Somehow, I've managed to stay consistent with updates for this fic... Let's see how long that lasts. :P Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own!


The following day, Gray agreed that it was finally time to take another solo job. It felt like forever since he'd had anytime to himself considering all the insane things that happened to him and his team over a year ago. It was already noon when Gray entered the guild; everyone knew the raven wasn't a morning person. He took a look around the hall, noticing that his fellow team mates were nowhere in sight. He assumed that they all went off on their own jobs and Gray was ready to do the same. He approached the request board and searched for any decently paying missions. One flyer spoke out to him.

Request: Defeat the Wyverns on Mt. Hakobe as they have been the cause of recent avalanches. Reward: 150 000 Jewel.

This was only was the pay good enough to last him the month, but it was sending him to the coldest place of the country. That was his territory. All he needed to do was defeat a few silly Wyverns. Simple.

"Going on a job, Gray?" Mira smiled as he came over to the bar. She was cleaning glasses left over from the guild's breakfast hour.

"Yeah," he answered, showing her the request. "It's been too long since I've done a solo."

"Natsu and Lucy said a similar thing before they left on their job. Erza left on an S-Class request shortly after and I think Wendy went to see Chelia... Are you sure you'll be okay on this mission, considering what happened yesterday?"

"Mira, I'm fine trust me. I can handle a few Wyverns. Should be back later today." He turned his back and walked off.

"Well, if you're sure," she called.

Gray sent a wave in her direction before hurrying off to the train station.


As the train jittered along the tracks, Gray took the liberty to lean his head on the window and watch the scenery go by. Now that he thought about it, he'd never stopped to appreciate how beautiful the Kingdom of Fiore really was. Of course, it didn't hold a candle to Isvan for nostalgic reasons, but the country really was a nice contrast to what he was used to. As Isvan was much further up north, it snowed for the majority of the year. It's why the raven loved winter so much. He'd never bothered to stop and really take a look at Fiore's environment. There were flowers practically everywhere you looked - now he sees where the country gets its name from. The sun was shunting brightly in the sky as usual, but as much as he loved a bright summer's day, he couldn't help but miss his old home in the snowy continent. Watching the blur of colours, Gray felt his eyes grow weary. Damn, why do I feel so tired all the time lately? he thought. Suddenly, that foreign voice he'd heard the previous day racked through his brain.

Just do it Gray. Give in to the sleep.

"What the heck?" Gray whispered to himself. "Must be hearing things." He forced his eyes to stay open for the rest of the journey.


The fang-white mountain loomed over Gray as he stood at the base of Mt. Hakobe. The raven took a moment to close his eyes and just take in fresh scent of pine trees mixed with snow. It was as if Christmas had come early. Recalling what he had come here for, Gray began his accent up the mountain. As he climbed, the ice wizard felt his steps gradually become more sluggish and occasionally tripped over a small rock. "God dammit!" Gray roared through the snow. "Why am I so out of it lately? Does it have something to do with what happened yesterday? URG! What the hell is going on?!" Regaining his footing, Gray picked up his pace and continued to the top.

It took the raven a good twenty minutes before he finally caught sight of four Wyverns patrolling the peak of Hakobe. After muddling around a few ideas through his head, he decided on a stealthy approach. Do as much damage as possible without being caught - he concluded that this would be the more efficient method. Doing his best attempts at silently climbing as close as possible (despite the crunch of snow beneath his feet), Gray had found the perfect blind spot. Perfect he thought. Before he could bring his hands together to create a weapon, his vision suddenly turned black and he felt himself fall against the rocky exterior. Clutching his head, Gray tried with all his might to blink the strange sensation and once his vision clear, he got straight into action. "Ice-Make," he whispered. "Ice Geyser." The ice sliced through the Wyverns' legs and they all darted into the skies, searching for the source of the attack as a hawk would for its prey. Staying hidden from their view, Gray clenched his right fist as the devil slayer tattoo's adorned his forearm. In his hands he formed a bow, ready to strike at his targets. The moment they were in range, the ice devil leaped out of his hiding place and shot the arrow faster than the speed of light. It pierced through two flying beast, however the other two managed to fly out of range before the attack to shoot through them. Noticing their challenger, one Wyvern swooped down in Gray's direction. On instinct, the raven went to roll to the side away from the attack, but his reaction time was too delayed and the Wyvern managed to snag his left arm, causing it to bleed profusely. "Ahh," he cried and quickly froze the wound over. Determination rising, Gray clenched his right arm yet again and focused all his energy on his next attack. "Hyōma no Gekikō!" The giant funnel of ice and now burst from the devil's mouth hitting every Wyvern in the area and sending them flying, literally.

Once the peak was clear of the beasts, Gray slumped down against a rock, panting heavily. He felt as if his entire strength had been sapped out of him with that last attack. Confusion spread through his mind, Gray knew he was stronger than this. He'd improved an awful amount during the year the guild spent apart, so why was he now out of breath? The raven patiently waited for his strength to return and slowly pushed himself up from the rock. Scanning the area for a final time, Gray deemed that Hakobe was safe once again and followed the rocky path to the bottom.


The ice wizard managed to return to his home without any issue. He ran his hand through his hair as his pushed the door open and threw his bag on the couch. Stripping off his shirt, the raven let himself fall onto his bed and his body went lax. This, however, did not last for long as his body was quick to tense up as soon as a voice racked through his brain.

Gray...

"Who's there?!" He shot up from his position, eyes darting around his house.

I'm offended, Gray. You don't remember me?

"Of course not! Who are you?" Gray moved into the centre of the room.

Search your mind, Gray. I'm someone you're more than familiar with.

Gray's form shifted into his battle stance, but as he did, he felt his muscles become weaker as they had done on the mission. His arms fell limply to his sides and his legs began to shake uncontrollably. "W-what's going on? What are you doing to me?" Panic was evident in his voice.

I told you before. I am going to claim this body and soul for myself.

Gray opened his mouth to retaliate, but no words came out. He was far too weakened to even keep his head from falling to one side; it was a miracle he was still standing.

Still don't remember me? Well, here's something that might jog your memory.

Suddenly, an ear splitting roar pierced through Gray's mind, causing him to scream in agony. One thought crossed the teens mind before crumpling to the ground and letting the darkness envelop him like a blanket. Deliora!


The strongest team in Fairy Tail showed up at the guild hall bright and early the next day, eager to take on another request. Unfortunately, there was one problem; one of their team mates were missing. The guild's resident ice wizard had yet to show up. This wasn't a surprise to them at first, Gray was known for having a lie in pretty much every morning. But considering recent events and the fact that he hadn't returned to the guild from his job yesterday, people's concerns gradually began to rise. After waiting for another hour, Erza had had enough. "Natsu, go and find Gray," she demanded.

"Why? The ice bastards just being a lazy ass," Natsu growled, though it was clear to all that he was trying to mask his concern for his rival.

"Natsu..." Erza warned.

"Fine, fine," Natsu rolled his eyes and stormed out of the guild.

"Erza..." Lucy mumbled. "I'm sure Gray's fine, he's probably still sleeping." It sounded that she was trying to convince herself instead of her red-headed friend.

"I hope you're right..." Erza frowned.


"Stupid Erza, makin' me check up on Popsicle," Natsu grumbled and he stomped down the streets of Magnolia. Natsu didn't want to see Gray... and this wasn't because of their usual rivalry. He didn't want Erza to tell him to go and check on him because that meant something was wrong. Gray would be fine Natsu kept telling himself. He'd probably end up walking in on the raven as he was getting ready to come to the guild and they'd probably end up getting into a fight, right? Natsu hoped he was right. After finally arriving at his rival's house, the Salamander boomed on his front door like a mad man. No response. Must still be sleeping Natsu thought. He banged a second time much louder than the last. Still no response. Okay, now he was pissed. With one forceful kick, the door swung open, smacking against the wall. "Gray!" Natsu was NOT happy with what he saw. The raven was lying, face down, on the wooden floorboards. His right shoulder still remained frozen from his previous job, but the fire wizard could clearly see that his wound needed medical attention ASAP. Natsu was quick to his side and rolled Gray over so he was lying on his back. The teen looked almost lifeless and Natsu wasn't afraid to admit that he was taken aback by his comrade's condition. His face was as pale as a white sheet of snow and Natsu couldn't even tell if his was breathing or not. Panic spread throughout the pinkette's form as he desperately began shaking Gray, hoping to snap him out of whatever state he was in. Natsu kept shaking for another five minutes until Gray's eyes finally flickered open, but they weren't his eyes. The sclera of his eyes was pure black whereas his irises were a sickening colour of red. Was this his demon form? No, it couldn't be. Those black markings Natsu had once thought were possessing the raven were missing. Maybe it was a reaction to getting hurt? The Salamander was rapidly snapped out of his thoughts when he realised Gray was still staring at him. "Hey, are you alright? Why are your eyes-" Natsu cut himself off when Gray suddenly gripped his friend's arm – quite painfully too – and it started to freeze over. The fire wizard jumped back in pain while Gray staggered to his feet.

"You're as naïve as usual, Salamander," Gray snarled, though his voice sounded mildly different.

Natsu then put two and two together. "Who are you? What did you do with Gray?!"

"What are you talking about? This is Gray in the flesh. However, you're not talking to Gray currently. I sent him to take a little nap."

"Then, who am I talking to?"

"Something this boy greatly despises. Something that plagues his nightmares every other night."

"It can't be?"

"You've guessed it, haven't you Salamander? I'm-" Gray's form suddenly swayed and his hand came up to claw through his hair. "Dammit, he's still fighting. I've not gained enough strength to keep the bastard at bay."

Natsu was at a loss for words. It couldn't be, could it? If what this thing was saying ended up to be true, he couldn't just attack it like any other enemy. Whatever happens to this creature will also be inflicted upon Gray too. So he just stood there and watched it all play out.

"Remember this boy," the creature continued. "I may not have all my strength now, but it will come back to me. You're going to have a front row seat to your friend's demise and there's nothing you'll be able to do about it" Gray's eyes slowly faded back to their rightful colour, but were quick to fall shut as his body collapsed back to the floor. Luckily for him, Natsu's reflexes activated. He caught Gray's limp form and pulled him into a warm embrace.

"Gray, you there?" Natsu asked, hesitantly.

"…Yeah…" Gray's breaths came out in deep pants and his limbs shook rapidly.

"Gray," Natsu began. "I think you're possessed by Deliora."

"You don't say."


MWUHAHAHAHA! I'm so evil!

GAH! The friggin' FT chapter left it off on such a cliffy I'm dying. That chapter was really awesome, but it gives me a terrible feeling that Gray and/or Natsu is gonna die. I hope I'm wrong!

Sooooo... I'd write something else here, but I'm playing Never Have I Ever with three of my friends through text...

Don't forget to fave/follow/review!

Au revoir!