Despite their threatening appearance, the cloaked figures weren't very proficient with their seemingly makeshift weapons. Natsu and Gray hardly had to use their magic to take them down, and Erza only used a single sword. Lucy didn't even need to summon one of her spirits and was able to rely solely on her whip. But what they lacked in skill they made up for in numbers. When you took out one, another one would creep in from behind a building, weapon at the ready. They had swords, axes, knives, and even bows. All were crudely made and they didn't stand a chance. It seemed as though the fight would be over within minutes.
And yet, there was a purpose for all these failed attacks. Eventually, more and more of the figures directed their fury towards Erza. Even though she was surrounded, she handled them all with ease. But not all of them were attacking her; many of them stood back and formed a ring around the requip mage. By the time anyone could have realized what was happening, it was too late. One of the figures who had been hanging back raised a clenched fist and dark energy surged out of the ground beneath Erza. It sapped her of all her energy and left her on the ground in a heap. Lucy began making her way through the figures to Erza's side, easily striking them down as she went along.
Natsu gave an angry glare to the caster. "Who do you think you are?"
The figure gave a slight chuckle before removing his hood. The figure was a man in his late twenties with a grin that could only make you swoon or shudder. Given the context, it was probably the latter. "I am Mercer, a name all will soon know. And I think I am the man who will soon destroy you."
Gray ignored the threat and demanded an answer. "Why are you bothering the locals? Don't you have anything better to do?"
Mercer chuckled again. "I am not bothering anyone. My intention is to scare them. I am mage of fear, meaning I feed off the feelings of terror and fright. The more afraid they are, the stronger I become. I knew they'd send for some guild mages eventually, and think of how scared they'll be when I take you down! Word will spread, and so will the fear. I'll be able to feed off of anyone who's ever heard of me and eventually dominate the entire region."
"I didn't ask for your life story, punk. But at least now I have a pretty good reason to beat you to a pulp."
"An ice make wizard? Hardly scary at all. Your flaming friend is much more my speed. Would you be interested in joining me and becoming a giant jack o'lantern?"
"Heck no! You're going down! You don't scare me!"
"We'll see." With a wave of his hand, the cloaked figures sprang into action again. Natsu and Gray quickly found themselves surrounded. The figures' skills hadn't increased, and they were still easily defeated by the duo. Mercer seemed unfazed as his followers fell to the ground, preparing to enter the fray himself. He came at Gray first, shooting several tiny blasts of his dark magic. Gray easily dodged, making an ice lance to strike at the approaching wizard with. Mercer rolled his eyes, shattering the lance with a single blast. Gray was caught off guard, and the next wave of projectiles hit him head on. He stumbled backwards, struggling to keep his balance. The blasts were tiny, but felt sharp and stung. Gray regained his balance and ditched his shirt. This was getting serious.
"Nice try, ice boy. If you're trying to make up for not being menacing, it's not working. Nudity doesn't scare me. Although, it is slightly distracting…"
Gray ignored him again and created an ice cannon. Mercer easily destroyed the ice ball before exploding the canon, knocking Gray off his feet. Natsu instinctively whipped around and the sound of Gray grunting in pain. Thrashing the last of the figures out of the way, he aimed a fire dragon iron fist straight for Mercer's smug face. He easily sidestepped and gave a sharp kick to Natsu's rear end, sending him sprawling across the ground next to Gray.
The pair got to their feet and dusted themselves off. Mercer looked unimpressed by them, shaking his head and looking down at his nails. This only served to further anger Natsu, but Gray knew they were going to need their wits about them in order to win. He placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder, feeling him relax slightly. Gray almost chuckled at how easily he could calm the dragon slayer. Maybe it was the coolness of his skin, but Gray liked to think it was because Natsu liked him so much. When the fiery mage turned to face him, Gray tried to give him a serious look.
"We need a plan if we're gonna squash this guy."
"Plan? We just need to smash him into the dirt! The sooner we get done, the sooner we can go to bed and I can cuddle with you."
Gray fought back the flush that threatened to explode onto his face. "Natsu, be serious."
"I am being serious. Don't you wanna cuddle later?" Natsu and Gray differed on what things you should say out loud. Natsu just said whatever was on his mind, and Gray knew it was going to cause him embarrassment in the future if he was going to continue this relationship. It also was going to cause some distractions. Like right now.
Gray spoke in a hushed voice. "Yes, but if we get maimed by this guy, it's not going to be very comfy. So we need to focus and come up with a strategy."
Natsu nodded his head, trying to quell his growing anger. Mercer apparently noticed them again, as he sent a long arrow shaped burst of magic at the pair. They quickly jumped backwards, and it passed through the space between them. The fear mage clicked his tongue.
"Look, ice boy, I'm not sure what your goal is by stripping down, but you've got my attention. Give me a little show, maybe I'll spare you. Give me a little more, I'll even let you join me."
Gray didn't remember taking off his pants, but he looked down to discover himself in his boxers. He felt immense humiliation and was about to yell something back at that creep, but Natsu beat him to it. "LISTEN HERE YOU BOOGIEMAN WANNABE! YOU KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS TO YOURSELF!" Natsu's fists were clenched, and he looked about ready to burn down everything in sight. Mercer seemed unfazed, simply cracking his knuckles in anticipation.
"What's the matter, fire breath. Feeling jealous?"
Natsu broke into a sprint, ready to grind the arrogant man into dust. Mercer was ready, already building up magic energy between his hands. Gray could do nothing but watch as the two were about to collide. He shielded his eyes, expecting a massive explosion. Instead, Mercer leapt backwards into the air and shot his streak of magic onto the ground. Instead of erupting, it merely tripped Natsu, causing him to tumble forward and fall flat on the ground in a heap. Natsu found it difficult to stay angry after falling flat on his face. Maybe I'll just lie here for bit.
"Get up Natsu!"
Nope. Nevermind. Gray says get up.
"This ends now! When I count to three, hit him with everything you've got!"
"Sounds good to me!"
Mercer was starting to get annoyed. "Aren't you tired of being humiliated? Give into your fear and quit!"
"One!" Gray began counting, and both he and Natsu began charging towards the fear mage. The man began building up energy again, feeling confident he would prevail.
"Two!" Natsu was closer, and prepared for another fire dragon iron fist. Gray kept running, waiting for the perfect moment. If his plan (which he came up with in thirty seconds) was going to work, it would have to be timed perfectly.
"Three!" Just as Natsu reached Mercer, Gray created an ice prison that enclosed the other two. This prevented Mercer from dodging effectively, as he didn't have time to destroy the prison before Natsu was upon him. In a last ditch effort, he fired another arrow shaped blast at Natsu, but it had almost no effect. The following iron fist sent him flying into the side of the ice cage, shattering it. Mercer hit the ground hard, groaning loudly. He would not be getting back up any time soon.
Any of the remaining cloaked figures fled, tripping over themselves in their hasty escape. The townspeople slowly exited their homes and began to cheer. Gray turned around to look for Natsu, but quickly found himself wrapped in the dragon slayers arms, Natsu's lips fiercely pressed against his own. He gave into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Natsu in return. The cheers of the crowd only seemed to increase in volume; everyone loves a good love story. When they finally pulled apart, Natsu had stars in his eyes. Gray grinned as Natsu was reluctant to let him go, and they felt the familiar balance of their conflicting temperatures.
Of course, Natsu had to go and ruin the moment by talking. "You taste like victory."
"And what does victory taste like?"
Happy, who appeared out of nowhere, answered that question. "Fish! Duh!"
Beside him was a smiling Erza, who was supported by Lucy, still getting her strength back. Lucy looked incredibly shocked. "So, when did this happen?"
"Oh come on Lucy. Surely I wasn't the only one who sensed their connection."
Lucy turned to Erza, looking even more baffled. "You knew?"
"I believe I knew before they did. You know how stubborn they can be."
Happy chimed in. "I think Lucy's jealous."
"I am NOT you stupid cat!"
As expected, Natsu and Gray did end up cuddling that night. However, they had to wait until the girls fell asleep because despite Erza and Lucy claiming they weren't, Natsu and Gray were being observed. Very closely. Apparently there was something adorable about the two being together, but they didn't find it adorable that they were being watched. Once they were sure the girls were asleep and not faking it (they tried that more than once), Natsu nearly tackled Gray, snuggling up to him like a puppy. Gray had no complaints.
The next morning, they received a massive thank you from the villagers and accepted their hefty reward. After enjoying a free breakfast at the local restaurant, Team Natsu began making their way back to Magnolia. With their newfound wealth, everyone had a bit of spring in their step. Lucy wasn't shouting threats at Happy, instead thinking of everything she could buy with all this extra cash.
"I'll get some new outfits and maybe some fancy jewelry. I'll even hit up the book store."
"Don't forget about your rent." Natsu said casually. He strolled along next to Gray, debating on whether or not to hold his hand. It might have been kinda childish, but Natsu wasn't a very mature guy. As a dragon slayer, he felt the need to make sure everyone knew Gray was his.
Lucy did not want to be reminded of her rent, an everlasting issue within her life. "So, are you and your boyfriend going to move in together now?" She spat the word boyfriend like it tasted bad in her mouth. Happy had been partially right; she wasn't jealous because she wanted to be with Natsu or Gray, she was jealous because she still didn't have a boyfriend.
"For sure." Natsu answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Gray hadn't even thought about it. "We are?"
"Do you not want to?"
"I don't know….we haven't really talked about it."
"So? Just bring all your stuff to my place. You do want to live with me, right?"
"Yeah, I just….does it feel like we're rushing?"
"Not really. If anything, it's taking too long"
Gray shook his head. "Everything takes too long for you."
Natsu took this opportunity to take Gray's hand, and the ice mage didn't resist. Natsu gave his signature grin. "You're my boyfriend." Gray looked at him inquisitively. "I just wanted to say it." Natsu squeezed Gray's hand, repeating it again. "You're my boyfriend."
Gray smiled back, not fighting against the butterflies dancing in his stomach. "I guess I am."
Thank you for reading. I've been kinda bleh lately, but I'm ready to be done with that and get back to more frequent updates.
More coming soon!
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