I know that I've been gone for like... Forever. But truth be told - I never thought I would find my way back here to this story. I hated it with a passion, I still do, and couldn't make myself continue to write it. Although I have always thought that it was a waste. I do like the concept of it, the story itself is good, but I destroyed it with my poor writing and that's why I let it go. However, I now decided to try it again. But to do so, I have to rewrite it from the beginning. I will not make any major changes in the story but I will update every chapter I have so far before writing a new one. I hope that they will turn out better than how they were and that my old readers are still interested in it. Whether you're an old or a new reader, I welcome you! And I'm sorry if the story is a bit off at the moment - I will write it in the beginning of each chapter when I have updated it, but this is the only one for now. You are, of course, welcome to keep reading the next chapters as well but they are old and will probably not connect thoroughly with this one since I did change some details.

Updated: 27/06 - 2016

"She's dead because of you." The voice was oddly familiar but he didn't think he'd ever met the owner to it. He would probably be staring at a face right now if he had. Instead there was only an empty field with grass gently swaying in the midday breeze. Gray could feel the relaxing scent of summer air and he almost lost himself to pleasant thoughts of his family.

"You don't deserve to be happy." There it was again. Whenever he thought that he could forget everything and just relax that voice kept throwing unwanted comments at him.

"Your first act in this world was murder." Every night was the same. He would fall asleep and slowly let himself relax. As soon as he thought that maybe this was the night the voice would leave him alone his hopes came crashing down.

"You didn't even take your first breath before you did it." He did feel guilty. "Murderer!" Even though he had no idea what the voice was talking about. "Demon." Everything went dark and all he could see was the mouth of a beast, baring its teeth. "Give back what you took." The beast lounged at him, sinking its sharp fangs deep into his neck.

DIE

Gray jolted into a sitting position. He was sweating and shaking like crazy. All he wanted was to take a shower to calm down but it didn't take long before he noticed it. Smoke filled his room and he could see the flames licking the far wall, cutting off his escape through the door.

Despite being a bit out of it, he managed to escape his room through the window. His bare feet landing on the soft snow outside before carrying him to a safe distance from the house. Gray turned around to see that the whole building was on fire and immediately felt dread seeping through his entire body.

"Lyon?" He shouted but got no reply. "Ul?" He looked around in horror. Were they still in the house? No. No, they could take care of themselves. There was no chance that they were still in there. Unless something had happened... It wasn't impossible for either of them to be caught under debris of some sort. His wrist was grabbed just as he was about to head back to the house, and he was pulled away from it instead.

"Ul? Where's Lyon?" She didn't answer, she just kept going deeper and deeper into the forest and he followed with a frown.

"We have to get out of here, now!" She yanked at his wrist as she started to run, forcing Gray to fall into the same tempo as she had. "Faster Gray, faster!"

"What about Lyon? We can't just leave him!" He already knew that Lyon was safe, Ul would never leave him behind, but he still needed to hear it.

"I've already sent him off, he should be safe. Right now, I'm more worried about you."

"W-why are we running?" Gray panted, running in the deep snow was hard – even for him – and he could see it taking its toll on Ul as well.

"There's no time to-" She suddenly came to a halt. Gray was thankful for it but he knew that it couldn't have been a good sign that they stopped. He peeked over Ul's shoulder so that he could see what she was seeing.

Someone was standing in front of them. A torch in his right hand, the fire giving off a light glow as it flicked in the wind. The fire emblem that was positioned on his armored chest was what caught Gray's attention. It was a simple, red flare painted on the black armor and it was a sign that this man was bad news.

"Seems like I've caught up to you, ice witch!" The man smirked as he inspected them from head to toe.

"What are a fire magician doing all the way out here?" Ul was ready for a fight. That much was obvious from the way she was flexing her fingers ever so slightly. This made Gray brace himself, he would not let her fight alone if it came to that. The man laughed coldly at her and she took her battle stance.

"I'm hunting an ice mage, isn't that obvious?" He glanced at Gray and his smirk grew wider. "But it seems like I've found two instead, this is my lucky day!"

"He's not a mage!" Gray flinched at the words. He knew that Ul tried to keep him safe but that didn't make the words hurt any less. What hurt the most was probably the fact that it was true.

"No?" The man raised an eyebrow towards Gray – who glared back at him. "I guess he'll make a wonderful slave then"

"He won't become anyone's slave!" Ul snapped and put her right fist in her left palm, causing her hands to glow in an ice-blue sheen. "Ice make: Eagle!" Birds made of ice appeared and flew in incredible speed towards the fire enemy. This was the reason for his envy. The beauty of ice magic. Something Ul and Lyon was able to create with just a few words.

"Ice has no effect on me, witch!" Their enemy put his torch in front of his mouth and blew, causing the fire to expand and melt the eagles. It was the first time that Gray saw someone use fire magic but he already knew that he hated it. It looked like a dragon's breath. A breath of destruction. When the fire finally drew back, the man was gone.

"Where is he?" Ul shouted and Gray looked around quickly. Enhanced senses is something he was born with, but never really had any use for. Ul always told him that it was a gift, one he should be thankful for. Being able to smell Lyon's sweaty socks through closed doors is not something Gray would call a gift though.

A distinct smell of smoke and coal reached his nose followed by the sound of snow smelting. It was a smart move, quench the fire and hide in the shadows. Would probably have worked too if it wasn't for Gray. Now, instead of getting the upper hand, he had just extinguished his only source of fire – of power – and he would pay for it.

With a cocky smirk on his lips, Gray rushed towards the tree that he was certain the man was hiding behind, grabbed it with both hands and threw his legs up. The smirk grew even wider as he felt his foot collide with the fire mage's jaw with a satisfying crack. A soft thud was heard as the kicked man fell to the ground groaning. Green eyes filled with confusion and a hint of fear met dark blue, smug ones. Before any word could leave the man's lips, he was interrupted by Ul.

"Ice make: Dragon!" A huge serpent-like ice dragon slithered it's way high up in the sky. Gray watched it with awe as it dived towards its target. Jaws were gaping and fangs ready to tear anything apart – anything that were brave or foolish enough to stand in its way. At the sight of the terrifying beast, the man managed to throw himself to the side just in time to not get crushed by it.

The dragon seemed to have forced the daze away for he got to his feet and reached for Gray's arm. It was a rather pathetic attempt to turn the tides of the battle. One step backwards was all Gray had to do to avoid the offending hand and deny the man his hostage. There was no denying it, this was his first real fight ever and it was so easy, he couldn't help but feel cocky when he saw the frustrated look in the man's eyes. The smug smirk on his face only widened as he dodged a punch.

"Gray, watch out!" Ul's scream tore him down from his high and he swirled around, only to stare into a chest clad in black.

By the time he saw the knee, it was already too late and it sank into his stomach. The blow forced all air out of his lungs and his legs could no longer support him as he fell to his knees. Gasping and coughing was his body's reaction to the unpleasant hit he had taken but his mind worked overtime. Starting from the feet in front of him, he let his gaze wander upwards, taking in everything he could about this new found threat.

Sandals, a black kimono, red hair that almost reached down to the broad shoulders, an emotionless face with thin lips, a sharp nose and cold, black eyes.

"Is there a problem here?" A deep and controlled voice, as cold as the eyes of the man who spoke them, met Gray's ears and he couldn't help but shiver. This stranger had a high status, it was certain from the way he spoke. His sole presence demanded obedience and if the look on the fire mage's face was any indication, he had it.

"N-no, not a-at all, sir!" The empty stare that was placed on him was enough to make the bender tremble. Really, Gray couldn't blame him.

The newcomer turned his gaze to the teen sitting by his feet, watching as the boy clutched his stomach to try to ease the pain. He grabbed a fist full of raven hair and pulled him to his feet, causing Gray to scream in pain as he tried to pry the fingers away.

"Let him go!" The dragon turned to attack the one tormenting Gray with all the rage that its creator felt.

The man raised his hand towards the dragon and a bright fire emerged from his palm, melting the ice creation in mere seconds. Black eyes never left teary, blue once – displaying yet another reason to fear him. It was enough too. Gray was by no means a coward, but he was truly afraid of this man before him – maybe even terrified.

"N-no way..." It sounded like Ul felt it too. Her voice was trembling and when Gray glanced at her through the corner of his eyes, he could see her sitting on her knees in the snow with a horrified expression on her face. "What are one from a bloodline doing here?" Her entire body began to shake and she watched as Gray fought against the grip that was keeping him in place.

"Don't you ever forget who you are." She whispered and let a tear roll down her cheek. Gray heard Ul's words loud and clear – thanks to his gift – and managed to turn his head towards her.

A forced smile graced her lips as their eyes met and tears streamed down her face. His heart began to beat faster for he knew that something was going to happen. Something that he was not going to like in the slightest.

"Ul?" Somehow he managed to choke that one name out through his clenched teeth. There was so much more that he wanted to say. Why are you not fighting? Don't give up. I'm alright, just run. We are going to be alright. But he couldn't make a sound. A sigh brought his attention back to the man holding him.

"I put my trust in you and this is the outcome? I can't see how you failed to take care of these two." Again the eyes never left Gray's – it was unnerving to say the least.

"B-but sir! They have the advantage of the biome and-" Desperation filled the poor man's voice as he tried to defend himself.

"They? As far as my knowledge goes, only one of these can use magic." He finally moved his gaze to the one he was talking to, allowing Gray to breathe a bit better. "And you extinguished your only source of power."

"That's because-" A thin eyebrow raised in a perfect arch, silencing the man mid-sentence. The cold eyes found their way back to the teen's and the grip on raven locks tightened slightly.

"Take care of her." A small nod towards Ul's direction made it perfectly clear who he was talking about. "And maybe I will let you return."

With a new found strength, Gray began to struggle to get free. He had to stop them. He had to save Ul! Wide eyes stared at her in horror when he realized that she wasn't going to do anything – she had already given up.

"Run!" He finally found his voice, but he knew all too well that it was too late. Gray felt his head slam into the tree behind him, causing everything to turn black.

Somewhere in the distant, he could hear the words "Thank you, Igneel-sama" and Ul's pained scream before he lost himself completely in the void of unconsciousness.