Welcome to my third story ! Hope you enjoy it :D ~

UPDATE: since I felt that this chapter misses something, I added few new things to it.


Bonds

Chapter 1

"Bonds"

A man was speaking in a quite tone; his hands were crossed behind his back.

"That's what I heard about Fairy Tail, they share strong bonds together. That's what makes them so strong." The strange man closed his eyes "It's something we demons never had it."

He turned to face the mage who was listening to his talk.

"You have defeated my fellow comrades which I have to admit, they were stronger than me."

"Then, you will surrender? This will make my work easier."

"I never said that Mr. Ice demon slayer. Instead, I plan to do something different. I'll play with you a game, a very simple game."

"A game?"

"Let's test this called 'bonds' of yours. Let's see if such thing really exists."

Gray eyes turned serious "How are you going to do that?"

"My power allow me to alter others memories. First, I'll erase your existence on those people who know you. Then, I'm going to place a curse on your heart. This curse will kill you slowly."

The demon had a small smile in his face "The game is as I said simple, if only one managed to remember you before the curse kills you. You will survive and everyone will have their memories back. Don't worry; I'll play with you, I'll place the same curse on myself. If you win, I'll die. If not, you will die."

"Like hell I'll let you do that." Gray launched at the demon, ready to attack him.

"I knew that you would do this so I prepared myself before you come." He showed both his hands from his back. He took something from his small bag, which was a video Lacrima. Those Lacrima showed different scenes of two different mages.

"You see, those mages, I can manipulate them to think that their mission is to kill some innocent people."

"You are bluffing. Even if such mission popped into my head I'd never believed it."

"Right, because Fairy Tail never kills someone but what about the others? Are you sure? I can let them believe that those innocent people were impersonated by evil demons or monsters. Besides, I can't really trust such weak mages, can you? "

"I'll kill you before you do it."

"Yeah you can do that easily since you are a demon slayer but remember what I just told you? I already prepared myself." The demon said it slowly; the smile was still wearing his face. It irritated Gray so much; the demon had so much confidence.

The demon continued "I have studied you. I knew that one day we will meet; I was planning this from a quite long time. It was me who requested the demon slayer."

Gray stopped, shocked of what he heard "What? You asked me to get rid of you and your comrades?"

"As I said, we demons don't share any bonds toward each other."

"How could you?" Gray got angry.

"Ah getting angry for them. That's sweet." He paused for a moment and clapped his hands together "As for how you can't kill me, let's say that the one who will activate the alteration of their memories is...not me."

"What?"

"A subordinate of mine will do it. I gave him instruction that if he didn't hear from me in just 10 minutes. He will activate it. His location is unknown. I doubt you or anyone will find it in time."

"Damn it" Gray bit his lips. He hated such situation, where he was threatened by the safety of others, where he can't do anything on his own.

"Oh, can't you trust the bonds of your friends? Are you afraid that they will forget you forever? That you will die?" the demon was teasing Gray.

"Not going to happen. I'll win this stupid game of your easily. Fairy Tail won't affected by your magic."

"I like your confidence. When I said my fellow comrades were stronger than me I meant physically. However, this… is my specialty!"

The demon dropped the Lacrima and placed his right hand on the floor. A big magical circle surrounded both of them. There was a bright light coming from it. Gray had to cover his eyes.

"Ah I forgot." He looked at Gray "You can't say your name, join Fairy Tail again nor show them your insignia but don't worry; I'll make situations that include you and your friends."

XX

-After two weeks-

"Solo mages? What does that mean?" Lucy wondered, for her it was the first time she heard about it.

"They are mages who doesn't belong to a certain guild. They travel around various guilds and can perform any request posted regardless of their status." Master Makarov explained to her.

"Wow! I never knew about them."

"Yes, usually they are not in Fiore."

"Why not?"

"Most of the guilds here only allow their members to perform the requests. Fairy Tail is one of them."

"I see, so there is no point staying in Fiore when you have a little amount of work."

The master nodded at her.

"Hey…Hey…old man, those mages, is it true that they will participate in the Grand Magic Games this year?" Natsu had the biggest grin as he was excited. He has heard of them before and that some of them even had the same strength as Gildarts. He wanted to face them.

"That's what I heard. They want to make this year a special by allowing them. This year will be about determining if Fiore guild members are stronger than the solo mages!"

"YES!" Natsu hit his fists "We will win against them!"

Erza smiled at Natsu act and turned to the master "do you think they will participate? Will they care about the title?"

"No, most of them will not care about it."

"Huh?" Natsu excitement turned down.

"But the responsibles of the game probably foresaw that, if the solo mages won. They will give them an official place where they can take requests from it."

Laxus who was hearing from far said "This will affect us wouldn't it?"

Makarov sighed "Yes. They will get popular and get more requests than any other guild." He stood announcing "That's why we can't allow them to win. Fairy Tail will participate in this year!"

Every member cheered at the master announcement.

XX

A man wearing a long black coat was sitting in a crowded restaurant, reading the announcement of this year of the Grand Magic Games.

He was once known as the famous ice mage of Fairy Tail, Gray Fullbuster.

"This will be my sole chance. If I failed, I'll probably end up died." Gray muttered with a sad expression on his face. He sighed and stood, leaving the restaurant.

He looked at the clouded sky with determination "I'll knock some sense into them. I will not lose to that demon again."

Gray started walking alone toward the train station "Off to Crocus."


A/N:

A short chapter but it's a prologue. Expect a long chapters later :D Anyway let's play a game, place your thoughts on who do you think will manage to remember Gray first? and why? at the end of this story we will see who managed to get the correct answer xD

R&R and share me any ideas or things you want to see in this story :)