her brain functions and dashed to Gray's side at the bar.
"Hey!" She approached the devil slayer from a blind spot and wasn't fast enough to deal with the unexpected.
Gray turned his face to meet the blonde and accidentally sealed his friend's lips with his. It was nothing like a real kiss, they just connected their mouths for a moment before letting go.
"I'm sorry… I-" Lucy didn't know how to react to the occurred. She gazed at the floor trying to regain composure. Once again, she whispered sugar coated words in Gray's ear. "Thank you for helping me. You were really cool." She smiled when she saw his cheeks go pink.
"Please… don't mind what just happened… and do something about Juvia." She pointed at the water mage who carried water blades on her arms.
Later that day, Juvia was ready to resume stalker mode, but she couldn't find her targets. Both Gray and Lucy seemed to be gone from the guild by now. She initiated an emergency search on her surroundings before leaving the guild shouting 'Gray-sama' every five seconds.
Just another day for Juvia at the guild.
Outside Fairy Tail, with the tranquility of the sunset aiding her in her task, Lucy began to put her words in order to form something close to a phrase. She was nervous, even more than she anticipated. She looked at Gray who constantly watched her, making the situation even more awkward.
"Well…" She left out trying to put an end to the tormenting silence. "You're the bad guy and I'm your new student." She gave him a wry smile. "Please, teach me."
A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while since I had a rush of a writing session like the one I had this week. My dear friend; Choco Forest asked me take part in a Graylu event starting today! 1 - 7 September.
Forgive possible OOCness, I haven't been watching or reading Fairy tail like I used to.
I must admit something, I'm no longer a Graylu shipper, but I'm still bound to a promise I made two years ago. Finally, I'm contributing to the Graylu week, but this story is simple and a bit rushed. Please understand that I have limited time to write and a lot of catching up to do with practice.
See you tomorrow!