So... here's chapter 2! Apologies for the shortness. The next one is longer, I promise! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You all made my day! Seriously, I started smiling like an idiot when I read them :P I hope this story ends up meeting your expectations!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. All rights go to Hiro Mashima!
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"You're back, Frostbite," Natsu greeted grumpily. He hadn't had any luck with anyone he had met that afternoon. The girls weren't back yet, and so he had decided to just lounge around on the couch with Happy when Gray had returned. His nose twitched when he detected a foreign smell. He scrutinized Gray when he caught sight of the sheet of paper at his side.
"What's that?" Natsu asked, eyeing the sheet of paper in his friend's hand warily. He sniffed it again cautiously and immediately recoiled at the foul stench it exuded. What the hell was that sheet and why did it reek of death? He turned to his best friend.
"Where did you get that?" he growled. Gray and Happy looked at the Dragon Slayer in confusion. What had gotten into him so suddenly?
"It was stuck to my foot when I stepped into a room. I think it might be the guild's symbol. After all, if you think about it, it kind of looks like two F's. And the guild's name is Fatal Falcon," Gray reasoned. But that didn't lessen Natsu's glare. In the blink of an eye, the paper was on fire. Gray yelped as he threw it to the ground and stomped on it in an attempt to put out the flames.
"What the fuck, Natsu?! This is our only clue!" he screamed. But Natsu's stony glare didn't falter in the slightest. He snarled as his pupils dilated, giving his eyes a reptilian look.
"That sheet of paper reeks of death, Gray. You should get rid of it." Gray gave a pointed glare of his own as he finally put out the flames.
"We'll give the clue to Erza and see what she thinks of it."
"Give what to me?" Erza asked as she walked through the door, Lucy behind her. Gray tore his gaze away from his friend glaring at him on the couch and simply handed the paper over to her. The scarlet haired wizard eyed the sheet carefully.
"The guild's symbol, I take it?" she confirmed. Gray nodded and then rubbed his eyes. That was strange. He had been fine all day. Why was his vision so blurry all of a sudden? Lucy peeked over the armoured shoulder and studied the design.
"Definitely looks like it. Nice job, Gray!" Lucy exclaimed as she clapped him on the back. Gray smiled and excused himself from the room. The room was starting to spin. He needed to lie down for a while.
Natsu watched Gray go. Black eyes narrowed as he forced himself to tear his gaze away from his rival. Why was he getting so concerned? Gray could take care of himself. He turned back to the girls. They were busy ordering dinner for all of them. He sighed. Gray would come out for dinner.
It turned out that Natsu was wrong. Even well after the food had arrived, Gray still had not come out of his room. He caught Erza, Happy and Lucy's concerned looks too. He got up from the table and knocked on the door, gently. Yes, he, Natsu Dragneel, knocked on the door gently.
"Gray? The food's here. You should come out." When he wasn't met with a response, his concerns immediately skyrocketed. He started banging on the door. "Gray?" he asked, letting his concern seep into his voice. When he still didn't hear anything, he got fed up. Clenching his fists, he broke the door down. What he found was more than surprising. The ice mage was indeed alright, but there was a wild look in his eyes, as if he was being attacked. The theory was only proven more when Natsu found Gray's hands in their signature Ice Make position. Before Natsu could utter a single syllable, the attack sprouted forth.
"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray declared as the frozen weapon burst forth in several directions. Natsu growled and dodged the attack. His eyes narrowed. The hostility that exuded from Gray was surprising. Gray and Natsu had sparred more than a couple of times, but Gray was never hostile about it. Before Natsu could ask what was going on, Gray beat him to it.
"Who are you? What have you done with Erza, Natsu and Lucy?" Natsu straightened, confused. What the hell was Gray talking about?
"What are you going on about Ice Block? It's me! Natsu!" he exclaimed. He was silenced when the temperature of the room dropped drastically. He saw Erza and Lucy at the door, with a sword in the former's hand. Natsu quickly motioned for Erza to stand down, to which she reluctantly did.
"You think I'm stupid?! I've never seen you before in my life! There's no way you're Natsu!" Gray shouted. Natsu scowled as he leapt forward and began to fight back. For a few minutes, the two were evenly matched. It was only when Gray hesitated for a second that Natsu promptly punched his rival in the gut before he could do anything about it.
"Snap out of it, Frost Breath. It's me," was the last thing Gray heard before passing out and being caught in a warm embrace.
A few minutes later, Gray woke up, his head in Lucy's lap. A blush danced across his face as he pushed himself up. He rubbed the side of his head and was immediately aware of the stares from around the room. He met Erza's gaze first. While he did see some concern, there was more confusion than anything else. He turned to Happy next. The poor Exceed seemed really worried and was standing next to him. Gray let slip a small smile as he petted the blue cat on the head reassuringly. Next, he turned back to Lucy. Warm brown eyes filled with concern bore into him. Just what had happened to him to warrant all this concern? Finally, he looked at Natsu. The dragon slayer was probably the hardest one to read in the group, which was ironic since Natsu was usually the one who wore his heart on his figurative sleeve. But one thing that clearly shone through Natsu's expression was worry. Ok, he must've screwed up pretty badly if even Natsu was worried about him.
"So... what did I do?" he asked. Natsu's brows furrowed as he came up to his rival.
"Do you really not remember?" he asked back. The ice mage furrowed his eyebrows in turn. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the bed and attacking an intruder. The next thing he knew, he was in Lucy's lap.
"No?" he answered hesitantly. Sighing, Natsu sat down and began to recount what had happened a few minutes earlier. By the end of it, Gray was surprised, to say the least.
"But... I wouldn't do that," he said as the gears in his head began to turn. He and Natsu had different recounts of the same event. How was this possible? Erza crossed her arms with a clank, snapping Gray out of his thoughts.
"It's possible that the enemy did something to you, Gray. Tell me, did you meet anyone strange today?" The raven shook his head. He hadn't met anyone out of the ordinary on his walk today. But that room definitely was weird...
"Actually... I went into this room and that's where I found the paper with the symbol on it. It was kind of creepy. And I didn't feel very well after I gave it to you..." he remembered. Two sets of eyes narrowed; one calculating brown and the other disturbed black. Gray didn't like the looks they were giving him. He stood up and made his way towards the dinner table. He was starved. Besides, they needed to lighten the mood somehow. Slowly, the rest of them trickled in and joined him at the table. But the meal passed in silence.
The next day, Lucy was the first one to wake up. She stretched and made her way towards the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth. When she was finished, she changed and made her way to the kitchen. The others still hadn't woken up yet, which was rare, but after what happened yesterday, Lucy didn't really blame them. Especially Gray. He had a different memory of what happened and that worried everyone. After all, there was no way that Gray wouldn't have recognised his best friend and rival. There was definitely something else at work here. She had just rounded the corner when she saw the flames. She did the first thing that came to mind. She screamed.
Small cliffie for you all~ Don't worry, I'm thinking of updating on Friday so you won't be left in too much suspense (if you're even in suspense at all). Possibly sooner, but definitely not later. Until then! Thank you once again to everyone who reviewed!
P.S: A couple of you asked if this was going to be Natray/ Gratsu. I didn't write this with that intention in mind, but there are a couple of moments which could be interpreted like that. There's probably a whole bunch of ships mixed up in here if you really really squint. It's totally up to you, but I didn't write it with pairings in mind.
