Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

*Rated M for Mature

Summary: The Grand Magic Games is beginning again, but with unforeseen complications. Drama, romance, and magic. What could be better?

Chapter 2

Fairy Tail Guild (After Training Plans)

"So, which guilds do you think got an invitation to the Grand Magic Games?" asked Lucy.

"Sabertooth," said Levy.

"Lamia Scale," replied Jet and Droy.

"Okay. And Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel probably got invited, as well as Quatro Cerberus and Dullahan Head," said Lucy.

"Guild Masters are not exempt this time," announced Master Makarov.

"You can compete, too, Master?" asked a bewildered Lucy.

"I'm afraid so. You brats better watch out."

Everyone laughed at his warning.

"And we know that Orochi's Fin will be in it. So that's eight guilds out of twenty-six. I wonder who the rest are?" pondered Levy.

"I don't know, but I can't wait to find out," said Lucy. "Is something wrong, Natsu? You've been awfully quiet." Lucy looked at the dragon-slayer in concern.

Natsu shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Why do I have to train with Gray? I would have thought that Erza would have put me with someone else."

"Maybe she knows that you two draw the best out of each other," said Lucy.

"Or maybe she wants to hook you up," added Mira, laughing.

"Hahaha. As if," said Lucy.

Natsu had a light blush on his face. "Hey, guys, I need to get home now. It's getting late." The fire mage turned and walked out of the guild.

"Was it something I said?" asked Lucy.

Natsu looked up at the sky. Great. It's starting to rain. I better hurry up and get home.

Picking up his pace, the fire mage ran the last few blocks to his house he shared with Happy, not like the Exceed was there much anymore. Pulling out his keys, he unlocked the door, stepped inside, and kicked off his shoes.

"I'm home," announced Natsu, cautiously making his way into the living room. He didn't like being here alone; this was always when his dark thoughts mustered up. Things hadn't been the same since…

"It's about time," came a voice from around.

"This just isn't my day. It's starting already," Natsu mumbled to himself.

"Where have you been?"

"I stopped by the guild." Natsu looked down at the ground. He felt a dark and malevolent force surround him. Natsu glanced warily at the dark presence before him.

"I thought I told you to never to go there again," it said.

"I'm sorry. I forgot," replied Natsu. A flash of pain erupted within him. The dragon-slayer hunched over, only to be knocked onto the floor by a burning sensation surging throughout his body.

"Get up. And don't even think of running away. I'll find you. I'll always find you."

"I understand," wheezed Natsu. Slowly picking himself up off the floor, he headed toward the kitchen. The fire mage rested his hands on the edge of the kitchen counter, clutching his stomach every now and then in pain. When would this end?

Gray's Apartment

"What are you doing, Gray?" asked Happy as he flew into the apartment. He was on his way back from Wendy and Charle's.

"Cooking dinner," he replied.

"Oh. Okay. Gray?"

"No."

"I didn't even ask you anything yet!"

"The answer is still no."

"Come on. Can't you just hear me out first?"

Gray stopped stirring his dinner and looked at happy. That was a big mistake. Happy pulled the teary-eyes on him. He gradually gave in.

"What do you want, Happy?"

"Can Natsu stay with you for awhile?" Happy rambled.

"You're joking, right?" Gray deadpanned.

"Not at all. He's been acting…strange lately. He hasn't been himself lately. Can you please let him stay with you?"

"And I would do this because?"

"Just think of it as your duty as a Fairy Tail member. And besides, I know you want him here," he hinted with a wink.

Gray fought back a blush. "I don't care if the flamebrain is here."

"Are you sure, Gray? Your diary says differently," responded Happy, showing the ice mage a leather-bound book.

"Where did you get that?" exclaimed Gray, charging after the Exceed, who took off into the air.

"I'm not giving it to you!"

"Yes, you are!"

Two hours later

An exhausted Gray collapsed on the couch in the living room. He glared at Happy, who still held onto the diary.

"Give…it…back…now," panted Gray.

"Only if you agree to let Natsu stay here," bartered Happy.

He hesitated. "Fine."

"You promise?"

"Yes. I promise. You have my word."

"Good. Here you go," said Happy as he handed over the diary.

Gray grabbed it eagerly, flipping it open to see if any damage had been done to the contents. Boy, was he in for a surprise.

"It's blank! This isn't my diary!" exclaimed Gray.

"I know," replied Happy. "But now I know that you do have a diary and that that diary has some content in it about Natsu. And you can't back out on your word! It's not my fault you assumed this was your diary. I guess you better get started on inviting him over now, huh, Gray?"

"Stupid cat," mumbled Gray as he watched the Exceed leave the living room. "And I'll make sure to tell Mira not to give you fish for a week!" Yeah, he'd let Natsu stay. But he'd never said when.

A week without fish was a heavy price to pay for getting Natsu to live with Gray in Happy's mind. But it was well worth it. Natsu's behavior was troubling, and he strongly believed that Gray was the only one who'd be able to help him.

It was hard for everyone to believe how quickly one month could pass. Within that time, the members of Fairy Tail had trained extensively. They were ready to go.

In just a few days, the Grand Magic Games would be starting, and the twenty-six guilds that were going to compete would arrive in Magnolia for the event; they were the host city.

There was one person, however, who was a little perturbed by recent events. Gray had invited him to stay with him, the reasoning being that since they'd partnered up for training, perhaps they should stay with each other to keep one another on their toes for the Grand Magic Games.

Tomorrow was technically moving day into Gray's apartment. But Natsu wasn't very sure about that.

Natsu was sitting on his bed with a bag full of everything he owned that he deemed important—which wasn't much—in his lap. He looked guardedly at his door. How was he going to tell this…thing that he'd be away for an entire month? The fire mage knew it wouldn't respond well to the idea at all, but the question was, how far would it go to let him know that?

Standing up, Natsu lifted his bag and dropped it outside his window. It landed with a thud outside. He'd fetch it later after he got away from the house. If he could get away.

Now, all he had to do was talk to it.

Natsu opened the door, stepped out of his room, and anxiously searched for it. The dark presence swarmed almost immediately.

He approached it cautiously. "Hello?" he questioned softly.

The entity shot toward him. "What?" it growled.

"Um…I'm going to be away for awhile. I have to attend the Grand Magic Games. If I don't, there'll be trouble," Natsu said timidly.

"Trouble? I don't care if there's trouble. You're not going anywhere," it said.

Natsu averted his eyes. "But…it's important that I be there. Everyone will wonder where I am if I don't show up," he said, glancing back up at the dark entity.

"Are you getting smart with me?"

Natsu's eyes widened. "Not at al—!"

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" it yelled. Pain shot through Natsu, and the force of it sent him sprawling onto the floor. The dragon-slayer tried to scramble away, but there was no escaping the pain.

Natsu yelped in pain and tried to roll over, but he was too late. The dark entity intensified the pain; it felt as if he were on fire. The dragon-slayer felt himself rising in the air, only to be hurled into the table in front of the couch.

It shattered into hundreds of little splinters.

Blood trickled down the side of Natsu's face as he slid to the floor in a painful heap.

"Do you still want to leave?" it growled. When Natsu still didn't move, he felt himself rising in the air again. "I said do you still want to leave?"

"…yes."

"What was that?"

"I…said…YES!" Flamed erupted around Nastu's body in a last ditch effort to protect himself. What he didn't expect was to hear it scream and flinch away from him.

"Stop! What are you doing?!"

Natsu tumbled to the floor, hitting his head. He laid there for a few minutes, trying to gather his wits and control his pain. He hurt everywhere. His ribs and head were killing him.

Why was his fire hurting it? That had never happened before. Why now?

"I'm leaving, so enjoy my parting gift."

Gathering up as much magical power as he could, he began incinerating his home. The place he built, the place he called home, the place he raised Happy in, would become nothing but ashes.

"Stop!" it screamed. "You think this will get rid of me? It won't! I'll find you!"

Ashes. There was nothing but ashes now. Taking a deep breath, the fire mage picked himself up.

"Ah." Natsu winced when he put some weight on his left foot. He probably sprained it, but he could deal with that later. He slowly made his way around the incinerated remains of his house. Carefully searching through the ash, he struggled while pulling out his bag. He was surprised it had survived.

What do I do now? Natsu thought to himself. It was early evening. He couldn't move into Gray's apartment until tomorrow. And he couldn't bother Lucy. No one at the guild knew what he was going through. And he intended to keep it that way.

He'd go to Kardia Cathedral. That was normally safe. And empty.

Satisfied with his decision, Natsu gradually made his way to his safe haven.

Kardia Cathedral

Upon reaching the old building, Natsu went toward the public bathroom situated near the entrance. Please let it be open, he thought as he shakily reached for the handle. It turned. Yes. Stepping inside, the fire mage headed toward one of the sinks and looked in the mirror. There wasn't much visible damage as far as he could tell. He grabbed some paper towels, wet them, and started cleaning up his face.

When that was done, he gingerly felt the side of his head. He winced. Natsu pulled his hand away and looked at it. No blood. I got lucky. Oh, well. I can hide that with my hair. No one has to know.

Cleaning up the rest of himself, Natsu threw away the paper towels. Next, he lifted his shirt. His entire chest was starting to bruise. He gently touched his ribs, flinching at the contact. The dragon-slayer twisted his body. Well, he could still turn, even though it hurt. Maybe he didn't have any broken ribs. Maybe they were just bruised. That was good news, at least, but it was still a little hard to breathe. He was a little short on breath, too.

Natsu went into a stall. There, he opened his bag and pulled out a clean shirt and pair of pants. His current clothing had a few bloodstains on them. Changing out of his ruined clothes, the fire mage came out of the stall and shoved the clothes into the garbage can in the bathroom. Setting his scarf securely around his neck, he retrieved his bag and left.

Now. Where to go? Natsu thought to himself. There was a secluded spot in the cathedral he'd go to every once in a while, especially after a particularly rough time with the dark entity. Deciding on that destination, Natsu made his way to a secluded corner near the end of the building. It was out of view from the main part of the cathedral. He wouldn't be disturbed here.

Putting his bag on a pew, Natsu carefully lowered himself to the pew and laid his head back on his bag. Making himself as comfortable as he possibly could, the fire mage sighed and looked up.

It was dark already and the stars were starting to come out; he could see them through the window.

I can never let them know. Never.

He watched the stars twinkling for a bit before getting drowsy.

I guess I should get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day. I…can't…wait…

Natsu's thoughts faded as he drifted off to sleep.

End Chapter