Disclaimer:
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha Comics
Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima and Kodansha Comics

"Talking"
'Thinking'
Flashback

The Dragon and the Senshi: A mysterious world

Chapter 1

"Hey, Gray! Get up, you lazy idiot!" A familiar voice called Gray, but the young mage ignored him. "I know you're not sleeping. Alright, you brought this on yourself!"

The boy could ignore the annoying voice, but not the ball of snow that landed on his face. Jolting up, he glared at his brother disciple.

"What's the matter? The great Gray-sama can't handle a little cold?" Lyon smugly asked as Gray dropped into a stance.

"Oh I'll show you cold!" The younger boy declared, prompting the taller boy to match his stance.

"Boys, stop fighting and come here. And put some clothes on." Ur's voice called, interrupting their casting. The two boys glared at each other one more time before they did what their teacher told them. Unsurprisingly, Lyon got dressed faster and eagerly ran towards Ur.

"You called, Master Ur?" He asked brightly while Gray approached them with a bored look.

"We're gonna need some supplies for the next days, there's a snowstorm on the way. Can I count on you two?" The raven haired woman asked, and Lyon nodded vividly.

"Leave it to me! I don't even need Gray's help!" The white haired boy declared.

"Who says I want to go with you? Is there something else I can do?" Gray asked, doing his best to ignore Lyon while focusing on Ur, who looked in thought.

"We do need more timber…" She muttered and Gray didn't wait for her finish, instead he turned to get the axe.

'The sooner I'm done with that errant, the faster I'll go back to sleep. If that idiot wants to go back and forth from the village to impress Ur, let him do it.' The dark haired boy thought as he got to work. It was on the third tree, when Gray felt eyes on his back and turned around, coming face to face with a masked priest.

Gray suddenly woke up on a cold and hard floor.

'A dream?' He mused as he looked around, noticing that he was in a library of all places. The dark haired man got up and ascended a stone staircase, his eyes widening as he realised that he was on an island, one of many, while a starry sky spread beneath him.

"Edolas? No, that's not it. All magic disappeared from that place back then. So where is this?" Gray pondered before the spectre's words came to mind and he felt pain in his chest. However, before he could dwell on them, the sounds of footsteps distracted him from his thoughts, and the ice mage dropped into a fighting stance.

"It can't be… Natsu?"


"Ugh, what the hell did that creep do?" Natsu groaned as he got up from his crouching position. "Are you okay, Hotaru?"

When he got no response, the rose haired man looked up to notice that the young girl was nowhere in sight. What's more, he was standing on a corridor of light not unlike the path that he had once traversed to the Gate of Time and Space.

"Shit! Hotaru? Can you hear me?" Natsu shouted. That place was so vast, his voice almost instantly vanished in the void. Gritting his teeth, the rose haired man turned on his communicator, but all he got was static.

'I can't get a hold of anyone. Where did that guy send me? And where did he send Hotaru?' Natsu wondered, feeling worry for his daughter's safety and anger at himself for failing to keep her out of danger. He looked behind him, but the path stopped a couple of steps from him.

'Only one way to go…'

The rose haired man started moving, realizing he was out of options, while shouting Hotaru's name to no effect. Eventually he came across a stone pedestal that flowed with energy. Natsu eyed it for a while before sighing.

"What's the worst that can happen?" He mused before he touched it, getting teleported to a garden.

'That's one way of moving… wait, someone's ahead!'

Natsu started walking on his guard, not sure if the presence was of a friend or an enemy. What he didn't expect was Gray of all people to stand in front of him. His former teammate was older than the last time they met, bulkier and surprisingly with his clothes on.

"It can't be… Natsu?" The dark haired man exclaimed, but the memory of the replica that he once fought kept Natsu wary.

"Are you really Gray? Or just a ghost from my past?" The dragon slayer asked, and Gray looked stunned before he grew angry and slammed his hands in his signature pose, sending a dozen of lances at Natsu who started dodging.

'Too fast!' Natsu thought as he charged his hands with fire. "KARYU NO KAGIZUME!"

The wing like flames did their work, and Natsu landed on his feet while Gray prepared another attack.

"Hey Gray, what the hell are you thinking? It's me!" The dragon slayer shouted.

"What the hell am I thinking? It's you? You disappear for three years and you expect what?" Gray shouted back as he moulded a pair of swords and dashed at Natsu, who grew thoughtful.

'Three years, huh…' The dragon slayer mused while gathering a flame sphere in front of his chest and threw it at Gray. When the ice mage cut through the sphere, Natsu charged up, turning his fire into gauntlets and running to meet his former guildmate. The two mages clashed, swords against fists, and every hit was either parried or blocked before Natsu grabbed the swords and they stood in a deadlock.

"That's cold, even for you." The dragon slayer noted non challantly, angering Gray further.

"You… how can you not take this seriously? Do you have any idea how much Happy cried when he came to the guild and realised you were gone? How many months we spent looking for you? Some of us still do! And you are calm?" The ice mage furiously asked before he dropped his swords, headbutting Natsu twice before he uppercutted him with an ice coated fist that sent the dragon slayer to the ground. The dark haired man then grabbed him by the jacket.

"Why did you disappear?"

"Because I made a choice." Natsu responded, and Gray was so shocked by the calmness of the rose haired man's tone that he dropped him. "Have you calmed down now?"

"You… are you really Natsu?"

"What a heated exchange! That's the spirit!" A familiar voice suddenly said, and Natsu snapped, unleashing a breath attack at its direction.

"Tsk! The coward is just a spectre." The dragon slayer noted as the creepy masked man came out of the fire completely unharmed.

"Why so hostile, Natsu Dragneel?" The black haired man mockingly asked, earning a death glare from Natsu.

"Cut the crap, you bastard! Where is Hotaru?" Natsu demanded.

"Is the girl the only thing on your mind?" The masked man wondered with a smirk. "She is here, along with others who were drawn to this place."

"What is this place?" Gray asked and the masked man extended his arms theatrically.

"Allow me to welcome you to Phantasma. You'll get all your answers if you clear the paths." He cryptically said before disappearing. The moment he did, Natsu turned and started walking towards a path, prompting Gray to go after him.

"Hey, Natsu! Wait a minute!" The dark haired man called, getting in front of Natsu.

"Sorry, Gray. We can catch up later. I can't waste time." The rose haired man said while getting past Gray.

"Is that Hotaru the reason you disappeared?" Gray asked, causing Natsu to stop walking.

"One of the reasons." Natsu said and Gray cocked an eyebrow.

"I can't believe I'm asking this but, is she your girlfriend?" The dark haired man pressed, and this time Natsu fully turned to look at him with a mortified look.

"What? No!" He exclaimed before he took a breath. "She's my daughter. It's complicated."

The rose haired man then resumed walking, while Gray stood still, processing what he just heard.

"What did you do these past three years?"


After a couple of dead ends, the two mages walked down the last path in silence. Gray glanced at Natsu; while he was still tense after that weird guy's appearance, his features were less fierce than when he was in Fairy Tail.

'Like it has been a while since he last fought a battle. Has it really been just three years? It feels like longer. That guy was dense to the most obvious flirting and now he has a daughter?' The dark haired man pondered as they arrived in a circular area, with a stone pedestal on the other side.

"I used one of these things to come here." Natsu noted before he started moving towards the pedestal, however, Gray felt a malicious presence coming from above.

"Fall back, Natsu!" The ice mage shouted while creating a bow, and Natsu barely got out of the way as a giant demonic spider body slammed the spot he was standing.

"What's that? I didn't smell it at all!" The dragon slayer growled while jumping back to avoid a claw attack. The spider lunged in the air and disappeared after that, avoiding Gray's ice arrows.

"It has a cloaking technique, I've fought a demon like this before." Gray explained while looking around.

"What do you mean demons?" Natsu exclaimed as the two mages stood back to back, the dragon slayer charging his hands while Gray created another arrow.

"It's complicated." Was the ice mage's response before he was again the first to act, aiming high while the arrow glowed.

"ICE MAKE: ARROW!" He yelled, launching his projectile with great force. The giant spider threw venom to melt the arrow, but Gray's attack passed through and pierced the demon in the belly. Meanwhile, Natsu dashed high, rising above the wounded enemy.

"KARYU NO SENSUI!" The dragon slayer yelled, forming a blade of fire in his hand and slamming at the spider with it, defeating it. Just as the spider exploded into energy, the way to the pedestal is sealed by a barrier, while a gold shard manifested on the ground.

"What's that?" Gray asked as Natsu got a hold of the shard.

"There's something familiar about it." Natsu noted before his eyes widened.

Return to the garden where you were reunited. Find the stone at its centre and raise the shard to open the path.

'A woman?' Natsu thought.

"Did you hear that voice too?" Gray asked, earning a nod from Natsu. The duo then went back from the same path they took.

"Remember what the bastard said earlier about others being here? I've a feeling we know the others." Natsu mused as the garden came into view.

"You mean the shard?" Gray enquired.

"It's our only clue."

Like the voice said, the two mages found a stone pillar in the centre of the garden. Natsu raised the shard, which shined as it levitated in the air before gaining form.

"It's… a girl. Do you recognise her?" Gray asked and Natsu nodded.

"Looks like I was right."

The glowing figure descended to the ground, revealing a young woman with shoulder length dark blue hair, wearing a green knee high skirt, buttoned white shirt with a pink jacket, and simple black shoes. She opened her eyes, which were adorned by reading glasses, as if she awoke from a slumber, revealing aqua blue eyes.

"What happened?" She wondered, blinking in mild confusion.

"We're in a place called Phantasma. Ami, what's the last thing you remember?" Natsu asked and the bluenette turned to him, then to Gray.

"Natsu? Is there a new enemy?" She asked back.

"Looks like it, but we know nothing about them." The rose haired man said before he pointed at Gray. "This is Gray. He's from Fairy Tail. And the guy who sent me here felt like a mage as well, that's no coincidence."

"Are mages not common where you are?" Gray wondered, surprised.

"Few people know about magic." Ami explained before she looked in thought. "What do I remember? I was in the library reading, then a light appeared and next thing I remember is appearing here."

"So no weird people in masks? Voices in your head?" Natsu queried.

"There was a bald man with a deer on a leash and a kid in a cape, but I don't think they were dangerous." The bluenette answered.

'A deer? It must be a different culture thing.' Gray thought, noting Natsu's lack of reaction to that fact.

"Anyway, there are people who got brought here without even coming in contact with whatever attacked us. This leaves us with more questions than answers." The dark haired man noted instead.

"Let's hope that the barrier went down when we freed Ami. But first, can you use your pen? We need to be sure that you can fight." Natsu pointed out.

"A pen?" Gray repeated, confused, while Ami nodded and took out a strange stick that she pointed high.

"MERCURY PLANET POWER! MAKE UP!" The bluenette yelled as she was surrounded by a blinding light that caused Gray to shield his eyes, while Natsu grinned. The light dissipated, and the dark haired man's confusion gave way to surprise as Ami stood in front of him, clad in a blue and white sailor fuku.

"Transformation magic?" He exclaimed in wonder.

"More or less. I need my pen to transform." Mercury clarified.

"We can talk about the rest on the way." Natsu interjected, earning nods from both.


The trio arrived at the platform where they fought the spider earlier. To their relief, the barrier did disappear, opening the way to the pedestal.

"At least we got that answered. Rescuing people opens paths." Gray noted.

"Is it that simple?" Natsu mused. "Setsuna was looking for something, and Haruka wanted to keep us out of it. That masked guy also had some kind of dark magic.

"You think someone crossed through?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah, and I fear for our friend." Natsu admitted, clenching his fists. "Next time we find that bastard, I will make him talk."

"I understand you're worried, but calm down. It's too early to tell anything." Gray tried to get his former teammate to cool off, and Natsu took a deep breath.

'He's right. It won't help to lose my cool in this place.' The rose haired man thought as they used the pedestal and teleported to a stone paved road. The place reminded Natsu of Magnolia, but looking around he noticed some tall buildings.

"This looks like Crocus. Does that mean Phantasma can recreate entire cities?" Gray wondered.

"It looks that way. I haven't been to the capital in years though." Natsu said as Mercury activated her goggles.

"We are the only humans as far as I can scan. There's hostile signal that's coming towards us, and a big power spike to the west." The bluenette informed the mages.

"I think I know where that spike comes from, but we'll worry about that later. Here they come!" Gray said as a group of ogre like monsters appeared in the distance, running towards the trio with their clubs raised. Natsu and Gray dashed at the same time, gathering magic in their hands.

"KARYU NO SAIGA!"

"ICE MAKE: HAMMER!"

Their attacks took out a good amount of the ogres, and the two mages began beating up the rest with their fists. Mercury, meanwhile, observed the way the two fought, noticing that even after all these years they were working well together. Suddenly, one of the ogres tried to blindside Natsu, and the bluenette took action.

"SHINE SNOW ILLUSION!" She yelled, unleashing a snow blast that froze that ogre and those around it, just as Natsu turned around.

"Thanks, Mercury! KARYU NO KOEN!" The dragon slayer yelled, destroying the last enemies with a blazing sphere.

"That's all of them for now." Mercury informed them as she approached the duo.

"Talk about a warm welcome." Gray scoffed before he turned to Mercury. "That scanning looks way more advanced than what Hibiki does. It's not just magic, right?"

"I don't know what this Hibiki does, but I use my powers to enhance this." Mercury explained while pointing at her goggles. "And your ice magic is different from Natsu's dragon slaying magic. It's not purely destructive, but relies on your creativity. Am I wrong?"

"I'm not surprised Natsu talked about being a dragon slayer. You're not wrong though, my magic is not just for combat. It's called molding magic, and I can create as many things as my imagination can think of. But don't think that means I can't hold my own in a fight." The dark haired man explained, grinning at the last part while Mercury listened intently. Natsu, who watched the two talking about their skills, was reminded of when Gray explained his magic to Lucy. Leaving the two to their talk, he jumped on a building that overlooked the city.

'Even if it's a replica, I'm still seeing a part of Earthland.' The rose haired man thought, letting the scenery sink in before he talked.

"Everyone must be very mad at me."

"Yeah, you'd get a lot of punches and slaps before they dogpiled you." Gray admitted as he joined Natsu in observing the city, earning a chuckle from the rose haired man. Mercury observed the two, then turned to the city as well.

'Natsu has become such an important part of our group that it's easy to forget he once led an entirely different life. How will it affect him when we find more people from Earthland?'


"It looks like a coliseum." Mercury noted as they approached the large building from which the large reading came.

"The kingdom decided to hold a guild tournament called the Grand Magic Games last year. Every guild who participates sends a team of five mages and a sixth as reserve, and they have to pass the preliminaries to advance to the main stage where the eight guilds that pass battle to show the strongest." Gray explained.

"A battle to prove the strongest… some from our group would be interested in that." Mercury noted.

"So who did you send?" Natsu asked.

"Me, Erza, Gajeel, Freed, and Juvia, and Cana was our reserve. It was fun." Gray answered and Natsu nodded as if expecting that team. The trio then went inside the building.

"Well, this just got weird." Gray noted as they came upon the sight of a glowing, bronze door that stood on its own.

"You mean the demon infested city wasn't weird?" Natsu commented with sarcasm while Mercury scanned the door.

"I have no idea what this is. There's no visible way to open it so it needs magic. But what kind of magic?" She muttered to herself.

"We can't use force either. Michiru or Setsuna would find the way easily…" Natsu trailed off. Meanwhile, Gray didn't pay attention to the others' thoughts, feeling the door calling to him.

Only the man who came from the snow covered east may pass.

"That voice again?" Natsu exclaimed.

"So that's how it is. This door is a trial, and only one person can undergo it." Mercury noted in realisation before she glanced from one man to the other. "But does it refer to one of you?"

"It's me." Gray simply said as he opened the door with a mere touch, showering everyone with light. Before he passed through, the dark haired man heard Mercury wishing him luck.

'That place looks familiar.' Gray thought as he found himself not the arena, but on a moonlit room. Looking outside, he noticed that he was on top of a tower that was surrounded by a turbulent sea. The sound of metallic footstep got his attention, and the ice mage turned to face a large suit of armour, more than twice his height, that wielded a sword and radiated purple energy.

"A magic knight!" He exclaimed before he rolled out of the way to dodge a heavy swing from his foe that took out a good part of the wall. 'That was close!'

The ice mage dropped into a stance, not letting the knight get the upper hand.

"ICE MAKE: LANCE! ICE MAKE: FLYING SAUCER!" He yelled, launching attacks in quick succession in an attempt to overpower the hulking armour, but the knight simply powered through the first barrage and deflected the second with its sword. That tactic still gave him an opening, and Gray jumped high in the air while preparing another move.

"ICE MAKE: DEATH SCYTHE!" The ice mage yelled as he created a large scythe with which he cut off the magic knight's sword arm and half of its torso. Gray, slightly out of breath after three moves in succession, turned to his opponent who dropped on its knee, but he groaned when the animated armour got up, not only regenerating the lost parts but growing another set of arms and swords.

"Really?" The dark haired mage exclaimed before he brought up a shield to stop the enhanced knight's assault. His makeshift defence was no match, and he found himself face to helmet with the animated armour.

"What a pain! ICE MAKE: GEYSER!" Gray yelled while slamming his hands on the ground, trapping his foe in a spiky geyser. "And-" He added as he jumped above the knight. "ICE MAKE: PRISON!"

However, before Gray can complete the entrapment, the magic knight exploded in purple energy, sending the ice mage through the ceiling. The Fairy Tail mage quickly created a grappling hook to avoid falling off the tower and got on the top.

"Wait a minute! That's the Tower of Heaven!" He looked around in realisation before a crackle of energy forced his attention back to the knight, which held its swords in an X shape and charged a purple sphere.

"Alright you big chunk of metal, let's end this!" The ice mage shouted, getting into a stance while creating spikes all around his limbs. He dashed at the knight just as it launched the sphere, cutting through the attack while spinning.

"HYOJIN: NANA RENBU!" Gray yelled, slashing the magic knight repeatedly and destroying it. The suit of armour exploded into energy, revealing another shard. The dark haired mage picked it up before being engulfed in light.


"I wonder if Gray-san is alright." Mercury pondered. After a quick scanning of the rest of the building, Natsu and she had found a bench to sit while waiting for the dark haired man.

"Gray is a tough guy. There's no way he'll lose." Natsu reassured the bluenette, who looked in thought.

"How close were you with Gray-san?" She asked, and Natsu smiled wryly.

"When we were younger, there wasn't a day that we didn't bicker, fight or coming up with insults. Even when we grew up, we were at each other's throats over the smallest things, but Gray had my back and I had his. Kinda like Rei and Usagi, except those two don't have an Erza to try and keep them in line." The rose haired man reminisced, and Mercury noticed that his expression got warmer at the memories.

"And Erza-san is?" She enquired.

"The other member of our team. Well, there was also Happy, and eventually Lucy, Wendy, Charle, and technically Gajeel joined us, but me, Gray, and Erza were more or less inseparable since we were kids. Anyway, Erza is a year older than us, so she tried to act like an older sister; stopping us from fighting, making sure we ate properly. She even helped me improve my reading." Natsu said before stopping in sudden realisation. "Now that I think about it, I didn't notice it then, but Gray might have had a crush on Erza. I wonder if he still likes her."

"It looks like being around us girls has given you a new perspective, Natsu. I still remember when the others had to spell out Michiru-san and Haruka-san's closeness." Mercury joked.

"I'll never stop getting teased over that, will I?" Natsu sighed, causing Mercury to giggle. Suddenly the door was opened, revealing Gray, and Natsu grinned while Mercury sighed in relief.

"Told ya he'll be fine." The rose haired man said.

"I'm glad you made it, Gray-san. It must have been a tough opponent for you to lose your shirt." The Senshi commented and Natsu barely held back laughing at the honest and innocent way the bluenette spoke while Gray looked down to notice that, yes, he was shirtless, then facepalmed.

"At least you've gotten better at keeping your clothes on." The rose haired man added drily as he threw a dark blue shirt at Gray, who eyed it suspiciously.

"Do I want to know where that came from?" The dark haired man asked.

"From one of the lockers obviously." Natsu deadpanned.

"Does this happen often?" Mercury wondered.

"It's just a leftover from my training. But never mind that, I got another shard. And that door sent me to the Tower of Heaven." Gray quickly changed the subject.

"That place? Then if the person on the shard is related to where we find them, this will be a mage." Natsu mused, earning a nod from Gray who finally put the shirt on.

"That's what I thought too. There's only one way to find out."


Author's Note: So I'd been thinking of the first reunion scene a lot, and the best I could come up is that it would be interesting to see Gray the ice mage reacting with more emotion than Natsu the fire mage. Like, Natsu knows that Gray is angry for a good reason so he wanted his friend to take out that anger, while having Gray see that it's been a long time since he last saw Natsu and realising that he kinda changed. And of course Natsu dropping the first bomb.

Then there was the "who will be the first person they find." to ponder. I decided on Ami since while not exactly a heavy hitter, she can notice and analyse things. Ah, that's not very eloquent, but you know what I mean. Probably. Until next time.