Tags: Established relationship, dreams, nightmares, Gray-PoV, WTF.
A/N: Something I felt like writing while listening to Elis' "The Dark Bridge". Neat song. Heck if I know if the story makes sense. Can't wait to go back to writing though...
Unbetaed.
The Dark Bridge
Gray had just fallen asleep. He was tired as too much had been going on. His body demanded rest. Though the ice mage had the odd feeling that it might be an impossible thing to happen on that one night.
He fell.
Darkness took over everything, engulfing the world, sucking out the light, an oppressive cold chilling him to the bone.
'How odd…' Gray thought.
Then, all of a sudden, a bitter taste was in his mouth. A taste he longed to never feel again, a taste that had him standing frozen amid chaos and debris as Deliora created havoc.
'Save me!' he found himself yelling to the void, his mouth being filled with fear, as if he'd just drunk a goblet of bitter wine.
A flash of light had Gray instinctively closing his eyes.
He awoke with a gasp, nearly knocking his head on Natsu's, the fire mage stepping back so suddenly that he stumbled and fell flat on his ass.
"I'm alive." Gray said, heaving and wide-eyed.
"Of course you are." Natsu said in his usual way, standing and looking at Gray like he was being particularly strange.
"But the…" Gray started saying, only to see darkness slide from behind Natsu, emerging like a big wall and engulfing the fire mage, starting to crawl over Gray's legs. It was slimy-feeling and cold, leaving emptiness behind. As it curled around Gray, climbing to his neck in a shuddering caress, it had Gray falling flat on his back.
"No!" Gray tried to yell, to fight back, but the only thing he could see was a hourglass filled with whimsical colours that was slowly dripping into a more neutral set of colours. The hourglass turned and everything became grey before it turned again to the mix of whimsical and neutral colours.
Caught in a dream, there is no escape
When my mind's what's imprisoning me
Caught in a dream, they're coming closer
Set me free
The forest was dark, the silence oppressive and tight, clinging to him like a second skin. It was hard to breathe. But Gray kept moving forward, towards where the noise – the only noise that he could hear – which was coming from outside the forest. He had to make it.
He found himself outside, under a dark moon. It only cast shadows and the world was tinted by darkness. But Gray had found the source of the noise.
A river.
It coursed calmly – which felt odd to Gray, considering everything else in that place – and with some of the moonlight's reflexes shining here and there.
Gray headed towards the shore and stopped.
Before his eyes a bridge had materialized. It didn't look like any simple bridge, however, as it was made of polished black stone.
Move on. Something whispered those words on Gray's ear. The ice mage felt compelled to move. So much so that he took a step forward unconsciously.
A booming noise made Gray cover his ears, eyes closing instinctively. When he opened them, his mouth fell open in shock.
"N-Natsu? What are you doing here?" He uttered mindlessly.
However, this Natsu that stood before him was strange. He didn't seem to have his discernible pink hair – though that might be a trick of the moon – his clothes were weird, a heavy-looking armour was hidden underneath a velvet-like cloak. Also, Natsu was missing his trademark scarf, as well as that cheeky expression that usually left Gray wondering if he should kiss him or punch him. He wore a solemn expression, eyes dead-looking. It made a shiver run down Gray's spine. And more, where was the feeling of magic? He'd missed it but didn't have the time to think of it. However now that he focused on it, the familiar and constant feeling, so much so that sometimes passed unnoticed, was missing. And Gray felt bereft. And he didn't feel anything except a growing feeling of unease coming off Natsu.
'This has to be a dream,' his rational mind told him. 'So, I should be able to wake and nothing is of consequence.' He tried to convince himself, even if he had a suspicion that things weren't as linear as that.
Gray took a step forward, his bare foot touching the stone before he took it back, as if he'd just been stung. Natsu was standing before him, arms crossed and frown in his face.
"You can't pass." The familiar voice said, although it had a strange intonation.
"I have to!" Gray retorted, scowling back. His patience was growing thin, inversely proportionally to the feeling of unease.
Move on. The disembodied voice ordered once again, whispering on Gray's ear.
His body moved again without Gray's conscious thought and he collided with Natsu.
Flames erupted from their bodies, on the points of contact, dark flames. And Gray was burning, the pain taking over his whole being, spreading through his blood at the same time that Natsu's copy held Gray. The familiar touches only brought anguish and pain, the dead expression on that face made Gray slap a hand over it. He then tried to lift his hand but it seemed to be glued to the other, skin dripping while threads of skin connected to the not-Natsu's face and the Gray started to feel as if he was melting into Natsu.
They were joined, mixed together, falling into a whirlpool, foamy water spiralling around, within them, nightmares filling Gray's being which was dissolving but at the same time being held by cold claws and feeling them cut deep into his flesh.
There was no escape.
'Set me free…' The thought formed and a flash of light blasted everything apart.
Gray closed his eyes, recoiled.
And woke up to the feel of lips on his, the familiar touch reassuring and making Gray smile and try to deepen the kiss. When they broke apart Natsu let out one of his carefree laughs.
They were in a field, golden and sprinkled with colourful flowers here and there. The sun was shining in the clear blue sky.
And then Gray saw it, the hourglass with whimsical colours dripping onto the neutral ones.
And, glancing to his right, he saw the dark bridge standing imposingly, surrounded by darkness that was starting to spread.
And Gray knew that he wasn't free yet.