~.~.~

Title: Meeting Against Fate

Notes: I am not a romance writer. Why did I set out to do this. But anyway, since there's no Oracion Seis, this is where we get the... follow up to Lyon. For better or for worse.

Btw, Tenrou is the last arc. We have three chapters after this, and the third one is just the epilogue.

~.~.~

9. Toward the Brightest Star

In retrospect, Gray should have suspected something from the start. The job was just too perfect for him.

Mira pointed it out to him from the moment it came in — a job request to clear away thick ice that had blocked off an important mountain pass. This particular pass stayed open even during winter, making it vital for travel between the north and south parts of Fiore, especially since it was already December and many of the other routes were becoming dangerous.

This pass remained open even during the coldest parts of winter, but it had suddenly frozen over completely. Suspicious did not begin to cover it.

To avoid disturbing the area and causing a landslide or worse, the local government and trading guilds had requested an ice wizard specifically, not fire or another kind. "It's perfect for you, right?" Mira had said, handing Gray the flyer. "And you should have just enough time to make it there and back before... well, you know."

She hid a giggle at her own unsubtle hint at the upcoming S class trials. Gray smirked a little, realizing she was confirming that he was one of the nominees that year.

"Sounds good. Sign me up," he said. "It's an easy job, so I'll be back in no time."

"Remember to be polite to the clients, okay? They sound important," Mira reminded him, already stamping the request and making note of their acceptance of it.

"What do you take me for? That flame breathing idiot?" Gray grumbled.

Mira looked him directly in the eye with a smile that was almost a smirk and said, "For a man without a shirt."

She was, infuriatingly, completely right.

~.~.~

The directions on the flyer said to meet up with the clients first — the mayor of the mountain town at the foot of the pass and the head of the local merchants guild. However, when he was ushered into the mayor's office, Gray found he was not the only wizard there. It seemed another guild had answered the request at about the same time, before it could be marked as taken, and the ice user they sent was someone very familiar.

Gray stared in shock at Lyon, who didn't look nearly as surprised. In fact, his expression seemed to be somewhere between determination and apprehension. Unlike Gray, he had probably considered the possibility of running into Ur's other student on this mission — they were the two strongest ice wizards in Fiore, after all.

"Welcome, welcome. You are the Fairy Tail representative, correct?" the mayor waved Gray inside, where he reluctantly took a spot as far from Lyon as socially acceptable. It took an effort of will to stop glancing at the other ice wizard and focus on the clients.

"As we were explaining to the Lamia Scale representative, it seems both your guilds accepted at almost the same time," the merchants guild leader explained. "Given the urgency and scale of the task, would it be possible for you to work together and split the reward?"

Hesitating, Gray chanced a quick look toward Lyon — only to find him watching Gray in return, his expression studiously blank, as if waiting for something. He was leaving the decision up to Gray, it seemed.

"That's... fine by me," Gray said. He might have imagined the quiet, relieved breath Lyon let out.

The clients smiled in relief. "That's good. We only have one map of the pass," the mayor joked, chuckling.

After receiving the map and a quick repetition of the information already in the request, they left the town hall and headed toward the pass in awkward silence.

"So, Lamia Scale?" Gray blurted out, immediately wincing at his own words and looking away.

"Yes, I've joined Lamia Scale," Lyon confirmed, also studiously not looking at Gray. "Not because you suggested it. Just because it made sense."

"That's good. They're a good guild," Gray said.

There was another long moment of silence.

"Is that it?" Lyon demanded, stopping suddenly and rounding on Gray.

"Well, yeah. I-is there something else?" Gray wondered. Regaining his composure, he glared back. "What's with you? You want a rematch? Because I'm good to go any time!"

To his surprise, Lyon backed down — snorting and turning away to resume the journey toward the pass. "No, thanks. It would reflect badly on my guild to get into a brawl in the middle of a mission," he called back over his shoulder. Once Gray had reluctantly caught up and fell in step with him, Lyon asked, "How do you want to handle this? Split up and work separately?"

"That should be fine," Gray said. He held out the map. "Here, you should keep this. I already memorized it."

"I can do that too," Lyon said, getting that stubborn prideful look.

"I know," Gray said. "But you're less likely to lose it."

"I suppose so..." Lyon conceded. He smirked for some reason — making Gray realize suddenly that he was in the middle of pulling of his jacket. Huffing, Gray quickly pulled it back on and zipped it up for good measure. But Lyon's expression quickly became more serious as they trudged on. "Don't you think it's suspicious? A pass that stays open even in winter getting blocked by ice this early in?"

Gray nodded, having considered the same thing. "An ice monster?" he suggested.

"To cause the amount of obstruction the merchants encountered, it would have to a powerful monster, or a swarm of them," Lyon said. "You're more familiar with Fiore bestiary, any monster in particular this might be?"

"Blizzardverns, maybe?" Gray suggested. "There's not a lot of monsters that live in the mountain, mostly just Vulcans, but they can't make ice, just Take Over. Same for the rabbits that might have gone this high up..."

"If they're the same as the ones in Isvan, then they're solitary, and if it's just one, we should be able to handle it," Lyon said. He frowned faintly. "Although it would have been useful to have Sherry along. Her Doll Attack would be useful against a monster..."

'Then why didn't you bring her along, if you suspected monsters from the start?' Gray almost asked. But the truth was, he already knew. Lyon hadn't been surprised to see him, had probably even expected to run into him. He'd come alone because he had wanted to meet Gray again alone and... what? Apologize? That didn't sound like Lyon.

"But taking on a wyvern alone is foolhardy," Lyon went on. "So if you run into one, send up a signal. I will lend my support."

"Oh... thanks," Gray said. "You too."

Gray had expected him to protest with something like, 'As if I need your help,' but Lyon only nodded seriously. "We're here... that's definitely not natural," he said instead.

He was right. They had reached the point where the pass was "obstructed" — which didn't do justice to the wall of ice that blocked the way forward. The sheer breadth and thickness of the ice wall laid to rest any thoughts of a natural occurrence. Someone or something had caused this, using powerful magic. Reaching out to touch the ice, Gray could feel the magic still humming inside it.

"Good, we can work with this," Lyon said confidently, having done the same. He sounded completely confident not only in his own ability, but in Gray's too, apparently forgetting the awkwardness between them.

Smiling a little, Gray didn't bother to point that out. "Right," he said. "Let's do it."

Both of them focused, reaching into the ice in front of them. Standing next Lyon like that suddenly reminded Gray of the last time he had worked beside another Ice Make wizard — with Ultear on Galuna, when they tried to reinforce Ur's Iced Shell around Deliora. Or had Ultear actually been trying to break it to begin with?

Gray scowled. It had been about seven months since the incident at the Tower of Heaven and the revelation of Ultear's true aims. Yet, somehow, thoughts of her still lingered, surfacing at odd moments, and always followed by the same doubts. What had she been thinking in that memory? What had she actually been trying to achieve?

"Gray," Lyon's voice drew him out of his increasingly brooding thoughts, "concentrate."

"Yeah," Gray sighed, frustrated with himself.

The ice wall gave way easily, the foreign magic twisting under their command and melting into nothing. But just a bit further along the path, there was another massive chunk of ice blocking the way. According to the merchant guild's investigation, the entire pass and all its branches were crisscrossed by similar obstructions.

"This is going to take a while," Gray grumbled.

"Gray," Lyon called out again, making Gray pause and turn toward him. "There's still a ways until the path splits. Do you... want to handle it alone until then?"

"It doesn't make any difference. Why are you asking?" Gray said, staring at him in confusion.

It took him a moment of watching Lyon shift awkwardly to realize what the issue was — Lyon thought that Gray's distraction when they were dispelling the first wall was due to having to work with him. Given the lengths the Council had gone to in order to cover up their blunders, Lyon probably didn't even know about Ultear yet, so he could only assume that Gray's unsettled feelings were due to some lingering resentment toward him.

Lyon glared instead of answering, his expression becoming increasingly uncomfortable and annoyed.

"Lyon, no... that's not it," Gray said, running a hand through his hair. "I was just..." But how could he even explain? About Ultear? About her likely being the one who had "helped" Lyon use Moon Drip to revive Deliora?

"You don't owe me an explanation," Lyon said quietly, looking away. "It's the opposite... I should've just come from the other side."

"You didn't because you're not a coward," Gray said, knowing Lyon would understand what he didn't say — that backing down now, just because it wasn't going smoothly, would be taking the easy way out; that Gray wouldn't back down either because he refused to lose to Lyon. "So quit wasting time and let's go."

Slowly, a smirk spread across Lyon's face, and he chuckled, shaking his head. "Right, let's go."

An invisible weight seemed to have lifted from his shoulders, now that he understood — even if they hadn't overcome the past quite yet, Gray wouldn't give up, and neither would Lyon. And someday, they might even become friends for real.

~.~.~

To try to minimize the chances of it being blocked off at a crucial time, the pass through the mountains was actually a network of interconnected paths that connected and split all along their course. Scouring all of them to make sure they removed all of the mysterious ice blockades was a time consuming task even with two people, even with the map.

It would have been even worse if Gray and Lyon hadn't been trained in the frozen mountains to begin with. The cold air was thin, and while each ice wall went down easily, the number of them began to add up after a while. Mentally, Gray couldn't help but curse Lyon for taking the lower paths, where he at least didn't have to climb quite as much.

But finally, after trekking back and forth across the mountain paths, Gray had reached the final branch and the final wall of ice. With a sigh of relief, he reached out to touch the ice and hopefully finish the mission.

However, this time the magic didn't simply give way to his will. Instead, it pulsed faintly and shifted. Gray's eyes widened as he stared at the smooth surface of the ice — where even letters were taking shape, spelling out a message.

'Gray,' it began, 'I don't have the right to ask for your forgiveness, but there is something vitally important I must tell you...'

His mind blanked.

In truth, Gray had begun to suspect it from the beginning. The ice barricades were too clean and even to have been created by a monster, and he knew there were few humans that had power enough for magic on that scale. In Fiore, there was only himself, Lyon and... her. And even though the magic inside the ice was weak, it had been familiar.

He had just not wanted to consider it and had shoved the thought away whenever it tried to pass through his mind. They'd face the source of the ice when they got to it, Gray had thought stubbornly. And, now, here it was.

Without any action on his part, the ice suddenly shattered and disappeared, but the message remained seared into his memory. Gray stared at the empty trail for several long moments before taking a sharp, shuddering breath and forcing himself to begin moving.

He had to meet up with Lyon—

—Ultear wanted to meet him — was alive! — but why?—

—so they could report to the clients and complete the mission—

—What could she possibly want? What could she have to gain by it?—

—and then he'd need to hurry back to make the S class trials—

—Should he go? It was beyond stupid to go alone, but how long would Ultear wait? Could he afford to try to get someone to back him up? Who could he even ask, that wouldn't try to stop him outright? Would he be able to convince Erza to let him go, or—

"Gray, what are you doing?"

Flinching in surprise, Gray spun around to find Lyon staring at him with poorly hidden concern. He'd made it down to the rendezvous point while lost in thought, and then nearly walked past, still preoccupied with his internal debate.

"I'm okay," Gray insisted quickly, despite the fact that Lyon hadn't asked that. Given his raised eyebrow, Lyon had noted that point too. "I mean, I finished," Gray corrected quickly. "What about you?"

"Same, naturally," Lyon said, smirking lightly. However, his gaze remained intent on Gray, searching for any hint of what was wrong. "Are you ready to head down?"

"Yeah," Gray agreed, his thoughts already drifting again to what he would do once they reached town.

They had agreed to check in at the opposite end of the pass. The merchants guild branch there had a communication lacrima that they could use to confirm their success to the original clients. But that would put them on the opposite side of the mountains from Magnolia, and Lamia Scale too, which was even further south. And also from where Ultear wanted to meet...

"It'll be night by the time we get there, so we'll have to stay until tomorrow before heading back home," Lyon went on.

"Yeah," Gray agreed absently.

How long would Ultear wait? Her message hadn't said anything about a time, and he didn't know if she had left a spell in the ice that reacted to him, or if she had been watching and sent it herself. If he waited an extra day to go there, would she have already left?

No, before that, was he really thinking of going alone? There was absolutely no telling what Ultear was after, and Gray knew she was stronger than him by a fair amount. It was probably a trap.

But, thinking about it, what would Ultear gain from setting a trap for him? In the end, Gray wasn't anyone notable. He wasn't an outstandingly powerful wizard, and now that her ruse on the Council was over, he had no special knowledge that could interfere with whatever her plans might be. Why bother trapping him?

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but Gray didn't think Ultear wanted to kill him for personal reasons. That much, he was willing to bet on. She'd had more than enough chances when they were alone, in situations where it would be easy to cover up.

So perhaps... she really did want to talk. Jellal had said she'd never hesitated, but he could have been wrong. Certainly, Ultear was a very convincing actress. She must have had her own reasons for going along with him, and perhaps a reason for why she couldn't stop or show any hesitation. Perhaps...

'I'm an idiot,' Gray acknowledge, smiling mirthlessly. Only an idiot would even consider it.

All this back and forth, but he already knew what his decision would be. He had wanted to meet Ultear again and to try to reach her one more time. He would go, without a doubt. Even if it was stupid.

"Lyon," Gray called out, coming to a stop.

In front of him, Lyon sighed and stopped as well. "Finally finished with your very important thoughts?" he asked sarcastically, turning to give Gray a deeply unimpressed look.

"Yeah, I am," Gray said, acknowledging the rebuke with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, but could you do me a favor?"

Scowling a little, Lyon nonetheless made a beckoning gesture for him to continue.

"Could you report to the clients by yourself? And then, could you swing by Fairy Tail?" Gray said. "Tell me them I need to take care of something personal, so I'm going to the old shrine on the south slope of Mt. Zonia. And if I'm not back in three days, they should come to look for me."

Lyon's expression had shifted into a blank, unreadable mask as he listened to Gray's request, but it was clear that he was far from happy with what he was hearing.

Finally, he sighed and said, "And you're not going to tell me what that personal business at some old shrine might be."

Gray had considered it, actually. But that would mean explaining everything about Ultear, about her part in Galuna, and would cut too close for Lyon. Gray couldn't begin to predict how he'd react. And... in some way, he didn't want to burden Lyon with that knowledge, for better or for worse.

"No," he admitted, "it's... personal."

"Right," Lyon agreed dryly. He looked out across the mountain slope for a moment, considering. "So you're going to head back toward the south side then, the way we came," he said, "in the middle of the night. That's pretty reckless, even for us."

"Come on, it's barely December. And it never gets as cold as Isvan anyway," Gray said. "I'll be fine."

"We never did find what caused all this," Lyon said.

He didn't turn to watch Gray's expression, which didn't quite manage to remain blank, but the silence that followed was enough to give away that his words weren't quite accurate. However, Lyon only sighed again and didn't press further.

"Alright," he said. "I'll let your guild know."

"Thanks, Lyon," Gray said earnestly, smiling.

But before he could turn to go, Lyon called out to him one more time. "Gray," he said slowly, "I do have one question that I've wanted to ask you — What is your goal? What do you want to achieve in your life?"

Gray stared at him in surprise, turning the question over in his mind. "My goal?" he repeated.

"That's right," Lyon said. His expression had become pensive, an uncertain frown on his lips. "For years, for most of my life, my goal was to surpass Ur and become a wizard even greater than her. I dedicated myself to it completely — too much so. To the point that I lost track of everything, including what that goal really meant."

Gray listened silently, even when Lyon paused to gather his thoughts. In a way, he could understand — at one point, he had been like that too. He had dedicated himself to fighting Deliora, and in the process, he lost all sense of why and to what end.

"I forgot what made Ur such a great wizard in the first place, what had made me admire her so much... I made many mistakes because I was too obsessed and too short-sighted," Lyon went on. "And in the end I realized just how far I'd gone from what I wanted, and how impossible that goal was to reach for me, the way I am now. But since then, I've been trying to figure out — what am I going to do with my life? What am I aiming for?"

So he had decided to ask the person who was in some ways closest to him. He turned to Gray, waiting for his response.

Gray only smiled wryly and said, "I'm not like you, Lyon. I've never aimed that high. What I want is to protect my guild and my friends. That's all."

"That's all, huh?" Lyon repeated.

"That's all... but it wasn't always like that, you know," Gray said. "I came west because it was the last thing Ur told me to do. I joined Fairy Tail because I wanted to try to find a way to restore her body, before I understood that it wasn't possible. Then, over time, I ended up caring more and more about everyone in the guild. Protecting them and supporting them became the most important thing to me."

In return, Fairy Tail had protected and supported him. It became his home and his family. He couldn't imagine life without the guild.

"But that's something that happened gradually," Gray went on. "It wasn't like I decided from the start that this was how I'd live my life. I didn't always know what the destination should be... I just kept moving forward because I knew I couldn't stay in the past. Don't worry if you don't know what you want to do right now. Just focus on taking the first step, and I'm sure you'll find it eventually, Lyon."

Gray turned to offer him an encouraging smile, only to find Lyon staring at him oddly. Realizing what he was doing, Lyon quickly looked away. "For a moment there, you really reminded me of... ...Nevermind, it doesn't matter," he muttered. Sighing, he said, "The first step... that would be to become a good wizard and a good guildmate."

"Yeah, that sounds right," Gray agreed. They stood in easy silence for a moment longer before Gray turned away. "I'm going to get going, or I'll be traveling all night. Remember, Zonia's south slope, in three days."

"I got it," Lyon grumbled. "Get going already, you idiot." Once Gray was on his way, and Lyon resumed his own climb down, he added under his breath, "Not that I'm any smarter..."

After all, he was going to be traveling through the night too. There was no way Lyon could quietly settle down to sleep while Gray was off on some mysterious personal business that he couldn't even tell his precious guild about. The sooner he got to Magnolia, the sooner all of Gray's little friends could go to look for him and bail him out of whatever mess he was about to walk into.

A good wizard, a good guildmate... and a good senior apprentice. This was the first step he'd take.

~.~.~

It was just growing light when Gray climbed the final steps up to the old shrine, but everything remained in a dull, somber gloom, overcast in thick clouds. Snow had begun to fall gently sometime after he reached Mt. Zonia, white flakes gathering on his hair and shoulders before slowly melting. There was no sound except the crunch of gravel under his boots.

The stone stairs had been laid down centuries prior, when Mt. Zonia was a site of pilgrimage for the local people, and the shrine they led to was even older. Both bore the wear of the ages past, the steps cracked and missing sections, the shrine little more than a collection of roughly hewn pillars that no longer matched in height.

Each pillar was covered in ancient symbols that might have meant something to Levy but were little more than scribbles to Gray. All the same, he could feel the old magic still lingering in the stones as he carefully ran a finger along one row of glyphs. Even the soft new snow didn't linger in the crevices between the stones or in the grooves of the symbols.

'I will be waiting at the old shrine on the south slope of Mt. Zonia,' Ultear's message had said.

Gray let out a long, slow breath. "I'm the one who's waiting," he muttered.

Huffing, he couldn't help but smile in self-depreciation. All that complaining, and yet there was no chance he'd leave. He'd wait until the sun set and rose again, if that was what it took.

Slowly, silently, the snow continued to fall.

He might have drifted off, leaning against one of the half-broken pillars, but the sounds of loose stone crunching underfoot startled Gray awake. Turning slowly, he watched as a cloaked figure climbed the same steps he had followed and stopped at the entrance to the shrine.

Reaching up to push back her hood, Ultear returned his regard silently.

She looked away first. "I wasn't sure you'd come," Ultear admitted quietly. "But you must have a lot of things you want to ask me."

"I suppose," Gray admitted, his voice just as quiet as hers. He'd certainly had plenty of questions spinning around in his mind constantly since the Tower of Heaven, but now that they were face to face, he didn't even know where to start. "The last time we saw each other, in Isvan," he finally began, haltingly, "I... assumed a lot of things about you. I said a lot of things... How wrong was I?"

How much of everything he'd believed they shared had been just lies?

Ultear's expression, the faint twist of her lips, was unreadable, but somehow Gray was glad for that. Better that than the kind, emotional act she had put on when they first met.

"...Not as much as you might think," Ultear said, after a moment. "You were right — about Galuna, about Deliora, about how I felt. I'm truly grateful to you for letting me understand Mother's feelings. I was so glad, when I was able to forgive her... All of that was the truth. It's not as if those things meant nothing! But... it was separate, from what came after."

"From helping Jellal revive Zeref," Gray noted.

Ultear didn't flinch at his toneless accusation, but her shoulders rose and fell slowly as she drew and let out a heavy breath. They had both turned away, staring out across the desolate mountain slopes and the falling snow, unable to look at each other.

"Jellal... was always just a pawn," Ultear said. It wasn't quite an excuse. "I knew from the start that the R-System would fail in the end, though so would Etherion. All along, it was just a ploy to discredit the Council and keep them distracted. Our true aim..."

"You're going that far?" Gray interrupted. The flicker of surprise and suspicion that passed over his face was quickly hidden by the same blank mask he had worn since confronting Ultear. "If you're telling me all of that..." he went on, "there's no middle ground. You're either turning your back on all that, or you're going to silence me before I have a chance to tell anyone."

"I'm not going to kill you!" Ultear protested sharply, her vehemence making Gray jump and stare in shock. "I'm not going to kill you," she repeated. "I can't do that. I thought I would do anything to accomplish my goal. For that single chance, I'd go to any length... But as it drew closer, I couldn't stand to even think about it. I never imagined this outcome. I never thought my will would waver at the last step..."

It might have all just been an act. It was too good to be true — that Ultear would not only admit to having felt something at all, but say that she cared about him that much... It was probably a trap. It had to be some kind of act. But still—

"I believe you," Gray said, "even if it's stupidly gullible... I guess love makes fools out of everyone."

It wasn't like him at all, to ignore all reason to act on his feelings. But that was how it was. This one feeling was far too strong to ignore. He really was no better than that fire breathing idiot. Letting out an amused huff, Gray couldn't help but chuckle at his own foolishness.

Ultear made a short, wordless sound of surprise and spun around to stare at him in disbelief. "W-what... did you..."

"I said, I'm a fool in love," Gray repeated, smiling helplessly as he met her wide-eyed gaze. "I love you."

They stared at each other in silence, the snow falling slowly around them, as Ultear struggled to find words, her lips trembling in frustration.

"What are you saying?!" Ultear finally burst out. "Have you completely lost your mind?! How can you possibly... Why?!"

Gray watched her rage with sympathy. "I don't know," he admitted. "It doesn't make any sense at all, but there's no other word to describe it. That's really how I feel. I'm always thinking about you, I always want to see you again. I can't forget a single moment with you. I want to help you, even in some small way. I want to move toward the future together with you..."

The full, embarrassing weight of his own words seemed to finally catch up with him, and Gray had to look away, a red blush crawling across his cheeks. But he still couldn't stop smiling. He finally understood what Juvia had meant. Just feeling this, even if it wasn't ever returned, just being able to express it, made him so happy he couldn't contain it at all.

"My heart is just full of you," Gray repeated Juvia's words ruefully, turning back to Ultear.

She looking at him with an expression that didn't seem to suit her at all — a raw, honest frustration and a pained helplessness that couldn't be hidden. "You... Why did you have to say that...?" she wondered, gritting her teeth. "Of all things... Why do you have to...?"

"I see," Gray said quietly, surprised at his own sense of calm. "You're not going to kill me... but you're not going to stop either. It really is a trap."

Ultear didn't reply, but her frustrated silence was enough.

"I'm making it hard for you, aren't I?" Gray said. "But I'm glad. You really do care about me, at least a little. It's not meaningless..." It was a relief, somehow. "But that doesn't mean I won't fight," he said, looking at Ultear with renewed determination. "It's because I want you to have a future that I can't let you do something even you know is wrong."

"Even I know it's wrong, huh?" Ultear repeated. She smiled mirthlessly, her expression pained. "I suppose so. You really would be a formidable enemy, Gray. You're strong and smart. You always seem to see right through me... But you always make the same mistake — back then, in Isvan, and now. You always stop after uncovering just one secret. But that's not how it works in the underworld. The shadows always go deeper."

Gray's eyes narrowed, and he took a defensive stance, ready to fight. He watched Ultear closely as she took a step back, then another, until she stood at the very edge of the shrine.

"There's always another secret," Ultear told him, even as she made no move to attack. "You thought it was the ancient magic of this place, didn't you? But it's not just that. There's always another trap, Gray."

Gray was moving before she had finished speaking, but it was already too late. The carvings across the shrine flared suddenly with a blinding light, and Gray found himself unable to take another step. Ice was quickly crawling up his legs, pinning him in place. No matter what he did, he couldn't force it away.

"It won't work," Ultear confirmed, watching him struggle with a blank expression that didn't quite hide her regret. "It's not just ice magic, so you can't undo it. It's not as strong as Mother's Iced Shell, but combined with my Ark of Time, this ice won't melt for a good while... more than enough time for our plan to come to fruition."

"Ultear!" Gray called out desperately, reaching for her even as the ice covered his torso and his shoulder. It crawled along his arm and up his neck, and in the next moment, he was completely engulfed.

The ice thickened until a massive spire stood in the center of the shrine, Gray's frozen figure inside it — one hand outstretched, a beseeching expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, Gray, but this is the only way," Ultear said quietly, stepping closer to lay her own hand on the smooth surface closest to his. "I really can't kill you, even if it'll be undone once I use Last Ages. That's why I have to make sure you won't go to Tenrou, no matter what. There's no other way. But I promise, I'll make it up to you — next time. I'll make everything better."

That was what she had told herself over and over again. However, every time she repeated those words, they seemed to offer less and less comfort.

Gritting her teeth, Ultear turned away and hurried away from the desolate, empty shrine, where the snow continued to fall silently.

~.~.~

Gratefully accepting the glass of iced water Mira handed him, Lyon downed it all in one go and leaned back against the bar with a sigh of relief. He had perhaps rushed a little too much, in retrospect, but once he decided on a course of action, he always put his all into it. Sometimes excessively so.

"I hope Gray's not too late coming back," Mira fretted a little, as she offered Lyon a refill. "Maybe I shouldn't have suggested he take that job. Three days is cutting it close..." For Lyon's benefit, she explained, "Three days from now is when we're leaving for the annual S class trials. Gray is supposed to go too. It would be a shame if he missed it. I wonder what could be important enough to risk it..."

Lyon frowned, wondering the same thing.

"He won't miss it," Erza declared. She had been at the guild when Lyon arrived and greeted him with a reasonable amount of suspicion, given the circumstances under which they'd parted previously. She had also listened in, along with Mira, when he delivered Gray's message.

"That's true... Gray is usually pretty responsible," Mira agreed. "And I guess if he does miss it, that just shows he's not ready for S class yet."

Already on her feet and turning to go, Erza paused and shot her a look of surprise. "No, that's not what I meant," she said. "He won't miss the boat because I'm going to go find him and make sure he finishes on time. Let Master know we'll be back soon."

"W-wait, Erza! Gray said to wait three days!" Mira protested as Erza tried to walk off again.

"Not much faith in him, huh?" Lyon snorted.

Erza glared at him. "I do trust Gray," she said sharply. "There's just some things you shouldn't have to deal with alone. Gray helped me when I tried to go off by myself, so I'm going to return the favor." Lyon instinctively returned her glare, and they stared off for several moments before he conceded, looking away.

"I suppose that scary bossiness is part of your charm," Mira mused, sighing. "Well, take care, and don't be too hard on Gray."

"I'm not going to be hard on him," Erza muttered under her breath as she departed. "Why does she think that? And I'm not scary. Or bossy. That devil is a fine one to talk..." The crowd hanging around the guildhall parted before her instinctively, as did the people in the street. Her displeased expression was more akin to a sulk, but with Erza no one wanted to take chances.

She marched several blocks toward the train station before her patience ran out. Coming to a stop abruptly, she spun around and pinned Lyon with another glare.

"Why are you following me?" Erza demanded.

"I'm not following you," Lyon denied. "I'm heading back to Lamia Scale. I need to take a train there, you know."

Letting out a sigh of disgust, Erza crossed her arms and stared him down. After so many years with Natsu and Gray, she had become inured to that kind of weak denial. "If there's something you want to say, then say it," she ordered.

Under her waiting gaze, Lyon couldn't help but fidget. Finally, he caved, wincing. "It's about Gray and where he's gone. You think so too, right?" Lyon said. "That someone or something caused that mission on purpose, to send a message to Gray."

Erza nodded. "Ultear Milkovich," she confirmed. "There shouldn't be any other ice wizards that strong in Fiore."

"That's awfully roundabout, isn't it?" Lyon said, frowning. "Why go to all that trouble?"

There was a pause as Erza realized she had revealed something Gray had probably wanted to hide.

"Oh. So you haven't heard," she muttered. Still, it was too late to try to take it back, and she went on, bluntly, "You know, right? That woman who was on Galuna with us was your master's daughter. She was also a member of the Magic Council. However, it turned out she was a mole who supported Jellal's plan to revive Zeref. After they tricked the Council into using Etherion, she destroyed the headquarters in Era and disappeared without a trace."

For a moment, Lyon stared at her blankly, trying to process everything she had told him. Erza waited for his reaction, ready for violence or an outburst, but Lyon only took a deep, shuddering breath and closed his eyes. His fists clenched, his expression shifting along with his thoughts.

"...I see," he said finally. "So Gray might have gone off to meet her, even though it might be a trap."

"It's possible," Erza said, but her tone was unconcerned. "But Gray didn't think so. He considered things enough to ask you to take a message, so it wasn't like he rushed off blindly. If he really believe he was in danger, he wouldn't have gone alone. I trust Gray and his judgement." She nodded to herself. "So I don't think he's in trouble. I just don't want him to be alone, whatever the outcome."

"I wonder..." Lyon muttered. "I'm not sure he was thinking as clearly as you assume."

"Then that's all the more reason not to waste time," Erza said. "Of course, if he's in trouble, I'll rescue him." Seeing Lyon hesitate, she cut to the chase again. "Are you coming?"

Her bluntness made Lyon scowl, but Erza only waited calmly for his response. It only annoyed him more that she had seen right through him — down to the original reason he'd followed her.

"Yeah," Lyon finally conceded. "I'm coming too."

He always saw things through to the end, and this especially he couldn't leave half-done.

~.~.~

That decision would prove to be very fortuitous, for them and for Gray.

"Don't worry, he's alive," Lyon hurried to assure Erza, and himself, as they stared at massive ice spire in the center of the old shrine.

A sword had appeared instinctively in Erza's hand, and she grasped it hard enough to make the metal of her gauntlet groan quietly. "We have to get him out. I can cut through it... " Erza said instead. However, she hesitated to strike, afraid of hurting Gray in the process. "No. You can melt it — do it." She punctuated her words with a sharp look toward Lyon, though it was undercut by the barely restrained worry beneath.

"It won't be that simple," Lyon warned, already stepping up to the ice and gingerly laying one hand against it. "If it was ordinary ice, Gray would have been able to free himself to begin with... Huh? This is... time magic?"

"Gray said Ultear can use that," Erza said impatiently. "Why does that matter?"

Lyon had paused, momentarily thrown off guard by what she told him, but he regained himself quickly. "As far as I can tell... she changed the timeline of this ice. Under normal conditions, it would take about a hundred years to melt."

"That's too long!" Erza protested. "We have to do something!"

"Calm down," Lyon said, earning a dark glower from Erza. "I didn't say it can't be done. I just need to get rid of a hundred years' worth of ice. To an Ice Make wizard, that's nothing. And... it might not look that way, but Gray is still fighting it from his end too. Between us, it shouldn't take more than a couple days."

"A couple of days..." Erza repeated, closing her eyes and trying to think through the situation logically. If that was only a couple of days, there was no point in going to get help, since the trip to Zonia from Magnolia was close to a day in one direction. Not to mention that she didn't like the idea of leaving Gray — or Lyon — alone up on the mountain. Finally, she nodded sharply. "Then get to it. I'll keep guard."

This was the second time she tried to order him around, but Lyon again didn't comment, understanding her frustration and worry. "Is that really alright?" he asked instead. "Just staying here until we get Gray out?"

"What do you mean?" Erza said, just barely managing to keep her tone from becoming accusing.

"I told you, Gray is still working to break this ice down from his side. It's just that with only his power, it'll take some time. I would estimate... about a week," Lyon explained. "I can't imagine that woman didn't realize it. So this was only ever going to be a temporary measure."

"So either this is bait to lure us out — unlikely," Erza continued his reasoning, "— or getting Gray out of the way for just that long is enough for her plans."

There were many other variables, of course. Whether Ultear had known or considered the possibility of Gray leaving a message for his guild, whether she had predicted who would answer it... But in the end, it all came down to one thing.

"There's not enough information," Erza said. "We don't know anything about what she might be planning. There's not going to be a trail to follow in any case. The best we can do is help Gray and hope he's got some idea of what she's aiming for. And given the chance that this might be a trap, I still can't leave you alone with him either, not when just going to town would take hours."

For a moment longer, Lyon turned all their options over in his mind, but he couldn't suggest anything better and in the end only nodded. "Then I'd better get started," he said. He just hoped Gray knew something they didn't — and that it wasn't too late to act on that information.

~.~.~

"Natsu Dragneel!

"Cana Alberona!

"Levy McGarden!

"Freed Justine!

"Elfman Strauss!

"Juvia Lockser!

"And Mest Gryder!

"These are the candidates for this year's S-class trials!"

There was more to the announcement, but Makarov paused, waiting for the inevitable protests. He wasn't disappointed, as Natsu went so far as to climb onto a table to draw attention to himself. "Hey, aren't we one short here, Gramps?!" he demanded, pointing accusingly at Makarov. "Where's that lousy ice pervert? There's no way he didn't make the cut!"

There were murmurs of agreement in the crowd, most loudly from Juvia, who would have spoken up if Natsu hadn't.

"Erza's not here either," Levy pointed out, looking across the stage where Mira and Gildarts stood on either side of the master.

"That's right, Gray and Erza aren't here," Makarov said loudly, over the noise. "Otherwise, Gray would indeed be on this list. He still is... if he makes it to the island in time for the trial."

"Huh, that's fine then," Natsu said, backing down with surprising ease. "He won't miss this." For him, it was apparently that simple.

"But this is a really big thing, isn't it?" Lucy asked worriedly. "And they knew it was coming. So why would they be cutting it so close?"

"That's true. What if they got in trouble? If we all leave..." Levy said.

"Erza's with him, right? They'll be fine," Natsu said, and everyone seemed to agree with this logic, nodding along. "Or maybe they ran off on some super secret training trip again. They've been weird all year."

The guildhall broke into a hubbub again as everyone began to discuss their own theories. "Quiet down, you brats!" Makarov yelled. He cleared his throat in ensuing silent. "I trust Gray and especially Erza to take care of themselves. And, given that it's them, half of Fiore would know if they got in trouble," he added dryly, imagining the explosions and destruction. "We can't cancel the trials just because they're running late. Even if they're not here here next morning, we will still be heading out — to Tenrou Island to decide the next S class wizard!"

A cheer went up throughout the hall. But, surreptitiously, Makarov exchanged a look with Macao. If Gray and Erza really did miss the boat, Macao and the others staying behind would start looking.

~.~.~

NEXT: Tenrou, part 1

~.~.~