This is the story of Lyon, who's head-over-heels for Juvia, who's pining after Gray, who's had a secret crush on Erza (basically since forever), but she's completely oblivious because she's totally in love with Jellal. Of Freed, who feels conflicted over his feelings for Mirajane who's ignoring him because she's not over Laxus who still misses what they used to have (even though he's mostly, completely over it). Of Loke who won't give up even though he knows that he has zero chance with Lucy, even though she's sick and tired of clueless, bone-headed Natsu who doesn't understand why there's a problem.
This is the Mazeverse series, a post-Tenrou AU with pairings galore. Gruvia, Lyvia, Grayza, Jerza, Nalu, Nali, Lolu, Graylu, Bixanna, Gale, ElfEver, Miraxus, Laxana, MiraFreed as well as a handful of crackships and rare-pairs as we try to pair the spares. This is the Mazeverse. No ship is safe ;)
Happy Friday! I'm really blown away by the support of Serenade, Secret Valentine and Always. You guys are awesome!
Just a warning, as some of you have started to notice, I'm kind of into getting people so close it hurts and tearing them back apart in the messiest way possible. It's all about the heartache, guys! Don't get comfortable. The storm's a-brewin' and we're in for rough waters... ;)
I've sent everyone else PMs, but to my guest reviewers on Secret Valentine:
Darling Spider: I'm glad it worked out! I'm actually don't particularly like Lisanna (actually, there are a lot of characters that I actively dislike), but it's important to me to be as fair and sympathetic to all of them as possible.
And Always:
Guest: Always nice to talk to a long time reader! Actually, I like a lot of pairings, but I don't always write the same ones. I consider Silence to be my Gruvia fic. I want use Mazeverse to give Juvia a different story.
Guest: Thank you! I don't I've ever been so pleased to make someone cry...does that make me sound like a terrible person? ;P
Kaat: lol! Thanks a bunch!
- K. Chandler
It was a Saturday.
It was also Valentine's Day.
Gray and Erza were out together. Alone. And to Erza, that wasn't an unpleasant notion, in and of itself.
But they were also on Mount Hakobe. And that was a far less pleasing notion.
A few days ago, Erza had found Fairy Tail's resident Ice Mage picking over the jobs on the Request Board. Apparently, Gray wanted to make good on his boast that he'd be on a solo job on Valentine's Day. He claimed that he wasn't going to let Natsu get the last laugh.
Erza only had the vaguest recollection of the incident, herself. She highly doubted that Natsu would remember anything of the sort. Personally, Erza suspected that Gray had other reasons for skipping town, namely, one ex-Phantom Water Mage whose affections were dwarfed only by her persistence.
But Erza didn't say anything. She knew better than to press the issue. Gray was a private person by nature. Years of friendship had taught her that it was far simpler to either support his endeavors or stay out of his way. In this case, she committed to the former.
With a quick glance at the board, Erza could tell there weren't any jobs that were appropriate for one mage to complete on his own, even one as strong as Gray was. Unfortunately, like most men, Gray had rather unrealistic views of his own strength. He refused to learn his lesson, no matter how many times she beat him up.
Erza wasn't comfortable leaving Gray to recognize his own limits. It wasn't that Erza was worried, per se. Gray was quite the capable wizard. But as de facto leader, she had a responsibility to ensure her team's safety. That was all. So when he chose this job on Mount Hakobe, she obviously had no choice but to invite herself along.
And now she was glad she had.
Erza untangled herself from where she had landed in a heap on the floor. The stone beneath her sent a chill straight to her core. She had held up pretty well during the trek up the mountain, but it had been hours since they had been someplace that was a reasonable temperature, and the warming potions she had taken were starting to wear off. She tried not to shiver.
She sat up slowly, making sure she was in one piece. Nothing hurt, so that was a good sign. Blinking, she waited for her eyes to adjust. Most people would have said that the room was pitch black, but for Erza, there was just enough light for her artificial eye to make out the outline of her surroundings. After a few seconds, her right eye was able to make out the outline of her companion picking himself up off the ground.
"Gray?"
"Well, that went well." She couldn't see his expression, but she didn't need to. She could hear the lack of amusement in his dry tone.
"Are you unharmed?" she asked.
Gray didn't answer right away. "...Sure. You?"
"Yeah." Erza nodded. "I'm fine."
"Your magic?" he asked.
"Gone," confirmed Erza, her voice even. She didn't regret her actions. She had known the risks and taken them willingly.
"Sorry… That's gotta suck," he said, sounding a little guilty.
"Don't be. This is just how I planned it."
"But, still…" he protested.
Erza and Gray had accepted a job to hunt down a wyvern that lived near the peak of Mount Hakobe. But this was no ordinary wyvern. This one had the ability to completely drain a mage's magic.
Typically, the strategy for any monster hunt was to surround the target and hit it from all sides. But, with this particular wyvern, that would have been foolish. If they had both engaged him, they would both have lost their powers, and that would left them defenseless. Erza quickly realized that they could minimize their losses if only one person fought the monster.
Of course, Erza knew she was the logical choice. Her armor allowed her to fly, so she'd stand a better chance against the wyvern than Gray would. The versatility of his Maker Magic would be better used getting them off the mountain. Besides, they were on Mount Hakobe, where Gray would be in his element. Literally.
Despite Gray's adamant opposition, there was no other solution. Gray's magic would be more useful after the battle than Erza's would. That meant that Erza would be the one to sacrifice her magic. But it had been unpleasant getting her magic sucked dry. And being powerless made Erza feel a little vulnerable.
"Do you know where we are?" he asked.
"Under the Wyvern's lair, I think. My last attack brought the entire network of caves crashing down," she said, unable to keep a hint of pride from entering her voice.
Gray nodded. "Well done, by the way," he added.
"And now it's your turn," said Erza. "Where do we go from here?"
"Not sure. Maybe if I could see my hand in front of my face…" he muttered.
"I had some matches, but I don't see my bag."
"Mine's around here somewhere." Gray fumbled around, left hand sweeping the ground.
"Keep going... Ah, back the other way," said Erza.
"Can you actually see in this?" he groused.
"Better than you, it seems."
"Got it." Gray pulled his backpack towards himself. He stopped with a jerk, his expression tight.
"What is it?"
"Think you can catch in the dark? There's a flashlight in the front pocket if you can find it."
It was an odd request from someone who had already located his bag, but Erza didn't comment on it. From the looks of it, Gray was operating completely blind. Despite her limited vision, she probably did have a better chance of finding things than he would. Even if it was his bag.
"I'm ready," she said.
With a stiff jerk, Gray tossed the bag towards the sound of Erza's voice. It careened in an uncontrolled arc, landing short with a thud.
Gray cringed. "Sorry…"
"Quite the throw," said Erza mildly. She reached for the bag, unzipping the front pocket.
"Well, excuse me for not being able to see in the dark," he said testily.
Privately, Erza didn't think the low lighting should have affected Gray's coordination that badly, but she refrained from commenting.
Her fingers closed around cold metal. "Found it."
A flip of the switch brought the room into view. Erza could see the clouds her breath formed. She turned slowly, directing the beam toward the wall. Her throat tightened as her fears were confirmed.
Dull stone surrounded them on all sides.
"There's… no way out of here."
High above them, the gaping maw of the cavern teased them. If she had her armor, they'd be able to fly up, maybe look for an exit on the floor above. But without it, it was too high to reach.
"Bring that light over here," said Gray, waving her over. His movements were jerky and Erza couldn't help but notice how stiff he seemed. "This used to lead somewhere," he said.
He pointed to what looked like a collapsed archway. Erza could feel the chill emanating from the outside air. The debris was thick, but the tiniest bit of light managed to come through. It had been just enough for her to see by.
"But it's caved in," said Erza.
"I'm trying to figure out if we can dig our way out," said Gray, head tipped in thought.
"You think you can move two tons of rock?" asked Erza.
"I don't know if it's quite two tons," said Gray absently. He frowned, his left hand tightened around his opposite shoulder, distracted fingers working at the joint.
Erza was surprised that Gray hadn't tried to blast his way out with his ice cannon yet. Still, it would be best to head that one off before he proposed it.
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Erza. "These caves don't seem to be very stable. That might bring the ceiling down on us."
"What ceiling?" asked Gray, pointing upwards. "There ain't nothing left to bring down. Come on, give me a hand."
Gray bent over, starting to sift through the rubble. He broke off with a hiss, his left hand flying back to clasp at his shoulder again. "Okay. Guess that's not going to work," he ground out, grimacing.
"Gray, what's the matter?" Erza asked sharply.
"I think… I think my shoulder's messed up," Gray admitted with a wince. "I musta landed on it wrong when we fell."
It all made sense now. The sloppy throw. Gray's request for her to dig through his backpack. The fact that he hadn't used Ice-Make magic to try and get them out of there.
Gray had been avoiding the use of his right arm.
"Why didn't you say something earlier?" demanded Erza.
"It's not like we were gonna be able to see anything. Getting a light was our first priority."
Erza let out an impatient huff. "Let's see how bad it is," she said, guiding him to a seated position.
Gray started to shrug his jacket off. He hissed, face screwing up in discomfort when he jostled the injured joint. Erza helped him to maneuver out of the garment, easing the sleeve off the useless limb.
"The shirt has to come off too."
Gray bit back a groan.
"Never thought I'd see the day," said Erza, trying to keep her tone light. "Normally, you'd be more than happy be rid of your shirt."
"First time for everything," muttered Gray. His shoulder protruded awkwardly from its socket, leaving the rest of his arm to hang limp. It was already starting to swell.
"It looks dislocated," Erza observed, reaching to assist.
Gray jerked back, twisting away from her. "What are you doing?"
"It's only going to get worse if you leave it like that."
"You're out of your mind if you think I'm gonna let you anywhere near it," he said, curling in on himself protectively.
"Are you saying I'm incapable of reducing a dislocated shoulder?" she asked testily. She brought a fist to her palm in irritation, her knuckles cracking loudly.
"No, I'm saying you don't know your own strength."
Erza glared. She had never been so insulted to be called strong.
"Erza," said Gray, a warning in his tone. "Just let it go, okay?"
"Fine. I will." Erza let out an irritated breath through her teeth. "Do whatever you want. It makes no difference to me." Erza got to her feet, crossing the cave with purposeful strides. She wanted to put some distance between them. She folded her arms over her chest, stilling another shiver.
Then Erza sighed, shaking her head. This wasn't the time to be bickering. They needed to get out of here.
Erza looked back at her friend worriedly. His pallor was frightening, and she could see the way his chest rose and fell with shallow, measured breaths. She suspected that Gray's shoulder was bothering him more than he was willing to admit.
"Sorry…" sighed Gray, letting himself sag back against the wall with a soft grunt. His eyes fluttered shut. "I don't mean to take this out on you. This just… sucks, y'know?"
"I know. I didn't mean what I said either," said Erza quietly.
"So, what now?" asked Gray. "I don't think I'm moving any more rocks."
"I agree. It would be pointless to continue," observed Erza. "Your shoulder isn't going to fix itself and I can't do much without my magic. We have to accept the fact that we're both out of commission at present."
"This is a long shot, but are you getting service on your lacrima?" he asked.
Erza shook her head. "That was the first thing I checked."
"Mine's in my bag if you want to try."
"We're in a cave, Gray. I doubt it's going to get much better," said Erza. "I suppose we'll have to wait until my magic regenerates." Erza settled on the floor of the cave, tucking her legs under her. The floor might as well have been made of ice, the way it sent chills up her spine.
"Or hope that Lucy and the Flame Brain decide to come looking for us."
"Yes," said Erza. "That's the plan."
"That's the plan," Gray agreed quietly.
And so, the wait began.
Next time, in [Mazeverse] Snowbound, Gray and Erza aren't content to sit and wait: "I'm sorry we're stuck out here. I'm so freakin' useless," he muttered.
Stop back next Friday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.