"This is my last chance to fight against Natsu with all he's got. You will be the trigger that will unleash his true power." Zeref stated, a sinister smile stretching on his lips as he glared at Gray, stepping closer to him.

"You wish. When Natsu will arrive, there will be nothing left from you," Gray corrected, eyes carefully studying Zeref's every movement.

His hand was slightly trembling and clenched it tight, not wanting to show any weakness. He didn't fear many things, but having Zeref standing a few meters away as he was closing the gap between them could make anyone react this way.

"It's futile, I'm immortal. No one can kill me," Zeref said, spreading his arms wide open, "but if you somehow managed to kill me, Natsu will…"

He sighed heavily, "I know."

Zeref blinked, "Oh, so you already knew…"

"That Natsu is E.N.D?" Gray continued, "Natsu…is Natsu. I wanted to blame someone for the deaths of my parents and Ur…and that 'someone' was E.N.D, but now knowing that it's Natsu…" he glanced down, gritting his teeth.

"I care more about those who are still alive. I don't care what they are. They are my friends." He glanced up and glared at Zeref.

"You will lose them. Whether you kill me or you—" he halted in his steps, eyes widening.

Zeref slightly tilted his head, eyes now narrowed as he observed Gray with a new interest.

"Well, well, what a pleasant surprise…it looks like there is something being suppressed in you, screaming and howling to get released…" Zeref noted, starting to come closer yet again.

"If you're talking about my pent up anger that wants to lash out and murder you, yeah, you're probably right," Gray said and raised his hands, ready to attack.

Then, he gasped as Zeref disappeared and instantly reappeared right in front of his face, looming over him.

"Fuck—"

He summoned ice in his hands, about to punch him away, yet he wasn't fast enough and cursed as Zeref's hand made contact with his temple, palm flat against it. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for an exploding pain to course through him, but nothing happened. He tried to jump away from him but noticed that he couldn't move a single muscle and felt his stomach sink.

"My god, you had this buried deep inside you all this time…but it makes things much more complicated now, doesn't it…" Zeref mused, chuckling, "maybe not, though…if I do kill you knowing this, then my plan will definitely succeed."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He barked, lower lip trembling as he now stared at Zeref with a new fear ignited in him.

"I could just keep it a secret from you, but where's the fun in that?"

"What do you—"

Before he could say anything further, his world turned black.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in an unfamiliar place, probably what used to be a forest, but was now covered in white, layers of snow stretching all over around him.

"Gray, come out right this instant and stop fooling around!"

He snapped his head towards the booming voice, whirling around. His eyes widened, mouth dropping open as he looked up at the blue dragon, covered with icy scales, standing tall a few meters away from him.

Why did she call out my name? And where the fuck am I?

He hid behind a large bush, deciding that it was best to silently observe without revealing himself as there was literally a dragon that he had never seen before, calling out to him like they knew each other.

The dragon turned its head to the left, facing away from him as a giggle was heard and he slightly relaxed, knowing that he was safe for the time being.

"Oh, so you want to play like that, huh? Okay then, but don't whine afterward because you brought this upon yourself!"

The dragon called out and inhaled deeply, its cheeks puffing. Then, it blew out a huge storm of ice, freezing everything that was in its wake with crystal. After a few minutes, a small boy emerged from the bushes, arms wrapped around himself as he was shaking like a leaf.

"That wasn't fair! You used your powers!" The black-haired boy pouted, teeth chattering from the cold.

"What did I say about whining, Gray? And it's not like you aren't used to this kind of cold— you are the child of the mighty Ice dragon, so, you have no excuses, young man."

"'Mighty Ice dragon' my ass…" the boy mumbled, averting his eyes.

"What did you say, you cheeky brat?"

He gaped at the scene that was unfolding right in front of his eyes. There was literally a younger version of himself conversing and playing around with a dragon…just what the hell was Zeref doing to him? What were these illusions he was feeding him with?

"N-Nothing!"

The dragon smiled down at young Gray and lowered its head, folding its arms.

"Come here, you."

Young Gray hesitantly stepped forward and jumped into the dragon's folded arms, snuggling close.

"You know that I love you, right? I always had and I'll always will, no matter what." The dragon lowly rumbled, rubbing its face against him. Young Gray huffed but leaned in on the touch.

"Why did you get sentimental all of a sudden, Algor?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to remind my child how much I love him— is that a crime?"

Young Gray blushed and averted his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, "No, I guess it's not, but it's not like you to be like that."

"Well, then that means that maybe from now on I should say it more often, shouldn't I?"

"Fuck no, it's gross!"

"Hey, watch your mouth!"

They both started giggling and he placed his hand over his chest, feeling an odd ache deep inside. This whole scene that he was witnessing was fake, an illusion that Zeref had created to mess with his head, so why did it hurt to watch? Why did it feel familiar? The giggles started fading away into the white and another scene slowly formed.

He inhaled sharply, hands clenching into tight fists as young Gray was sobbing loudly, holding onto one of Algor's leg.

"What do you mean you have to go? I refuse to let you go! You can't go! You promised me that you would stay with me forever!" young Gray cried out, latching himself onto Algor.

"Please, don't leave me! I don't have anyone else in this world but you! Don't leave me…" he choked out, burying his face against Algor's leg.

"I'm sorry, my dear Gray, but there is something that I have to do. Believe me, I wanted to stay with you and watch you grow up into a handsome man, but there is something that needs to be done…I know that you don't understand now, but when you grow up, you will understand that I'm doing this for you, for us." Algor explained, looking down at him apologetically.

"Don't bullshit me, if you really cared about me, you would stay here no matter what! You would—"

Algor raised her claw, tapping one nail against young Gray's temple gently.

"I'm sorry, Gray…"

The boy's eyes slowly closed, small body falling limply to the ground.

Gray gasped, tears prickling his eyes as he watched a light cover young Gray's body, gradually fading away and disappearing, leaving nothing in its wake. He let out a small whimper and immediately smacked his hands over his mouth, keeping completely still as he ducked down. Algor snapped its head towards him, eyes narrowing at the bush that was covering him.

"You were always such a brat…"

His eyes widened as Algor softly mumbled and jerked up from his hiding place, ready to call out to the dragon, only to find emptiness.

"No!" he outstretched his hand forward, but everything around him slowly faded away.

Gray snapped his eyes open, breathing heavily, dried tears on his cheeks.

"W-What…" he breathed, unfocused eyes staring at the ground.

"What you saw was a part of your sealed memories," Zeref disclosed, hand slowly traveling down from Gray's forehead, "at least you won't die without not knowing the truth about you."

He clicked his tongue and jumped away, eyes lifting up to glare into Zeref.

"If you think that I'm going to buy any of your bullshit, you're highly mistaken," the corner of his mouth quirked up into a shaky grin, "I'm sorry, but this is the moment where you'll have to say goodbye to this world, Zeref."

He widened his stance and placed his right arm above the left one, right palm facing down whilst his left palm faced up.

"I-Iced Shell?" Zeref gasped, taking a step back.

"Correct, but not quite. This kind of magic will allow me to turn my life, existence, and memory into magic so nobody else will have to shed any further tears." He explained and spread his arms wide.

"Lost Iced Shell!"

Gray slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the familiar ceiling. He rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up on his bed, bringing his knees close to his body.

One month had passed since the war with Alvarez had ended, since they had defeated Zeref and obtained peace, but he was a mess. This past month had been pure hell to him, as almost every night his dreams were haunted by new memories of his unknown past with the dragon named Algor.

It made him contemplate his whole existence, who he really was. He didn't even know his real identity and that terrified him. Although, it wasn't just about who he was, but everyone around him. Were his parents real? Mika and Silver? If not, then who were they?

He gritted his teeth, gripping the blanket tight in his fists.

That couldn't be true, though. Even if he wasn't related to his parents by blood, he was surely adopted by them, but why did they never mention it to him? And if all this was true, did that mean that he was a Dragonslayer too?

He loosened his grip and lifted his hand, staring down at it.

Yet he had never felt these powers that he has been feeling for the past month, boiling under his skin, begging to be released. He had never had the improved senses of smell and hearing like the rest of the Dragonslayers, nor had he ever had transportation sickness. Could it have been because he didn't have any memories of his true identity? But it wouldn't be able for his biological side to change just because his memories and powers were sealed.

"Fuck, I'm actually getting a headache from all this shit." He groaned and rubbed his temple.

He threw the blanket to the side and stood up, walking towards the bathroom that was attached to his room. He pushed the door open and stood over the sink, lifting his head towards the mirror.

There were dark circles under his eyes, hair grisly. When was the last time he had taken a shower?

Then, he opened his mouth and lifted his hand, fingers brushing over his teeth, feeling the sharpness. His teeth had transformed into sharp canines, just like a Dragonslayer's a few nights after the end of the war. His two senses of hearing and smell had been also improved greatly and had been trying his best to hide it all and pretend like nothing's changed, but lately, it has been getting harder.

The fact that he had been spending a lot of hours at the guild's library searching everything about dragons didn't really help his situation much. Some have been getting suspicious but it was only logical, as he literally had never visited the library before out of personal interest, but he couldn't help it. There were so many unanswered questions, about the origin of the dragon that kept appearing in his dreams, Algor, about what became of her after she sealed away his memories.

It was odd, suspicious how Algor was never mentioned by any of the Dragonslayers or the other dragons. Why? Just who was she? And why hadn't she appeared with the rest of the dragon's in the battle against Acnologia?

Nothing added up, no matter how hard he thought about it and, the worst thing was, nobody could actually help him with his search. He couldn't just walk up to somebody and tell them that he was searching for 'his' dragon that he, himself, wasn't even sure might yet exist. What would he tell them, that he was an Ice Dragonslayer? Everybody would think that he has gotten mad, so, no matter what, he couldn't ask anybody about—

His eyes widened, gasping as he stared at his reflection in the mirror, "Porlyusica…"

Could she be able to help her? Even if she was from Edolas and knew about someone named Algor from her world, then she could help him understand this world's Algor, too.

He pressed his mouth into a tight line and shed every layer of clothing that he was wearing and stepped into the shower. He quickly cleaned himself and after being done, he put on a new set of clothes and headed out, walking towards Porlyusica's lab.

When he finally arrived, he lifted his fist and lightly knocked on the door. He waited whilst tapping his foot impatiently on the ground, but as much as he wanted to barge in, he knew that he had to be patient in order for Porlyusica to accept him.

After a long while, the door finally opened just a crack, revealing Porlyusica's face and pink locks.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Gray, I'm sorry for intruding, but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't urgent." He announced, taking a step forward.

"Is it a matter of life and death? It isn't? Then I guess it can wai—" she inhaled sharply, eyes narrowing as she silently studied him.

"You…there's something different about you, about your magic. This magic power feels like…a Dragonslayer's," she whispered, eyes now widening.

"Yeah, uh, that's what I needed to talk to you about, so…can I come in?" he asked.

Immediately, the door was opened and he was jerked forward, and once he was pulled into the lab, the door behind him closed with a loud bang.

"Sit." Porlyusica commanded, pointing towards a chair near a desk.

He quickly made his way and sat down. She dragged a chair from nearby and set it across from him, sat down and opened up a notebook.

"Explain."

He sighed and said everything to her, from his encounter with Zeref, the memories from that point up until now, the changes in his body and in his magic. When he finally had finished, Porlyusica remained silent for quite a while, just staring down at the notebook in her hands.

"From what I observed, you didn't seem much surprised when I mentioned the name 'Algor'. Do you happen to know who she is? And what kind of relation she could have with me? It's just…none of this makes sense," he wondered, lowering his head.

"I can't give you the answers you seek, because I, too, don't know of who she exactly is and what has happened to her in this world, your world. In mine, Edolas, she was an Ice Mage, didn't have any family that I knew of and died around the age of thirty." Porlyusica stated as she wrote something down on her notebook.

"That doesn't help me at all in figuring out this whole mess about Earthland's Algor, though…what if she is still alive, somewhere out there?" He wondered.

"Please, do not start a hunting journey like Natsu did for Igneel, you know where that got him— and even if she was still alive, which I highly doubt, where exactly would you start to search for her? It will be futile." She declared, staring at him with calculating eyes.

He sighed deeply, "Then what should I do? Nothing? Wait for more memories to come, in hopes of gaining something from them?"

"Do you have a better suggestion?" she said and crossed her arms over her chest.

He gritted his teeth, hands clenching into tight fists, "I don't, but this is really frustrating! Everything I've known up until know turns out to be a lie! My parents might not even be my biological ones, I find out that I have been born four hundred years ago and transported to his time and am a Dragonslayer, no less!" he snapped.

"I just want to know what the hell is going on…" he whispered, shoulders hunching forward.

"Is it possible that your dragon had another kind of mission...?" Porlyusica mumbled to herself as he tapped the pen she was holding against her notebook.

"What…?"

"Every Dragonslayer was transported here in the seventh of July, year 777, right? But when Natsu joined the guild, you were already there, and you did have the memories of your parents and living with your master, so, was it possible that you were transported to the future earlier?" She wondered and started writing down again in her notebook.

"When you put it like that, you do have a point, but…for what reason? What was Algor's objective?" He questioned.

"I have no idea, but isn't it odd that you were the only one whom memories of living with Algor were sealed away?"

He nodded and looked down at his hands in his lap, "That's true…"

He clicked his tongue and tugged at his hair, "God fucking dammit, none of this shit makes sense! What the hell am I supposed to do?" he barked.

A tense silence stretched between them, as both of them didn't utter a word for a while.

Could he really not do anything? Would he accept defeat and sit quietly, waiting for something to happen and hopefully enlighten him on the matter?

"There is a dark guild, located somewhere at the outskirts of Midi. I think they specialize in forbidden spells and might also have a wide knowledge when it comes to legendary creatures like the dragons. It might be worthwhile to check it out." She instructed and closed her notebook, leaning forward and placing it down onto her desk.

He shot up from his chair, "Thank you for your help and the information, I'll pack and head out as soon as possible." He informed and was about to walk away, but a hand that wrapped around his wrist stopped him.

"It wouldn't be a good idea to leave so soon and alone too, I suggest that you stay and try to figure out things more, learn more about your new magic and then, with your friends' help, you can go." She stated and tugged him back.

"But sitting around here and doing nothing won't help me at all, I need to find some answers as soon as possible, and if going to that dark guild is the only solution, then I have to—"

"Gray!" She snapped, eyes narrowed.

He gritted his teeth and pulled his hand away.

"You need to settle down for a while. Figure out what is going on with your powers, with your new memories and then you can go. Also, you will visit me regularly and fill me in on everything new that has happened, and I will do some extra check-ups to see what has changed in your body and magic," She stated and waved her hand, "that's all, you are free to go now."

He hesitatingly nodded and started walking towards the front door.

"I won't interfere, as this is something that you need to do, but you do know that you will have to tell them eventually."

His hand paused against the door handle.

"I will, soon." He mumbled and opened the door, walking out of the lab.