Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Mystique Voyage
Welcome to my Mystique Voyage -
An inner trip to fantasy, freedom and love.
A conquest of fear, lonesomeness and dislike.
Welcome to my world!
The town was quiet in the early hours of morning. Only the sound of the waves crashing upon both the shore and the dock's pillars. The few boats that were moored were moving according to the sea's movement.
As light started to emerge in the horizon, accompanied by a myriad of colours that faintly became more pronounced and slowly grew, the caw of the seagulls began to be heard.
The seashore town started to stir.
Gray was walking down the road, towards the docks. He heard the call of the sea, which was something he wasn't expecting to. The team was behind, still plunged in oblivious slumber, at least as much as he knew.
The orange glow that painted the horizon was growing, the same way as if it were under the broad strokes of a painter. Gray shook his head at his own silly musings. It was too early to be coherent so that was his excuse for such thoughts, even if only to himself.
His pace became strides as he felt a sudden urge to reach the shore faster. The buildings, of faded colours due to both the sun and the salty atmosphere that corroded the colours, were becoming stifling to him, the oppression growing the longer he stood among them, the sidewalk feeling like quicksand and an unsurmountable obstacle.
Inside, Gray could feel a restlessness. His magic was unsettled but he didn't know how or why. Since he had made peace with himself, allowed himself to be grounded and more open to others, Gray had been finding new ways to learn and become stronger. Now… now, it seemed like all that work had been for naught as it felt like his ice was melting under the sprinkles of salt water that sprayed where the waves crashed the shore.
The ice mage couldn't deny, not to himself, that this feeling was making him feel shaken. And yet, there was that beckon. Like a siren call that pulled him towards the sea.
Gray found himself leaving the town but instead of walking towards the docks, like he would no doubt do with his team later, or to the pier near it, he went farther. He went to the small beach. His boots sunk on the sand and it was slightly difficult to walk but Gray persisted on and in no time was reaching the strip of sand that was bathed by water.
As per usual in him, his shirt went away – it was too warm anyway, with half of the fiery globe already breaching out of the horizon – and was soon followed by his boots. The freezing contact of his foot with the wet sand made the familiar cold flare up his leg. He curled his toes into the sand and then, as the pull went stronger, walked into the freezing water.
The cold was familiar yet strange. The saltiness was new and quite unwelcome. Gray knew that he didn't want to continue but his body didn't follow his instructions and kept walking deeper into the sea. His hair was drooping and becoming plastered to his forehead and face, his eyesight becoming foggy. But Gray felt his right hand extending towards the sun and could feel fingertips brushing against his hand and-
Loud splashing noises came from behind and suddenly Gray felt strong, fiery hands grasping his arms before he was being pulled into a warm chest. Loud words were being yelled into his ear but he could not discern what was being said.
And then, as if a taut wire had been snapped, Gray felt himself plunging into darkness.
Natsu was confused.
He had felt the first stirrings towards a conscious state as the sun rose, as usual, but when he opened his eyes and looked around in the shared bedroom to find it empty. Natsu had a strange feeling and hurried to get up and ready and in no time he was out the door. Out of the inn they were at.
His nose picked up a very familiar scent and soon Natsu was running down the empty streets – the faintest signs of people waking starting to appear at the edge of his attention. But Natsu paid no heed to any of that as the closer he got to the sea, the faintest the scent became, shrouded in a number of other scents – some more pleasant than others.
Biting back a groan of frustration, Natsu looked around. By the corner of his eye he could see the sun rising, a surge of power flowing through his body.
And it was then that he saw him.
Gray was on the small beach, walking slowly towards the water. Natsu called out for him but the surrounding noises muted his voice, apparently, for Gray did not heed him. And then the ice mage was inside the water, it was nearly reaching his hip and he didn't seem to want to slow down. Natsu started out in a sprint to see what had happened to his friend. He noticed how he was extending his hand out into the sun, a greeting perhaps?
No, it was too odd and Natsu had to stop him. So he entered the freezing water and grabbed his friend's arms, pulling him back to him. Yelling disjointed words at his friend that went unheeded.
And then Natsu had a passed out Gray on his arms.
With a sigh he started walking towards the shore, dragging the dead weight of his friend.
A nagging suspicion on the back of his mind, the frown etching itself deeper in his features.
'What the hell happened here?' he wondered as he finally got to the sand, pausing to haul Gray onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. A cold wind had risen and cut through the Salamander who shivered. Sure, he was a dragonslayer and that whole thing with the fire but not even he was immune to a cold wind, especially as he had ran into the sea water. He had to get them to the inn soon. And then talk to the girls. Something weird seemed to be happening and it might jeopardize their mission.
And Gray too…
After what looked like a longer walk – heck, Gray wasn't exactly a lightweight – they got to the inn and Natsu managed to take them to their bedroom. He dumped Gray none too gently on a chair before going to the small adjoining bathroom to grab a couple of towels. He took away Gray's boots, socks and pants, noticing how Gray had foregone his undergarments. In passing he couldn't help but think how freezing water still worked on ice mages and… let things shrink a little. He hoped he would remember that later to tease the ice mage.
But now he quickly dried him and put him on the bed. Then he hurried to clean himself, throw the wet clothes on the hamper and get dressed – again – to go see the girls and see what they should do now.
He knocked on Lucy and Erza's bedroom and was quickly granted access.
"Good morning, Natsu." Lucy greeted with a large smile as she motioned for him to go sit at the table.
"Ah, good morning. Did you sleep well?" he replied, distractedly.
"Yes, it was a good night of rest. Lucy and I were discussing our next options for the mission." Erza said as she stirred her tea.
"The mission. Right…" Natsu nodded. "Well, see…"
"What's wrong?" Lucy queried.
"There's something happening. I mean…" Natsu plucked a small bread from the basket and started munching on it.
"Stop beating around the bush. What's happening?" Erza asked as she sat back on her chair and stared at him.
"I don't know what's happening but this morning I saw Gray-"
"Ah, Gray. Why didn't he come with you? Is he still sleeping?" Lucy asked as she sipped on her tea.
"That's the problem. I woke up earlier and he wasn't in the room. We all know how Gray likes to sleep in. I followed him and ended up on the beach. He was in the water, walking somewhere. It was odd. I don't know if he was awake."
"What? Do you think he was sleepwalking?" the Celestial mage wondered.
"Gray never suffered from that. I wonder what happened…" Erza leaned forward, placing her hand in her chin. "But maybe we should watch over him, wait to see if he can tell us something when he awakes."
"Yes, let's go." Lucy agreed.
"We can continue breakfast on my room, then." Natsu was following them but bringing a tray with food.
They moved to the boys' room where Gray was still resting. It looked like he hadn't even moved.
Natsu placed the tray on the small table and went downstairs to get more food to be brought to the room. The girls had settled silently at the table, looking between Gray and the pamphlet with the overall info for the mission. They were talking in a low voice.
Gray came to feeling warm and comfortable, something that didn't really associate with what he last remembered.
It was quieter too.
He finally opened his eyes only to stare at the slightly cracked plaster of a ceiling. Gray frowned.
And then he heard the low voices. He scrunched up his face before opening his bleary eyes.
"Look, he's coming to." He heard someone – Lucy or Erza? – say.
There was a noise of a door closing and Gray looked in that direction. It was Natsu.
"Glad to see you awake." The dragonslayer said.
A/N: This story is dedicated to my good friend, Citrus Sunscreen. Happy birthday, my dear, so sorry that the story took so long to get to you.
I'm writing it for NaNoWriMo and posting as I go (so as not to be more belated xD) so, let's see how this goes.
Note that this story is unbetaed, for the moment. I'll come back to it and edit in December. ^^
Hope you enjoy it.
The title and some of the imagery come from Tarja Turunen's song, Mystique Voyage. It's a good song.
As usual, feedback is highly appreciated.