I hope you like the ending to this one~
Weeks and weeks and weeks of training went by, all the guilds in Fiore aiming to do their best to present themselves for the Grand Magic Games. It was their time to shine. By now the news of Gray's disappearance and the Ice Master's joining of Lamia Scale had reached all around. People had sent out search parties in hopes of finding the mage. Some travelled up north to Brago and Isvan, hoping he would turn up there. But each time they came back with no good news to Fairy Tail. The top guild in Fiore had slowly grown worried about their guildmate. Where exactly could he even be? They all knew he wouldn't leave Fiore. No, he wouldn't leave the kingdom.
Lamia Scale, on the other hand, had their two ice mages set into bursts of laughter after reading interview after interview, and articles about the missing Gray Fullbuster. Ooba didn't seem to mind, if the young boy was able to laugh about his former guild's misfortune then she would let him laugh all he wanted. Lyon was currently trying to catch his breath as Gray read the latest article aloud. "An...And then we looked through the graves to see...if a stone had his name on it...!" That definitely set the two mages off again.
"Oh God...Gray, I didn't know...you were a ghost right now!"
"Hey that's...funny... N-Neither did I!" Both of them had tears in their eyes from all the hard laughter they were emitting. Gray had a hand slapped on the article, the other banging a hand on the table as he kept his head bent while his laughed. Lyon was clutching at his stomach, curling in on himself.
"Oh s-stop, it hurts when I laugh!"
"I wonder...can ghosts...use their old magic...?"
"D-Don't...make...it worse!"
"I don't think I've ever seen Lyon this happy before..." Yuka mused.
"Yeah, it's a scary thing to see..." Toby whimpered.
"I think it's sweet he's this close with his little brother. Though I wonder why Fairy Tail haven't just come here looking for Gray". Sherry wondered aloud.
Chelia nodded in agreement to the question, wanting to know the same thing, and Jura answered them. "Because the guild where one of his rivals resides would be the last place Gray would go in their minds. Him and Lyon were tough competition against one another as far as Fairy Tail is concerned. That's why we sent Lyon over there some time ago to pretend to look for him and alert them of our new member".
"I knew we could be sneaky but really? Those two have it nailed. What with Lyon's small visits to Fairy Tail and Gray's first interview". Yuka shook his head slowly, large eyebrows furrowing.
"L-L-Lyon~ I-I gotta go back to the grav-ve~"
"Aw-w, b-but I don't want-t you t-to~"
"I-I guess I can s-stay here then, f-for good~"
"P-Perfect~"
And thus another round of laughter erupted from the two highly amused members of Lamia Scale.
Soon the time came for the guilds to leave for Crocus. Gray decided to wear a disguise which consisted of a large dark blue cloak with a hood, a voice changer built in on a collar which replaced his old cross necklace, which he gave to Lyon, a tight solid metal plate strapped around his stomach, a dark purple t-shirt with a white lightning bolt on it, and ripped black jeans. His hood covered his hair and eyes, but he was still able to see clearly. The rest of his team nodded their approval of the disguise and they set out for Crocus.
When they arrived, they spotted the Fairy Tail team had arrived at the same time. The team consisted of Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Wendy and Juvia, naturally. Lamia Scale's team consisted of Lyon, Gray, Chelia, Toby and Yuka - Sherry and Jura had left Lamia Scale but still checked in from time to time with their friends. The two teams stood and glared at one another before Lyon smirked wickedly. "Hello Fairy Tail. I was going to keep him a surprise for everyone but, this is the Ice Master everyone's been talking about". He nudged Gray and the latter took a step forward, the hood covering his face in darkness.
"It's such a pleasure to meet you all". Sarcasm dripped from his voice, which had now, thanks to the collar device, grown much deeper.
Natsu gave him a skeptical look. "Likewise..." The five fairies then bid their silent goodbyes and trudged along to the grounds of the games. They didn't have a fighting aura about them, it was one of guilt and sadness.
Lyon smirked wider. "Seems that they miss you, Ice Master. Don't you feel obliged to go running after them, throwing off the hood and letting them know you're not dead?"
"No. I'll reveal myself to them all, to everyone, when I get the chance to fight Natsu head on".
"Ooh, you are good at this. I didn't think our plan for keeping you hidden would work so well! Hm, looks like Juvia's called the dark heavens with her, at least they haven't opened and soaked us yet".
"...Yeah...that's a good thing. The rain bothers me".
"I know how you feel, dear brother, I know how you feel".
The teams sat in their rooms that evening after the Preliminary round had commenced. The guilds to participate in the proper games were; Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Sabertooth, Orochi's Fin, Pheonix Grave, Titan Nose and Chrono Noise*. Of course, nobody knew what the events would be, but Gray was thoroughly surprised to hear the name Chrono Noise. He hadn't heard that name in so long...
Lyon and Gray were sharing a room and the former noticed something was troubling his younger teammate. "Don't tell me you wish you were with those lowlifes".
"No. I was thinking about that guild Chrono Noise".
"Why?"
"Heh, I didn't think I'd ever hear the name again. It was seventeen years ago I last heard it's wretched name. I didn't tell you what happened to me after you left me in the snow, did I?"
"No. Why, do you know the guild?"
Gray quickly explained what the guild had done to him and how he had come across them in the first place and what had happened between him and their former guild master. Lyon was surprised, he didn't know Gray had done all this - well, he supposed that's what he got for ignoring the little munchkin for so long and not bothering to learn anything. "So that's why it's familiar to me. I kinda miss the people I met before Fairy Tail...I wonder if I'll ever see them again".
"I'm sure you will someday. I can feel it. You're too determined to let the opportunity pass by. And I bet they're watching the games this year".
"Yeah, I hope they are".
Gray went out into the town that night and ended up seeing Natsu and Juvia talking. He quickly hid in an alley and once the two bid one another goodnight, he watched as Juvia watched Natsu leave before turning and walking the other way. Once she walked past Gray's hiding place, he grabbed her round the waist and clamped a hand over her mouth, dragging her into the darkened alley with him until they reached the other end. "Promise you won't scream if I let go of your mouth?" The bluenette, eyes wide with fear and shaking, nodded and the large hand that covered her mouth let go, but the arm round her waist still remained strong. "Good girl. I have a surprise for you, Juvia Lockser".
Juvia was turned round and she pushed herself up against the wall as her captor let go of her, but still kept a firm hold on her wrist to make sure she wouldn't go anywhere. "They call me the Ice Master, I'm sure you've heard. And I'm sure you're wondering what happened to Gray Fullbuster, aren't you?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Well. He moved on. Got fed up of playing second fiddle. He's gone now, Juvia".
"W-Who are you...?" the girl dared to ask.
"Oh, you want to know?" She nodded slowly, fearful still. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to let you see my face. But you have to promise not to tell anyone about who I really am. Can I trust you, Juvia?" She nodded again. "Excellent. Now to see the look on your face when you see mine". Gray slowly reached for his hood and drew it back until it fell on his shoulders. He clicked the voice off on his collar and slowly lifted his head, dark blue eyes meeting stunned and fearful light blue eyes. The girl was trembling, falling to pieces. He smirked wickedly. "Surprises always are so great, aren't they?" He heard a soft chime and sighed. "This must be where we part ways. Goodnight Juvia, and don't tell anyone about this. It can be our little secret..." He turned the voice back on and pulled the hood up, turning and walking away with the water mage staring in shock after him. "Such a sweet girl...too bad she got on my bad side. If she hadn't fallen for Natsu as well as taking my place then...well...perhaps I might've spared her the fright. Ha! But then where's the fun in that?"
Juvia stood trembling until the hooded figure was out of sight. She suddenly remembered how to breathe and gulped hungrily for air, a hand flying to her racing heart. It was him. It was really him. He was alive and now- then it hit her. She couldn't tell anyone, she'd made him a promise. Confused, trying to get her head around things, she walked back to her Inn room where the other girls were and sighed. Who knows what would happen when, or if, everyone found out who the Ice Master of Lamia Scale really was. Chaos would erupt across Crocus for sure...
Holy shit, when did this turn into a horror fic?! xD I don't think I was meant to make Gray that menacing at the end, oh well. Him and Lyon get on pretty well, huh? Two sneaky bastards, both ice mages, both in Lamia Scale xD What more could you want? Oh right, the next chapter, haha!
* - Chrono Noise is a guild mentioned in the Omake two volume manga, Ice Trail, in which it shows what happened to Gray after Lyon left him after Ur used Iced Shell to seal away Deliora. You should all go read it, it is amazing~!
