Whatever the Cost

Chapter One: For the Future

Summary: Spoilers for Chapter 411. They beat Tartarus and stopped Face. Now forever stuck as half a demon, Gray finds that even though he sacrificed half of his humanity for the sake of the magical world, not everyone will come to accept his new appearance. Faced with such new hardships so suddenly, he nearly falls under the pressure. But luckily, a certain Dragon Slayer is always by his side urging him on.

Pairings: Natray (But there WILL be small parts of Gratsu); mentions of JelErz, ElfEver, GajLev, and Silver x Mika.

Warnings: ooc (hopefully not, but this IS my first FT fanfic, so there probably will be ooc. I apologize in advance), swearing, violence, light discrimination, mentions of character death.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or that sexy half-demon Gray. Don't you think he looks so much more ravaging with his new appearance? I certainly think he does!

Quick Author's Note before I start this. I am not fully educated in Magnolia and all it's magical principles. So if anything is wrong, please forgive me and let me know. Also, this is a "what if?" story. "What if Gray had to live with half his body demonized?" So please enjoy this! If not, I apologize!

Some folk we never forget
Some kind we never forgive
Haven't seen the back of us yet
We'll fight as long as we live

-Song of the Lonely Mountain (Neil Finn)

Three weeks had passed since Fairy Tail beat Tartarus and saved the magical world, but there was one mage who still hadn't celebrated with the guild.

Natsu sat beside one of the few beds in the room, his eyes staring intently at the silent figure before him. He figured if he thought and stared hard enough, the mage on the bed would suddenly wake up. But that didn't happen, and all the pinkette got was a headache. He let out a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest, and slouched into the chair for a more comfortable position. He could hear the rest of the guild celebrating outside; their noisy but ecstatic shouts, their happy laughter, their boisterous tales. He would have been out there with them – after all, he was usually one of the first ones to break into a celebration after they completed a mission or just barely managed to save the world. And above all, he had another important reason to celebrate: he found Igneel, his father, after so many years. His eyes drifted from the window back down the mage on the bed.

But his worry for his closest friend was far more important than any celebration.

After they had defeated the master of Tartarus and stopped Face, Gray had collapsed in exhaustion, blood loss, and magic depletion. It didn't take a doctor to realize the ice mage had pushed his body far past its limits. Then there was the other problem. Natsu's eyes landed on the left half of Gray's body. The master, along with everyone else in the guild, had been startled when they took in the mage's appearance. Instantly everyone began to look for a way to cure the ice mage. But after a week of constant searching, it was Levy who gave the news.

There was no way for Gray to ever be fully human again.

And that worried everyone.

Hearing of half-human half-demon beings were unheard of, and they had no idea how this would affect Gray's physiology and mentality. "All we can do now is wait for him to wake, and be there for him every step of the way." Natsu's fists clenched tightly as he remembered the fight with Mard Geer. Gray had taken the full curse, Momento Mori, and when the clouds of dust settled, half of his body had been demonized. The dragon slayer had thought long and hard about that memory over the past few weeks. At first he thought it was Geer's curse that'd done that to Gray, but he clearly remembered how shocked the Underworld King had been to see the mage still alive. So that meant either it'd been a side effect of the attack hitting Gray…or the mage had half-demonized himself on purpose.

He stared at the tattoo on Gray's right arm. He'd never seen that before and still wondered where he got the demon slayer magic from. "This is for my dad!" So that guy – Silver was his name, if he remembered correctly – had been Gray's father? Then how'd…? He shook his head. He had too many questions for the ice mage when he woke up. He gave another sigh, this one with more frustration, and stared at the ceiling. His muscles were tense and his brow furrowed. Gray had nearly sacrificed his own life for the sake of Natsu's. No, he'd nearly sacrificed his life for the future.

"For the future." Natsu had managed to hear Gray say those words when the curse was launched, and he wondered what the ice had meant in that moment. It wasn't until the mage fell did he finally understand what he meant. "To…make…way for…the future… All…I can…do now…is… Believe in Natsu."

His heart throbbed at the memory. He honestly thought Gray had died for a moment, and the pain of that thought, the raw rage he felt gave him a moment of an unquenchable thirst for the enemies blood. He wanted to kill the demon who dared hurt his friend. Who dared hurt the man Natsu had come to secretly love. He mentally scoffed at himself. Only he could fall for his rival, for someone who was a near polar opposite of himself. He bared his teeth at the thought of Gray never wake up.

"You better be alright when you wake up," he whispered. "You better be alright."

This was more of a prologue than anything, and I apologize it's so short. The other chapters will be longer, I promise. (I may add to this later, too. If I do, I'll let you guys know.) Updates may be slow because I have a job now, so please be patient with me! Thank you! I do accept criticism, but don't kill me with it okay? Thanks. R&R please!

»roo the ice elemental psycho«