A/N: Hey guys! Chapter four! I know this is not that great of a story, but thank you to those who still read it. I really appreciate it! There are still a few more chapters left! I hope you enjoyed it so far and still do!

Erza and Wendy got separated down at the food line. Somehow, Erza found herself standing on top of a terrace, gazing up at heaven.

It was a hobby of hers. One she acquired at the tower of Heavens. Fitting, given the name.

So, as she was lost in thought, she did not expect to see a man in black saunter onto the terrace with her.

Immediately, her sword was by her side and she was in a position to attack the intruder.

"Calm, Erza. I'm not here for a fight. Just here to pass on some information."

"Who are you? Why do you know my name?"

The man grinned. "Why me? I'm Gero."

Erza was stunned. Why was her enemy introducing himself to her?

As if reading her thoughts, the man continued.

"I have come here to let you know a little bit of my magic."

"I already know you have clone-magic."

He smiled. "Good girl. Do you know about this?" he raised his hand and black ash started falling towards the ground.

Erza's eyes widened. "I've seen that before...at the cave! You've been following us!"

"Yes, I have. This ash, part of my magic, controls the way people feel about each other. Why, if this ash is sprinkled upon you, I could make you love me. Or hate me. Whichever."

Erza began connecting the dots. "It was around the time we left the cave that Juvia and Natsu began loving each other. It was you! Why?"

"It's all part of my master plan. You see, I've grown up without a family. Or friends. I've done everything by myself. And I loved it. But, it irritates me that Fairy Tail preaches about friendship and all that nonsense, when it's clearly not important. You all are just weak."

"Your guild can't do anything without teamwork, so I caused a rift between your members, ensuring that there is no teamwork, thus ensuring my own victory."

"You're a monster", Erza declared.

"I am, aren't I?"

"It's not too late. Now that I know, I can tell the rest of them and restore our teamwork! Each spell can be broken! I know it!"

"You're right, the spell can be broken. But only when at least one of the afflicted remembers the one they truly love."

"We will break the spell!", Erza declared and ran out of the terrace to find her friends.

Gero watched her go. "Oh, poor, sweet Erza. Why would I volunteer such information unless it was also part of my master plan?"

When Erza got back to the room, she found her friends all asleep.

She groaned. She needed to fix this...fast. The team had to stop Gero tomorrow, before his clones invaded Magnolia.

She needed Lucy to remind Natsu that he loved her. Or she needed Gray to remind Juvia she loved her.

The latter would normally be easier (given Natsu's denseness which might lead to complications), but seeing as they didn't have time to go back to Magnolia and find Juvia, she needed Natsu to remember.

"Lucy, come over here!", Erza urged the blonde in the morning before the team went downstairs for breakfast.

Lucy yawned as she followed Erza onto the porch.

"What's up, Erza?"

Her eyes were red and Erza knew she was silently crying last night.

Erza wasted no time in telling the information she gathered to Lucy, whose eyes widened.

"Y-You're serious? I-It seems really fishy. Why would Gero give this information to you?".

"It doesn't matter why, what matters is it's true! We have to reverse the spell. You need to talk to Natsu."

Lucy looked down, "How do you expect me to do that!"

"I don't know, work something out!"

"Like what! If you haven't noticed, I can barely look at him without bursting into tears! And honestly, it's hard to believe myself."

"Well, you need to convince him!"

"Why can't you do it?", Lucy asked her.

"Because it won't have the same effect!".

"It won't make a difference. If I do it, then he'll just think I'm a jealous ex and it will make out crappy teamwork even worse!"

"Lucy! We don't have time for this!", Erza said, annoyed.

"I'm sorry, but it's not going to work. You need to find someone else who can do it."

"Don't you even care?", Erza asked her quietly.

Lucy met her eyes with a fierce glare. "You know I do. Don't question whether I love him or not. But, even if what you say is true, I will still just make things worse."

Lucy spun around on her heel as Erza let out a growl/groan.

Erza wasn't mad at Lucy, she was just stressed. She had an ominous feeling about this entire thing.

"I guess I'll try Gray."

Gray was resting his back against the board of the bed and stared out of the window, glaring at the sun, angrily.

"Gray!", Erza spoke to him.

His eye's glided over to her and he raised a hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. Go down without me."

She motioned for him to follow her out onto the balcony. He raised a curious eyebrow at her. "Why?"

"Just come, it's important."

He followed her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What's up?".

"Gray, Gero used his magic to make Juvia and Natsu fall in love," Erza said breathlessly.

"Huh?"

"His magic allows him to mess with the way people think about each other. Remember that black ash, we saw at the cave?"

"Yeah?", Gray said skeptically.

"That was his magic, he was following us!"

"How do you know all this?"

"Gero told me."

"Why would he tell you?"

"GRAY! Listen to me! Natsu and Juvia aren't in love. I need you to convince Natsu that he's not in love with Juvia to break the spell."

"Why me?"

"Lucy...er...thinks she will be ineffective in this situation."

"And you think I will? No way am I talking to Flame-Brain."

"What do you mean you won't do it?"

"First off, everything seems a bit to fishy."

"Gray, we have a chance to set things right, and you're not going to take it? Do you want to see your two best friends forced to love each other against their will forever?"

There back and forth conversation stopped.

"Is it really that bad for them, if they do?" Gray asked, not meeting her eyes.

"What?"

"Think about it, Erza. You can't deny that they're very happy together. I've never seen Juvia so happy. At least not with me."

"Fake happiness isn't the real deal. Trust me, they'd rather be sad...Heck, they'd rather die than being forced to love each other."

"How do you know?"

Erza grabbed his shoulders and turned him to her. She leaned in and her lips met his. After she pulled away, he looked at her flabbergasted.

"What was that!?"

It wasn't a bad kiss, it was just wrong. Gray could feel the guilt ripple through his body. More than the guilt, the feeling of error was present and worming its way through his system.

"That's what the two of them feel like every time. Do you really want the love of your life and your best friend to feel like that every second?"

Gray hesitated before shaking his head.

"Then talk to Natsu. Remind him."

"I don't think I can do this."

"You have to. Natsu, Juvia, and the rest of us...We're counting on you."

"Erza, if this goes badly then we won't have any teamwork."

"Please, Gray. Do it for Juvia."

Her name ignited something inside of Gray.

"If you love her...do it.