-Family-
Chapter 4: Magnolia Festival
The guild was still preparing for the festival. Gray was carrying some boxes and sighed in relief as he placed them on one of the tables. Natsu, who's carrying a larger amount, did the same on the next table and turned to look at him.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fi-ugh..." Gray felt a slight shock of pain in his stomach for only a moment.
Natsu became worried at the noise Gray made, not finishing his sentence.
"Are you really alright? What's wrong?"
Though Gray just waved it off.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just felt a slight pain in my stomach. It was only for a moment, so it's gone now."
"Gray, if you-" there it was again, that feeling of being watched. Quickly, Natsu turned towards that direction and once again saw a vague figure, disappearing in the dark.
'What was that? No, more importantly, what's this uneasy feeling I'm getting?'
"-atsu. Natsu!" Gray called, breaking Natsu's trance.
"Huh? What?"
Gray became worried.
"What's wrong?"
Natsu shrugged it off with his smile.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just got distracted. Sorry about that."
Gray stared at him before stating.
"... Alright. If you say so."
He had his suspicions that Natsu was hiding something, but decided not to pry or jump into any conclusions. Natsu would just tell when he was ready.
"Minna! Let's all do our best to make this festival work!" Mira announced.
"Yeah!" the crowd cheered excitedly.
- ^v^-
Preparations were then made. However, the interference and threat from Laxus and his team had caused great problems for the guild. Luckily for them, Levy came back and was now trying to break the spell – or in this case – the runes.
Natsu, Gajeel, and Erza were now ready play Laxus' game, and find the three members of the Raijinshū (or thunder god tribe). Erza – who had already been freed from the stone – chased after Evergreen and was ready to go. Natsu and Gajeel on the other hand, decided to chase after Laxus while the rest of the girls were still encased in stone. Makarov wanted to go as well, yet he was unable to leave the guild.
Gray also came back from his fight with Bickslow... Well, more like dragged back by Macao who just happened to come across him. Witnessing this, Natsu immediately called out Gray's name and rushed towards him; Makarov right behind him. Everyone gathered around except for Levy who concentrated on finding a way to break the runes. Even though she wanted to be there for her friend because she was worried, she knew that what she was currently doing would be more useful and important to everyone.
Gray wasn't unconscious, but he was tired, having to fight, while carrying a child in your stomach was a bad idea. Unfortunately, Laxus and his team didn't know that Gray was pregnant. So Bickslow showed no mercy in fighting Gray head-on, making some damage to Gray. Macao placed Gray on the ground in a sitting position.
Natsu kneeled beside Gray, scanning for the blood, cuts and any other injuries whatsoever.
"Gray! Are you alright? Where does it hurt? That Bickslow! When I get my hands on him, I'll-" Natsu started, his anger starting to rise, but Gray smiled softly at him; to reassure Natsu that he was fine.
Gray started, just slightly weak, but stern enough.
"It's alright Natsu. I managed to avoid major injuries. I'm fi-" but before Gray could finish, Natsu hugged him tightly.
"I'm... I'm just really worried Gray." his hold tightened, but not harmful, just protective. He continued as he held Gray dearly, Gray listening in return.
"When I saw that you were defeated by Bickslow... God! Was I scared ...I thought I was going to lose you... I thought that if you were hurt bad enough that it would lead to something critical, close to death... I would lose you, the two of you... and I wouldn't be able to help in any way." he moved closer by instinct, not wanting to lose something so dear to him.
Gray felt Natsu trembling just slightly and for comfort, he patted and then rubbed Natsu's back. He whispered in a warm and soothing tone, like that of a mother tending to a child in fear.
"It's alright Natsu. I'm right here. I won't go away. I'll be staying right here by your side." he continued to do so until Natsu had stopped trembling and calmed down.
Natsu then released Gray ever so slowly and looked straight at Gray who just smiled at him. Gray then rustled Natsu's soft rosy pink hair. At this, everyone around left quietly, deciding that the two should be left alone and that Gray was going to be alright.
Natsu tried one last time.
"Are you sure you're fine? There's nothing too serious right?"
Gray nodded and tried to stand. He wobbled a bit, but Natsu quickly followed and supported Gray.
"Its fine, I can stand. I'm just tired from the fight." Gray stated as he stood up straight now.
"You should rest then, if you're tired. It's not healthy you know." Natsu insisted, but it was less commanding and more of a concerned tone in his voice.
Gray assured that he was alright and walked over to Levy.
"Levy, how is it going? Do you think you're close?"
Levy replied quickly.
"I think I'm almost through. Just a little bit more."
At that moment, words started to appear from the runes. They said that Erza had defeated Evergreen. After this, the stoned girls were finally free and now there were to be no more threats... Or so they thought. Afterwards, Laxus came on screen again and began telling them that there were thunder lacrimas around the Magnolia city. If they were unable to remove all of them, then Magnolia would be history.
The girls went outside and saw many lacrimas surrounding Magnolia. Bisca thought that she could get rid of them, but then when she destroyed one, she got electrocuted hard. It seems that the lacrimas were embedded with body link magic, causing the one who destroys them unbearable pain.
The girls decided to help out by finding the two of the Raijinshū and defeating them. So they left the guild in search and also to tell Erza about the lacrimas if any of them saw her.
Many fights occurred later
After some time, Natsu and Gajeel were finally able to escape the guild now that all members were defeated and that the rune magic was off. As Natsu rushed out, Gray was about to follow, but was immediately stopped by Makarov.
"Gray, it's too dangerous. You should stay here where it's safe."
"But I have to help in the search." Gray tried, but was also stopped by some of the girls.
Makarov would only let Gray go under one condition; he had to participate in an Aegis Ritual. With this ritual, no matter what injuries or damages Gray may take physically, the baby would still be safe. With that, Gray left with the rest. Though he searched for Warren instead for he could use his telepathy to be able to connect with the others.
- 0 - 0 -
After finding Warren, Erza told the plan to the whole guild about destroying the lacrimas at the same time (Erza with 200, while the rest got to destroy one each), while both Natsu and Gajeel worked together to defeat Laxus in the cathedral. Once all lacrimas were gone and everyone got their shock, Natsu had finally defeated Laxus. All's well and ends well, one would say. However, that was not the case for Gray.
After Gray got his shock, he began heading for the guild. On the way, he was greeted by shrouding mist. In that mist, appeared a dark figure that started to come just slightly closer. Gray could just barely make out who it was because of the mist, but the stranger started to speak.
"It's nice to see you again Gray."
Judging by the voice, it was surely a female. However, Gray could still not determine who it was and asked.
"Who are you?"
The woman laughed lightly.
"You don't need to know who I am... I just want to know how Natsu's been doing."
"Huh?" was all Gray said at first and then responded.
"He's been doing well... He's my husband."
At this, a gasp was heard from the woman and then a dark and cold tone surfaced.
"Your husband? You're married to him? I see... This should be easy then."
Gray hesitated, feeling the dangerous aura seeping out of the other.
"Easy? What are you planning to do to him?"
"Him? Oh, no. Not him." Gray saw a tiny glint in the mist that had yet to be cleared.
Immediately sensing danger, Gray became alert and ready for battle in an instant. In one second, huge amounts of knives were being thrown at him directly. He managed to make a shield big and thick enough to defend and hold them off, but not for long.
"Tch, it would be so much easier if you'd just die. That way, I could have Natsu all to myself. Oh well, it won't be long until your shield wears off."
At this, Gray cursed for the woman had a point. His shield was starting to crack and get smaller. If he didn't think of another way, then he was going to be a goner.
It seemed that today, this time, luck was on his side, though.
From a distance, he could hear Natsu's voice calling out for him. The woman became distracted for that moment, which stopped the knives in the process. Gray took this opportunity to make ice lances at her, getting a direct hit.
The other groaned in pain and exclaimed.
"This is not over! I will succeed in killing you! And when you're gone, Natsu will be mine!" before disappearing in the darkness, along with the mist.
Gray's shield finally shattered as he had Natsu in view. The knives all around him disintegrated into nothing, as though this whole event had never happened. Natsu noticed Gray and started to rush towards him. Gray wanted to move forward, but he found that he was unable to, suddenly collapsing to the ground from the overuse of his magic energy.
Natsu's eyes widened when he saw this and he ran to Gray even faster.
"Gray!" he yelled in panic as he knelt down to lift Gray into a sitting position.
"Gray!" he called out once more, bringing Gray closer in his embrace.
After the battle, Natsu had searched all over the town for Gray. The uneasy feeling he was getting from the beginning made his instincts search for him. They were telling him that he was going to lose the other forever if he didn't.
Gray had enough energy to stay conscious, but only for some time. He opened his eyes to meet with Natsu's own worried ones. He managed to answer by calling out for Natsu. It was weak, which made Natsu even more worried for it indicated just how exhausted he was.
"Gray, what happened?" this made Gray give him a questioning look. He elaborated.
"I can smell another person's scent here. It's different than normal... I sensed danger... Gray what happened here?"
Gray felt too tired to explain.
"Natsu... I think that... I used too much of my magic energy... I can't move my body..." he took a deep breath to speak again.
"Is it alright if... we talk about this later? I'm feeling too tired right now."
Natsu nodded in understanding.
"Of course... We'll talk about it once you're well rested." he combed Gray's hair with his free hand to soothe him.
"You can sleep right now, Gray. I'll carry you back to the guild."
Before Gray fell into deep slumber, he had thought for some moments.
'I wonder who that woman was... She implied that Natsu was supposed to be with her, but it didn't get to happen... Is she someone that Natsu knew from the past? If so, then why not just show herself to Natsu personally? ...Somehow, I know that... I'm probably going to meet that woman again ...and when that time comes, I can only hope that the situation is nothing too dangerous.'
If Gray wasn't so tired, he would have argued back to Natsu's offer, but he simply didn't have the energy to even do so, though he would've if he could've. Natsu had a lot of damage himself, but he had enough strength to carry Gray back to the guild to be healed.
Unknown to them, a dark figure from the shadows emerged from a distance. Watching them from afar and said, almost in a whisper.
"This is only the beginning. I will do whatever it takes to get back what should have been mine." before disappearing.
Sorry about the wait guys. I was planning on posting up many stories at the same time, but it seems too long of a wait. So this chapter basically gave a sneak peak of their new enemy. As to who it is, is for you guys to find out~
This took long because I was debating whether I skip the Magnolia Festival event to the day where they're to be trained by Erza, Mira and Macao or not... So yeah, I decided to not skip it. Thank you for your patience and supports! They are greatly appreciated XD
[Right now, I'm currently working on chapter 5 of this story, and three more stories... One is on a mental rough draft (Yet, to be written, but I have a summary for it.) and the other two will be in one story (Two one-shots)
I hope to finish before I go to Philippines for the vacation and become too busy keeping my family company. So again I say thank you for your patience and supports in my stories~ they really encourage me and your suggestions, I really do take them into consideration and expand on them.]
Now, on with the usual! Suggestions and Comments are welcome!~ =^w^=
{Added Note: Grammar-fixed... I think?}
{Corrected by MiyuTanemura}