Fairy Tail, the best wizarding guild in the land, or that's what the Grand Magic Games outcome determined for them. The winning of the games gave an influx of mission requests, such missions included people specific, so when a request came in for a certain pink haired wizard of course Team Natsu packed up their bags and head out immediately.
"What's the mission?" Lucy asked, skipping along with the team.
Natsu merely shrugged, "It was within walking distance so I went with it." Gray rolled his eyes; that was a typical Natsu move. Erza moved forward to clip Natsu up the back of his head.
"You're lucky I did some research, we're going after a team of people who seem to be selling things on a form of black market. I asked some sources where they'd meet, and am informed there is a warehouse that they normally meet up for deals." Erza told them.
Gray looked at Erza surprised, "Why did they want someone like Natsu?"
Natsu looked at Gray insulted, and tried to protest, when Happy just laughed, "He's got a point, you're pretty silly Natsu."
Erza shrugged while Lucy laughed and explained, "They probably wanted the person who'd cause the most destruction, so then they'd know Fairy Tail are after them." They all laughed at Natsu's expense who also laughed slightly.
They continued to the warehouse district, with Erza directing them all. After a while, Erza nodded as if to signal she'd seen it. They entered the warehouse with caution, Erza stood at the front of the group, Natsu with Happy on his shoulder and Lucy stood behind her while Gray took up the rear. Erza pulled the door open and walked in, as quietly as one could with armour on, and then signalled for everyone else to follow her in. Natsu immediately groaned when they entered the room, and Erza too sighed.
"There's no one here." Lucy pointed out, and Gray nodded in agreement. Erza was staring at the floor; it seemed as if her sources had been incorrect.
Erza shook her head, "This doesn't seem right." Natsu looked concerned at them all.
"Something's off." Natsu muttered.
As if a bomb had gone off, the whole room suddenly started shaking and the room filled with dust, when it cleared, Gray, Erza and Lucy had all be incapacitated. Gray had completely lost consciousness. "Gray!" Natsu screamed, noticing a man had thrown Gray over his shoulder. Erza and Lucy screamed things of the same affect at Natsu to no avail.
The man looked into the shadows, "You want this one, or should we try and get the red head."
A voice from the shadow sighed, "No, you would have only won with the element of surprise. You will lose, take the ice mage. He will do."
Just as Natsu went to run forward, he tripped over Happy who was lying on the ground, also unconscious. By the time he looked up, the kidnapper had disappeared. Leaving the team to sit and think about the actions which led to their team mate getting taken in such a humiliating manner.
Gray came to tied to what seemed like a hospital bed. He tried to pull at his restraints to no avail, and after five minutes of panicked wriggling, his wrists and ankles were bleeding and he'd determined that his binds where impervious to magic. He growled at himself, and decided to take in the rest of the room. It smelt sterile, and the room was a spotless white. Across the room were some cabinets, and what seemed like a tray of surgical instruments which made him gulp.
This was obviously a planned thing; they wanted him to wake up to this terror. His eyes caught on a glinting blue stone, which stood in a glass case next to the tray. He sighed and looked up; nothing good could come from this situation from him. He could not believe he'd allowed himself to get captured; sure it happened to even the best of the Fairy Tail mages a lot more than it probably should, but still, he was Gray. He was better than this.
Even though he'd woken up, and there was obviously someone watching him, no one came to see him. He took that to mean that they were leaving him to stew and wait for them to come. He would. Gray was not losing his cool, no matter the situation. He decided if he had the time to spare and wait for his (inevitable) rescue, then he was using it. He closed his eyes, leaned back, no less alert to anything than before, and went over various magic stances and spells in his head.
After he had mentally practiced them through twenty times, it had been quite a few hours, he heard the door open. Gray did not react, just listened.
"Is it asleep?" A female voice asked, sounding giddy.
A male voice replied almost instantly, "Probably not, this is a Fairy Tail mage, he's smarter than that." Well, Gray had to admit the guy had a point. In a kidnapping situation, sleep was one of the worst things to do, in case an escape opportunity arose.
The female one approached and poked Gray, "Is this one the Salamander?" she asked, leaning close enough to Gray that he could feel her breath against his cheek, it made him want to gag, he scrunched up his eyes to avoid opening them with a woman so close.
The male chuckled, "Unfortunately not Verity, this is the ice mage one. Not the specimen we wanted, but almost as good." Gray wanted to get angry at the insinuation that he wasn't as good as Natsu, deciding against it he just slowly opened his eyes to glare at these people.
Sitting at the bottom of his bed was a small petite girl with bright purple hair which was longer than her own body; she was wearing a white lab coat which she seemed to be swimming in, and was staring directly at him. She licked her lips and smiled maniacally, "It's perfect." She jumped off the bed and started skipping out of the room, "Prepare it for me, Matthew."
Matthew had purple hair of a darker hue, he was very tall but his lab coat seemed to fit him perfectly. He smiled slightly at Gray, "I must apologize for my sister, Gray, she always wants to scare the specimen's first."
Gray growled at Matthew, who was walked close towards him, "What do you want with me?" Gray was suddenly more nervous as Matthew walked towards the cabinets; he took the sparkling blue stone out of the case, while also picking up what seemed like a needle.
Gray followed him with his gaze as he made a trail around the room, moving things every now and then. Matthew smirked, and held the stone up for Gray to look at properly. "This is a very special and rare magical item; although, nowadays they seem to be falling out of everyone's pockets. This is a Dragon Lacrima." At Gray's angered expression Matthew only seemed to get more excited, "See, we wanted to try this out on your friend, Natsu, the Salamander. We wanted to test whether it would tear him apart, or enhance his power. It is very specifically an Ice Dragon Lacrima." Matthew let out a drawn out sigh, "Unfortunately, we got you instead. You will, however, suffice for our purpose here."
Matthew placed the Lacrima down, and brought the needle to Gray's arm. Gray squirmed and tried to get away. This only caused Matthew to laugh as he plunged the needle into his skin. "Don't worry, we are very skilled surgeons, nothing will go wrong." Gray growled, screamed and squirmed until his throat felt raw and his arms were bleeding again. Then everything started becoming muted and dull, Matthew stroked his head and Gray could not retaliate, he was hushed, "There's a good patient, I'll see you when we're done."
Gray felt very groggy when he next came too. After a few seconds of groaning and rolling around, all the memories came rushing back to him. The ambush, the weird scientists, the lacrima, the needle, everything came all at once, causing Gray to close his eyes and rub his face. He assessed where he was, it appeared to be a glass box, about the size of a room, there was the bed and a bucket in this box. On the other side of the glass seemed to be some form of observation room, but no one was in there.
It took Gray a few extra moments to realise he was naked, and the only thing on him were constraints on his wrists, ankles and what seemed like a collar on his neck. Great, just bloody great. Then his stomach growled, which just had to make everything even better.
Within minutes of the stomach growl, a hole appeared in the glass and in stepped the male, Matthew, who placed a large tray of food on the floor and walked back out, the hole sealing behind him. He then stood there in the observation room, watching and waiting for Gray to eat, he made hands to tell Gray that it was obviously eating time which just made him frustrated.
Gray was no stranger to being naked, but being under the watchful eye of someone with not even underwear on was making him very uncomfortable, not to mention what the guy had done to him. He hissed at the man on the other side of the glass, hoping to deter him slightly. The man just clapped gleefully and turned, lab coat trailing behind him, to leave the room.
When he'd left Gray looked at the meal sceptically, not really sure whether he should trust it, but with another growl of his stomach Gray just dug in, unable to hold back on eating. He wolfed the meal down in seconds, and was still hungry. He let out a slight groan at how hungry he was suddenly feeling; this was unlike him.
Then it occurred to Gray, did anything else feel different? He ran his tongue along his teeth, they didn't feel particularly sharp, his nose wasn't smelling anything extra except how sterile the room was, he didn't have anything to listen to so that didn't really matter. He let out a small huff of breath, it wasn't misty, well no more than usual. He could drool ice-cubes, so maybe that wasn't the best way to gauge this.
The only evidence they'd done anything was the faint, but healing wound on his chest, which was disturbing him slightly. He suddenly felt questions flood his brain, and he regretted sending the mad man away, how long had he been here, was anyone looking for him, why were they doing this. So many things to ask, and no one to ask.
"I'll answer your questions." Someone said behind him, Gray jumped and turned to see the small girl sitting cross legged on his bed. She was looking him up and down, Gray felt humiliated being so exposed against his will. "I know you have them."
Gray felt a growl build up in his throat and snarled at Verity, the anger at the girl a little hard to control. She smiled giddily, "Oh, wonderful. Have the canines set in yet?" She was suddenly off the bed and had her fingers in Gray's mouth, pulling it open to look in. Gray tried to bite her when she got her fingers in, but she was surprisingly strong. When she was satisfied she pulled her hands out and pouted, "At least another day." She muttered, but perked as Gray glared at her, "But the eyes have come along beautifully, and the nails have grown exponentially."
Gray looked at his nails in shock to see they had indeed grown past his normal well-kept stage. He maintained his composure and continued to glare at the girl.
She looked at him, and ruffled his hair suddenly with a small giggle, drawing another growl from Gray, "Your hair is so much longer now." She hummed a little, silence passed as Gray considered throttling Verity, "So, why don't you talk?"
Gray was drawn out of his cold stupor to look at Verity inquisitively, she had a point, he had not spoken one word since she'd come in. Normally she would have had an earful of sarcasm by this point. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, and then shut it. He repeated this a few times, before deciding it was a lost cause and dropped his head down with a small whine.
Verity was not at all downhearted though, this fact just made her happier, she jumped up and down, ruffled his hair some more and called for her brother, "Matthew, it can't talk. Matthew, get your butt here, it cannot talk."
Matthew ran in mere moments later and was assessing Gray, "What a curious development, maybe he will acquire it; maybe this is a temporary adjustment to having a dragon's instincts implanted into him." Gray hoped to God it was temporary, because if he ever got out he'd be the laughing stock of the guild.
Verity nodded, "It's so cool now, this is my favourite specimen. I want to keep it forever."
Matthew laughed tightly, "You know we can't Verity, as soon as we've exhausted him we'll need to take the Lacrima back out, and doing so will kill him." Verity pouted and nodded in understanding with her brother.
Gray looked at them with wide eyes, suddenly terrified to be near these mad men, he backed up towards the wall, while Verity turned to her brother, "You scared it, you're such a meany Matt." She tried to approach Gray, arms open as if assuring she wasn't a threat, but Gray just curled in on himself, causing her to huff. "It's being cold to us now." With a flamboyant stomp, the small girl turned on her heels and walked out, sticking her tongue out at her brother as she went.
Matthew sighed and rolled his eyes, as if used to this behaviour all too often. "You've made remarkable process in the last two weeks, these next few weeks will be more and more painful, but eventually the pain will recede, as you probably know this is a phase best experienced as a child." Gray let out a moan, he wanted to tear these people apart, but so far no opportunity had shown itself. Matthew smiled, "See you later, little one."
For the next few weeks the family duo mainly left him alone, he probably would have killed them if they had come in though. The pain that coursed his body was searing. Everything hurt, the first thing to hurt was his head, an immense headache plagued him, but every week something changed, he could smell better, hear better, see better and taste food better. Then his teeth started itching, until they were in pain and falling out, replacing with sharper ones within hours. He didn't eat for two days, blood filled his mouth, and it took everything not to howl. His muscles seemed to fill in more, and his bones seemed to change in density.
Everyday the pain continued, Gray mentally begged for it to stop; for someone to come and help him, anyone. He wanted Fairy Tail to bust down the door and take him home. Yet everyday he prayed still no one came, he felt betrayed, he was sure they were looking but he couldn't stop the loneliness of having no one to help him. He just wanted to go home now.
It all hurt, but the mad people seemed to know when it all subsided, because they came in with smiles on their faces. Gray was lying on the bed, panting the pain had faded but the effects where still strong on his mind. "Do you think it can talk yet?" Verity asked her brother tentatively. Matthew merely shrugged.
To answer their question, Gray growled a very hoarse, "Fuck you." It scratched his throat but he felt an inner pride at his ability to talk again.
Verity giggled and clapped, her hair temporarily flying into the air, she licked her lips and moved closer. "I want to test it." She faced her brother, "Now." Matthew just sighed tiredly and walked to the observation room, grabbed a small device and passed it to Verity, then sealed the glass to lock her in.
Gray sat up in the bed and backed up to the glass, trying to make himself as small as possible. He didn't know what 'testing' meant, but he didn't like the sound of it, "Stay away from me, you eggplant." His insult was off, and he knew by the way she brushed it off with a giggle.
"Stand for me." She demanded, tone suddenly turning cold. Gray shook his head, trying to flush himself against the glass. She pulled the device out and pressed a large button on it. Pain flashed through Gray's whole body, originating out of the collar round his neck and he was left curled and breathless. "I said stand for me." She smiled, attempting a cute demeanour, "I don't want to be angry with my toy."
Gray, although he'd been shocked was still defiant, he would exert his will. Another round of electricity shot round his body and Gray clutched at his chest. He looked up to see a gleeful look in Verity's eyes as she rolled her tongue along her lips with her head tilted to the side. "Stand," she ordered, "now." Gray wanted to defy again, but the insane look in the girls eyes made him think otherwise. He stood up, towering over the small girl and she looked up pleased.
"Use magic." Her next order came, and Gray looked at her momentarily confused, causing her to shock him again. He fell to the floor clutching his chest. The shocks, while not large were extremely painful. "Stand, and use magic." She said coldly looking down on him.
Shakily Gray got to his feet, he pulled his legs into a stance and muttered, "Ice-make" however he could not complete the spell as a shock went through his body again, causing him to fall to the floor. Verity stood over him, a look of anger dominating her face as her hair started to stand slightly on end.
"You're doing it wrong, are you a defunct dragonslayer?" She looked over her shoulder to the observation room, "Is it defunct?" Matthew shook his head, so Verity turned back to him in anger, "Do it right, be a good dragon slayer."
Gray had no idea what she wanted so he growled, "What do you freaking want you purple headed freak sta-aah." She shocked him again, menace in her eyes.
"I want you to use Dragon Slaying magic, but being a Dragon Slayer doesn't mean you can automatically use the magic." Verity growled, "So, I want you to learn." She suddenly smiled brightly, "It's a test. So don't use your silly 'Ice-make' powers, use your other ones."
Anger coursed through him, his 'ice-make' powers were not silly, and with almost no thought he covered the floor in ice, and began to jump at the girl, he fell down to the floor in pain which lasted longer than the others. "Stupid purple imp." He managed to growl; she just let out a sigh, pulling her leg back before planting a kick directly into Gray's abdomen. He coughed in pain but couldn't get back his breath as another kick was launched.
The girl pulled his head up by his hair, she laughed in his face, "This is how I always get them to lose control." She chucked him across the room, he hit the glass with a massive oomph and slid to the ground, Gray was disorientated but managed to make it to his feet just in time to see a flash of purple and a flurry of fists go into his stomach, blood spluttered out of his mouth as he coughed. The girl was incredibly strong for her size.
Emotions started to well inside of him, he missed his home, his family, he didn't deserve this, the pain, the damn experiment, he wanted to be back at Lucy's apartment with Natsu and everyone. He felt anger at the fact they weren't treating him as a person, he was naked against his choice, collared like some dog. They reached some dam of instinct that just overflowed until it broke and with a large roar he had frozen most of the room.
Imp girl had avoided it, and Gray fell to the ground exhausted of magic. She looked down on the mage and licked her lips, "Another successful specimen." She muttered, ruffling his hair slightly and then leaving the glass box.
AN: So, this is a repost of a story I have on AO3, it will be updated within the next two days, currently at about 6k words with the next chapter. Sorry it's not true to lore in a sense with the dragon lacrima (although, based on Cobra and Laxus' insane power, it kinda is), but also not sorry because I love putting Gray through pain. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and that's a lot :)
Due to a review, I'm cutting the first chapter into two shorter chapters to make it easier to read :) I would make it shorter, but I don't have the time to go through and format it :)