A/N: Hello everyone! Master of the Hellish Yard and Foxy from Dattebayo Devon have decided to work on their writing together for one fanficiton, just as a way of remedying their writing skills and getting back into the Fairy Tail groove. We have united due to our sadistic natures. Please enjoy!

Wearing the Cloak of the Grim Reaper

Chapter 1: The Mystery that is Mystogan


Little fingers grasped at the sheets on the bed, shaking as he was unable to take a firm hold and feeling the fabric slip between his digits. His skin felt as if it were ablaze, cooking his insides, setting ablaze whatever it touched. His throat scratched and his breathing was rapid, his body too tired and too stressed to be able to will himself up upon his feet. He felt sticky in sweat and wished he could jump into a bath, but undoubtedly they would not allow it.

He was so preoccupied with the illness that he did not always hear the voices around him. He could hear them speak but his brain would not always register what was said or if it had importance. Their chatter made little sense after a while ... he was sick. He had the sickness. The one everyone feared, even though it harmed very few in the times in which they lived. They were debating how ill he was, though he didn't care how much – he knew he had it and he wanted to sleep, fight it off. He didn't care how it was taken care of.

He picked up bits and pieces of the conversation. "Fatal ... carrier ... no signs of the rash ..." but even if these words registered they did not make sense to him as a whole.

But what hurt the worst is when a man, though blurred in his vision, walked into his chambers, and when he willed himself to hear, he regretted it. "Too weak to be my son," came the spiteful hatred no parent should hold for their child. "Allowing this to take you the way it has."

He no longer wished to listen. He closed his eyes, allowing the voices and the angered voice to continue to spew at him and become nothing more than background noise. He wanted water, but he'd ask for it later ... now, he wanted to sleep ...

*
A man stood outside the guild, clothed in heavy fabrics woven tight enough to keep the rain from drenching him. Pausing, he leaned a slight bit heavier against the walking stick he'd needed to take out earlier that day. His joints tremored ever so slightly, though it was not from exhaustion. The illness was harsh today... Once he'd caught his breath, the man straightened his spine, ignoring the numbing pain in his system. He could only hope the sleeping spell would last until he was done.
Opening the doors and walking into the threshold, Mystogan snapped his fingers. He had no intention of lingering at the doorway long enough to be noticed. Abruptly all the mages' thoughts were stilled as they drifted off, and he himself relaxed a bit as the noise level dropped. Noise would only aggravate his mind and his state, tranquility was the remedy. What he would do to rid himself of the headaches ... but there was nothing to be done. As he walked in, the bottom of the walking stick clacked against the wooden floor, a sound to let him know he had arrived even though it was greeted by deaf ears. He had to walk to the side as a mage slumped over in his path, snoring loudly. Shaking his head ever so slightly at the sight of the normally-riled mages, he strolled to the mission board and grabbed whichever one caught his eye first and had enough of a substantial reward. Mystogan turned and headed to speak to Master, who clucked his tongue. "You really should stop putting them to sleep. You need to work on your people skills."

He didn't even need to turn around to see the state of the mages. Yes, normally people would be distressed at having fallen asleep in such a manner, wouldn't they? Mystogan gave him a bit of a bow. "I know. I apologize."

"Though," and Master was almost grinning at the potential hilarity that could ensue, "I don't think you're going to get away fast enough today~"

Around them, the guild was stirring. Mystogan's stomach dropped. The spell hadn't been strong enough today! It would not take long for the tranquility to vanish, like vapor to the sun. Maybe he would get lucky and none of them would take notice of him still there. Maybe if he stayed still enough and reacted to the environment as little as humanly possible ...

For one mage there was no such thing as time between sleep and awake. The moment his brain had switched on, Natsu jumped upright on the table and sniffed the air. There was someone different here. It smelled like–

"Oi! Flamebrain! Some of us like to wake up without having to see your ugly mug!"

Natsu spun around at the insult, goaded by his arch-enemy, friend, frenemy – whatever they were called. "What'd you call me? Stupid Ice-pick!"

Gray laughed, getting up and standing behind the table's bench. "Flamebrain. Though right now, it looks like that fire's dead and gone. All that's left is ash, ash-for-brains!"

"Hey!" He jumped forward, landing on top of Gray and sending them both to the ground. Some of the guild members had already rolled back upright, though a few sleepyheads or drunks still lay in the path of chaos and had the mishap of getting involved in the duo's turmoil. The two of them rolled into an awakening Macao, knocking him flat, and eventually into another crowd. From there, the problem could only grow.

From behind, Mystogan watched the scenes unfold alongside a very amused Master – who would not yet berate them, as he wished to see how Mystogan would play into this. Mystogan winced and tried to refrain from bringing a hand up to rub at his temples whilst looking desperately for an escape route, only feeling the headache build up again. Everyone seemed to have started fighting after those two began, and all the obvious paths of exit were either blocked or being watched.

As they were rolling around on the ground, Natsu paused long enough to sniff the air again. Oh yeah! Mystogan's here! Gray took advantage of the distraction and managed to toss Natsu into the bar, narrowly missing the cloaked mage. Once Gray caught sight of said cloaked mage, he stood there in awe and pointed, completely unaware that in the last thirty seconds he had lost his shirt. "It's YOU!"

All gazes turned towards the source of Gray's distress, ignoring Natsu as the fire mage climbed out of the wreckage. At being caught and recognized, Mystogan couldn't help but stand there. What was to be done now? The Master simply chuckled; at least the mages would recognize Mystogan as he actually was, since most never saw the heavily clothed mystery mage before. Most of the Fairy Tail mages had probably passed Mystogan on the streets and never recognized they belonged to the same guild.

"Why are you here?!" Gray exclaimed, strutting over. Natsu, who had just pulled himself up, abruptly turned around. "Yeah, did you finally come to fight us?"

Mystogan looked to Master for help. But the old man only gave him a wave and a grin, clearly enjoying watching. He knowingly attempted to disguise his voice, having known that Wendy recently joined this guild and might catch him. He had heard of her new guild through the social networks. "I ... well, not exactly. I needed another missio–"

"So why didn't you put us to sleep? Don't you usually do that?"

"He did, stupid! That's why I woke up with your ass in my face!"

Temporarily distracted, Natsu turned back to the ice mage and left Mystogan be. "I'm not stupid, stupid!"

"Oh yeah? I beg to diffe–Hey!" Gray was abruptly cut off by a punch to the jaw, which he returned by slamming Natsu into the bar.

"Gray! Natsu! Stop that!" Came the shrill shriek from a nearby blonde – Lucy, if he recalled correctly – but her cries went ignored. He was glad that for the moment, he was forgotten, and started to quietly scoot himself from the scene while the rest of the guild remained distracted. He needed to find somewhere quiet ...

When the dragonslayer reached around for something to throw back, the first thing he came across was Mystogan's wand. Mystogan's eyes widened as Natsu grabbed hold on it, and he tried to use another to get rid of the offending hand. But that little boy was so strong! And because of the illness, today Mystogan himself wasn't exactly up to par.

But at Mystogan's resistance, Natsu let go of the wand. Stepping back from the bar, a demonic grin came over his face. "Why do you wear all that stuff, anyways? Don't you get hot?"

Gray looked over. "Yeah... Maybe it's–"

"Maybe it's because he's TICKLISH!" Natsu called, both out of sheer thrill and a desperate need to interrupt the ice mage. Jumping, he attached himself onto the heavily-covered mage. He managed to open a spot to the skin and began to tickle, waiting for the laughter. Perhaps he would have gotten an immediate response if Mystogan was not in the throws of a severe headache, but no one had any way of knowing of his state. At least they're not ripping anything apart. With a shrug, Gray joined in. Looks entertaining enough.

Though the ice and fire mages appeared to be fully amused, the rest were waiting in expectant horror. Would Mystogan really tolerate this, or would their entire guild get blown to the heavens? Some were already beginning to cower behind the counter or the tables in response.

"Erza, shouldn't you stop them?!" Lucy turned to the red haired mage, but was stunned to see her looking complacent.

"Hmph. You need to learn how to handle them." Erza shrugged. It seemed she did not feel the need to interrupt this time. Why's Erza so nonchalant about this?! "They're not fighting, technically. Mystogan will stop them when he can't take it anymore. Let them be."

Lucy's jaw slacked, and she turned back to the scene. Maybe it's because her cake wasn't smashed this time. She eyed the sweets suspiciously. She didn't think this kind of behavior was worth encouraging either. Especially against someone like Mystogan of all people. Though she had only ever heard of him from the others, she could only surmise he was extremely powerful, and that it would be insanely stupid to mess with him. Even if Mystogan somehow knew that Gray and Natsu were mentally deficient. So she wrapped her fingers around her keys. "Gate of the Lion, I open thee: Leo!"

"Hello, Princess," a velvety smooth voice greeted as a puff of golden smoke showed the lion's entry. "What can I do for you today?"

Lucy just looked at him. How he can ask in all of this I will never understand. It must be some effect of having stayed here for a while. "Stop them!" She cried, pointing at the ice and fire mages attached to Mystogan.

When Loki looked over, he could immediately sense the headache Mystogan was suffering from. He winced in sympathy. The poor man, having to deal with those while dealing with that.

"Geh, he's like stone!" Gray gaffed, standing back while folding his arms.

"No one's this unticklish!" Natsu declared, glaring Mystogan in the eyes. Mystogan just stared back as blankly as he could muster, not wanting to agitate the one with the shortest temper. How to get out ...

"Maybe it's elsewhere!" Natsu declared, and perhaps to everyone's further horror, he pounced. Even this caught Mystogan off guard, and the poor mage was knocked to the ground. Even Erza had to wonder how Mystogan was tolerating their idiocy this far. Leo visibly winced and started his way over through the stunned onlookers.

Gray and Natsu, both too busy with their new task, didn't hear the sudden silence or take note of the spiritual presence coming closer and closer behind them. Unfortunately, at this precise moment, Natsu's hand shot down to Mystogan's inner thigh – whether Natsu knew he was doing this or not, no one knew – and for Mystogan it was just too close to home. His leg came up, a purely natural reflex, kicking Natsu square in the face. It let the rest of the guild know that Mystogan was human and he too couldn't put up with Natsu for long. Yet to Natsu, it didn't matter who punched him in the face, he was going to punch back! It wasn't long before Mystogan found himself with a faceful of fist, and even less time for Natsu to find himself flat on his back atop Gray.

The guild fights started once more. Said ice mage shoved the pink-haired boy off, tossing another punch into Mystogan. His plans changed, however, when Natsu jumped onto his back and caused him to head-butt Mystogan in the stomach.

"Watch it moron!" Gray snapped, throwing Natsu off and releasing some of his ice magic Natsu 'eeped' as it covered the ground beneath him and jumped onto a table. "Oh yeah? You wanna fight? Bring it! Karyuu no–!"

Unfortunately, Natsu was interrupted as a strong fist connected with his head and suddenly found himself tossed onto someone's shoulder. "Loki?! What are you doing here?" Natsu snarled, doing his best to work his way out of Leo's grip.

"It's Leo now, Natsu." Leo responded calmly. "And you shouldn't–"

But Leo's interruption did not faze Gray. Rather, it only created an opportunity for him to attempt to put the fire mage out of commission, Smirking, he shouted "Ice Make: Hammer!"

Mystogan, now alone again in the midst of the chaos of the guild, was attempting to scuffle his way back out once more. But the ice hammer swung around and he had to dodge.

Leo, arm already full of flailing fire mage, stumbled into a pillar as Mystogan bumped into his side. Natsu finally slipped free, exclaiming, "Yesss!" As he ran off, a flaming fist lit and headed towards Gray's face.

Without its target to smash into, the ice hammer was picking up momentum with nowhere to go. It didn't take long before there was a loud 'crack' and suddenly everyone was falling through the blackness. Master's face had twisted into one of horror. They were destroying the guild!

Erza sighed heavily, shaking her head as Lucy and Wendy were peering up from behind the bar. "A-are they okay ...?" Wendy began to ask, but the groans and continued shouts from below answered her question.

"The idiots ..." Lucy grumbled, Wendy chuckling nervously in agreement. "Aaaaah, this is going to come from our mission rewards, isn't it?!"

Gray's landing wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. At least, until something heavy landed on the middle of his back. But he was on top of something warm, and soft, and... squishy? Almost like a stomach. Shoving whatever was on top of him to the side and ignoring the irritated 'Hey!', he rolled over and poked what he'd landed on. It felt an awful lot like Mystogan's clothing ...

Leo had landed on top of a fairly comfortable pile. Until he was pushed to the side, although he ended up still on top of a somewhat comfortable part of the pile. He could hear Mystogan groan from beneath him, and immediately got up. Or at least tried. He fell back on top of the powerful mage when he discovered how cramped the space was. His thoughts turned to Mystogan, who didn't deserve any of this ruckus. From the past years Leo had spent with the guild, he was fairly certain Mystogan only put everyone to sleep because he was too shy for his own good. Poor guy ... this must be killer for him right now.

And for Mystogan, it was. Or at least fairly close. He was fairly certain his head had hit something when they'd fallen, seeing as it was aching even more than it had been before. He was winded from the force of both Loki and Gray landing on top of him, and his various wands were digging into his back. As he blinked into better awareness, Mystogan noticed he was being pulled gently to sit up and rest against some of the boxes. A cool hand came to rest against his forehead, and then his neck ... it felt wonderful. The soft, cool touch alleviated a bit of the pain, and for the moment he could forget what was going on and where he was, and how wrong things were about to become.

Leo maneuvered Mystogan to sit against some of the boxes down there. The man definitely didn't need to be laying out it the open right now. And Leo was almost certain he could see a bit of a feverish flush peeking out from beneath the bandana. Resting a hand onto Mystogan's forehead, he was correct. It wasn't too high, but it was there. A check on his pulse told the spirit that it probably wasn't anything too serious. It seems he's been suffering from these for a long time. Nothing to worry much about, then.

"Look at what you did, ice brain!"

"Me? You're the idiot that didn't counter the attack!"

Leo sighed; the two were at it again. "Natsu. Gray. Could you please be quiet? Just until we get out? I know it'll be hard..." He'd adopted 'that tone'. The one that said he thought they were idiots with the minds of children. Not that that wasn't what most people thought, but this tone told them so. Gray sheepishly accepted it, as he did just blow a hole through the floor (even if he would never admit it to the others), but Natsu did not.

"Hey! This one wasn't my fault!" Natsu replied indignantly, receiving dull looks from the spirit and the ice mage. Growling, he looked up through the hole they created, seeing the Master, Lucy and a few others peering down. "Oooy! Where's Happy?"

"He wanted to go get some fish or another from your house, remember?" Lucy snapped back down at them.

The Master did not appear pleased either. "Go come up the stairs! And bring the salvageable wood with you! We're going to repair the floor, everyone!" This elicited numerous groans from everyone around.

While Natsu continued to banter with those above, Leo beckoned to Gray, who had somehow stripped to naught but his boxers. Gray would listen to Leo because the two had been pals before Leo revealed his spirit status, and unlike the Gray-Natsu dynamic they got along as most imagined friends would. "Gray, would you help me carry him up the stairs?"

It was now that Gray noticed that Mystogan seemed unconscious. "... Did we do that?"

Leo chuckled. "He's not much of a fighter, he prefers to avoid these kinds of situations."

Gray shrugged, moving over to hoist one of Mystogan's arms on his shoulders while Leo did the same on the opposite side. He had to firmly grasp Mystogan's wrists, exposed because the collision and the debris had ripped at the fabric. "Explains why he uses the sleep spell, I guess. No such thing as peace in Fairy Tail."

"Natsu!" Leo called out, catching the flame mage's attention again. "Gather the wood, would you?" Leo winked, and he and Gray began to haul the knocked-out Mystogan towards the stairs across the basement. Natsu was throwing his version of a fit, but grudgingly complied; if he was the only one willing to fight it wouldn't be much fun.

Leo and Gray were halfway up the staircase when they received a grumble from their burden. It was barely intelligible, but he was beginning to show signs of life.

"Ah, he's coming around!" Leo stated cheerily. "Let him sit for a moment."

They turned around and sat down on either side of the awakening Mystogan, whose hands immediately flew to his head. in that moment, he was glad he was still masked, and no one must have seen his face. But his headache had come back in full vigor. We fell through the floor, didn't we? He realized, taking in a deep breath.

Leo winced for the mage as he felt Mystogan's headache. "How are you feeling? You landed pretty hard, and then Gray and I on top of you..."
Gray nodded. "You were pretty out of it. Natsu's cleaning up the wood now, though."

Mystogan sat up abruptly, ignoring how it stirred his headache. "Did any of you touch any of my skin?" Alarm and urgency were clear in his voice.

"Well, your wrists, I guess. And Loki touched your forehead. I dunno if Natsu or I touched any of your skin earlier," Gray answered, extremely confused.

"It's Leo now," the lion spirit corrected, sensing rising alarm in Mystogan. But even he wasn't prepared for the mage to suddenly shoot up, catch himself against the wall when he stumbled. I have to find a cure, they have to be alright! I can't believe I let my guard down so far as to let them touch me!

"Mystogan?" Gray raised an eyebrow, but the mysterious, powerful mage vanished in an instant, taking off up the stairs and probably out some secret exit few knew of. The two sat there, continuing to stare. They then exchanged glances. "What was that about?"

Leo shrugged. "He's shy, remember? Shy people generally don't like to be touched in any way."

"But... The whole 'did you touch my skin' thing ... it sounds strange. Even for a shy person." He sighed. "Let's go up." A hand was extended to Leo as the ice mage stood. The lion smiled up at his friend and took it, pulling himself up. But the peace did not last long.

"HEY! Are you trying not to help, ice breath?" Natsu shouted, thunking a large hunk of wood on Gray's head.

Fairy Tail wasn't meant for peace after all.

If only they knew it wouldn't last much longer.