OH MY GODS I AM ACTUALLY ALIVE! *for now* *can already feel creepy aura around her* Oh boy.
I am sooooooo sorry! 11th happened! I died a few times, got resurrected who-knows-how, and I finally passed! So before 12th started, I wanted to, at least, post this. But, *sigh* I couldn't! *cries to death* for the ppl waiting out there for this bitchy writer to actually update since months, I hope this and the next chapter would be worth the wait. This is becaaauuusee... *drum roll* it would be the point of an awesome PLOT TWIST! This chapter would contain a recount of everything from third person POV, i.e., an insight on how Lucy, Erza and the other guild members feel about this, plus, appearances of some characters you might have been waiting for!
Well, at least, awesome to me when I thought it sooo... *nervous chuckle*
Plus, we are very near to the Prologue scene! It would be in either this or the next chapter.
Hope you like the eighth installment (ninth?) of Possessed!
Somehow, dedicated to sktrgrl13! Here's the loooong awaited chapter! ANGST FOR LOVE, ANGST FOR LIFE! XD love the quote XD
Replies to Reviews:
Guest: October 1, 2013
Thank you for your review. *sigh* I don't even know if you are reading anymore. Thank you for loving the story! It is really appreciated.
Cristel: September 30, 2013
Aww! Here's another one. A pretty long one. I hope you like this! And about Gray being saved... We will see about that later. *evil smirk*
Rewinsan:
Thank you for your continued support! I tried to improve upon my descriptive parts in the chapter. Let's see if that makes you tremble too. *smirks*
Dragonmarker:
oooh! long time no see! Thank you for liking my OC! Wait for the future chapters. *psst psst* Maybe you will actually fall in love with him. XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the respective characters. I just own Drake and the funny editing skills in the cover picture.
Previously...
Team Natsu visited Mystique Mansion, Emzorde for a mission. Turned out it was protected by runes and you needed to solve the puzzles to reach the treasure. After going through the difficulties, they finally reached crossroads. Unfortunately, Natsu and Gray got the Wrong one, resulting in Gray being possessed.
As the guild discovered about this, Gray met Drake for the first time, which made him believe that he would soon be an imitation of Gray. Gray lost his consciousness soon after recovering from the temporary possession. Gray ran away from the guild hall when he came by, while followed by Natsu. This is when Freed came and unlocked the runes of the book, revealing the details of the possession spell.
Meanwhile, Natsu confronted Gray on the riverside, resulting in Gray sharing his experiences. Soon they were found by Lucy and Erza, sleeping. But they realized that both were in a trance.
Natsu had somehow got into Gray's mind. But he was soon deceived and thrown out. Gray was all alone. Drake then changed forms and tortured him with the images of his beloved, hurting him and saying not-so-good stuff. Right b4 Natsu in his mind attacked, he woke up, only to find actual Natsu by his side. Then he collapsed. Oh my... that was long!
Chapter 8: Mysteries Unraveled
After what all had happened last night, it certainly was an ironically bright afternoon. The sun certainly loved Fairy Tail. Gray opened his eyes slowly, only to be met by the harsh bright light, resulting in him squinting through the rays to look around.
And what he saw was certainly unexpected.
He was, of course, in the guild's infirmary. On the left side of the infirmary, sleeping on the couch, with a strange book on her face, was Lucy. Beside her sat Erza, also sleeping. Natsu was fast asleep on a chair to his right. He felt something fluffy beside his head, only to find a sleeping Happy. Juvia, who might have returned from her mission, was sitting on the window sill, looking towards the bright sky.
She turned her head slowly, only to look at him straight in the eyes and suddenly she yelled, "Gray-sama!" Natsu jolted awake, as well as Lucy and Erza and Happy. Juvia was suddenly by his side. "Gray-sama! What happened? Gray-sama is in the infirmary and Juvia doesn't even know!"
"Juvia, not now..." Erza warned.
"No! Who else should Juvia ask? You all wouldn't tell Juvia anything!"
Gray looked around at the worried faces, his morning mind still trying to recall. "Gray-sama, what do..." she sounded as if she was going to cry any moment, "W-what do they mean that Gray-sama is... possessed?"
That's when it hit him, the events from last night. His mind went on absolute alert as he pictured the same faces in that dark forest... the words...
These faces... no, t-they were his nakama... They wouldn't harm him, right? No, he couldn't stand them. He couldn't fight them!
He suddenly couldn't breathe. The room made him claustrophobic. He frantically searched for an exit and made a dash for the open window and he was gone in a flash. "Gray!" Natsu exclaimed and jumped after him, followed by Happy.
"Natsu! Leave him-" Lucy dashed towards the window, but they were already gone, "...alone." She sighed. "I hope they would be alright." The girls stared at the window for a while, till Erza said, "I will go inform the Master about this." And she, too, went away. The only people left now were Lucy and a silently weeping Juvia.
"Why won't anyone tell me anything what happened to him?" Juvia said between her sobs. "Juvia..." Lucy said. "It is hard to explain. We don't know anything about it!" Lucy sounded frustrated. "I mean... gah! Gray has got into something that should not be even remotely close to him! He doesn't deserve th-..." she started sobbing, "Lucy..." "...because of me! It is all because of me!"
"What...?"
"If only I and Erza had chosen that green path! If only I hadn't separated them, Natsu would have... if only I didn't listen to that... that..." Tears ran freely down her cheek.
But then, she felt arms around her. Juvia was hugging her. "J-Juvia please..."
"No, Lucy-san! Stop blaming yourself! It is no one's fault! Please, stop crying!" Juvia held her, till Lucy tried to suppress her sobs.
They suddenly heard Master's booming, incoherent voice, resounding throughout the guild. Lucy jerked away from surprise and hastily wiped her tears.
"I... I think we should head downstairs. I promise I will tell you everything there."
"Tell her what?" a male voice whispered in her ear, scaring her shitless.
"Loke! What are you doing here?"
Loke chuckled at his Master's reaction. "Well, you did promise me an update, Princess." She turned towards him.
"Oh, yeah sorry Loke... I promise I'll-" suddenly, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close. "Lucy, are you alright? Have you been sleeping? Why does my Princess look like a zombie?"
"Oh, shut it, baka Lion!" She freed herself from his grasp with a light blush and turned to Juvia again. "Where were we? Yeah. Downstairs. Loke..."
"Yes, Hime?"
"Will you quit calling me that? So, yeah..." her tone, which had gone annoyed due to the pervy lion, turned dark again. "So, you want to know what happened. Follow me."
Loke was thoroughly confused. He looked at Lucy, and then Juvia. He had felt the inner turmoil radiating off his master in the spirit world, so he decided to drop by, using his own magic. And it was a good thing he did. After all, it was hard to miss the sadness on his beloved master's tear-stained face.
And so, he summoned The Great Spiritual Sparkles of Awesomeness, adjusted his swag glasses, and said, "As you wish, Princess." After all, an annoyed Lucy is far better than a depressed one.
Levy and Freed were submerged into the books when they heard the clanking of metals. Erza emerged from upstairs and disappeared into the master's office. After a while, Master and Erza came out.
Makarov climbed onto the bar counter and said in a booming voice, "Listen to me, my children! Gray is awake..." This triggered a round of hushed murmurs around the guild. "... and missing!" The murmurs intensified. "What?" "When?" "But he was..."
"Silence! There is no use, wasting any time in murmuring and questioning. I want every one of you to search for him and Natsu and bring them back to the guild!"
"But Master!" Erza protested, "I told you what happened! And you still-"
"Erza, my child, I have considered your words. But we cannot take any further risks. You certainly remember what happened yesterday due to our mistake of leaving them alone." Erza lowered her head. "As you say, Master."
Makarov cleared his throat again. "Everyone, divide into groups and search the whole of Magnolia thoroughly!" "Yes, Master!" everyone started to leave the guild in groups. "Levy and Freed!" the aforementioned couple stopped at the doors and turned back. "I need both of you to stay here. I want a proper report on the information you were able to collect."
Mirajane started to prepare drinks for the guild members. Lucy, Loke and Juvia joined them soon after. "What happened? Where is everyone? Did we miss something?" Lucy asked.
"No," said Erza, "Master sent them off to search for the guys."
"What?!" Lucy turned to the Master with furious eyes. "Why did you do that? We told you what happened yesterday!"
"Lucy, it is not safe for him, or anyone, to wander around alone. You do remember what happened yesterday-"
"I very well remember what happened! But I think you just neglected what happened this morning!"
Erza cut in, "Lucy, I think you shouldn't-"
"No Erza! I can't just... no!" Lucy's voice started to shake, "he didn't escape to be alone, like some lone-wolf shit he usually pulls off. Master, he ran away. Gray ran away from us."
Silence surrounded the guild hall. "What?" unexpectedly, it was Loke who spoke. His flirtatious nature vanished on hearing Gray's name and he stared at Lucy in confusion and fear. "What... what happened to Gray?"
Oh, how could Lucy forget! Loke was Gray's partner during the S-class trails. Of course they were close! "Lucy," his voice was rigid, "what happened to Gray, Lucy?"
Soon she realized that the question was directed towards her. "Loke, Gray... Gray is possessed by Drake Wolcott, the dead master of Mystique Ruins."
"Graaaay!" Natsu called, as he and ran around Magnolia, with Happy flying behind him.
Gray managed to outrun them by morphing ice into fake scenery, making them bump face first into it, and tumbling into the bushes. Later, as he finally melted through it, there was no trace of the ice mage.
"Why don't you follow his scent, Natsu?" Happy asked. Natsu gritted his teeth. If only Gray's scent was Gray's. It had slowly been changing, or should he say, merging with the scent of Drake, of the tunnels, of the ruins. "I can't, Happy. He smells different." As much as he hated to admit it, Gray's smell was slowly merging with that of death.
They kept running when suddenly Happy shouted, "Natsu! He is near that alley!" Natsu stopped and turned around as fast as lightning. There it was: a mob of raven hair. As he ran closer, he saw him turn towards him. But... something was off. He didn't have bags under his eyes. His posture was confident, which was absurd, considering the current events. His face was neutral.
"Gray?" Natsu asked hesitantly as they were finally face-to-face. "What happened, Natsu?" Gray asked conversationally. Absurdity level: Ultimate. That was when he caught his whiff of mint. Only mint. This wasn't Gray.
"Who are you?"
"What kind of a stupid question is that, flame-brain?" Gray said.
"Where is Gray?"
"What! Did you hit your head? Of course I am..."
"I said," Natsu held Gray by his collar and pulled him closer. "Where. Is. Gray."
At this, the ice-mage gave a nervous chuckle. "I told you I am..." but he stopped by the looks of Natsu's eyes. But to Natsu's surprise, the nervousness vanished and his face morphed into a smirk. "Leave him alone. He doesn't want to meet anyone. He wants to be alone."
"No!" He suddenly set his free hand on fire. Gray started to sweat. "Where is Gray?" At this, he just smirked and said, "I don't know."
"What?!"
"You will just melt me and still won't get an answer. He didn't tell us where he went. Now if you'll excuse me." And with this, the Gray removed Natsu's hand from his collar, and walked away coolly, leaving a flabbergasted Natsu behind. "He said 'Us'." Natsu punched the nearest wall. "That smartass bastard!"
"W-what? Loke said, "And you are telling this to me now?"
"Look, Loke. It completely flew out of my mind and-"
"And what, huh? If I hadn't come to the guild today, I would never have known, right?"
Lucy became silent.
"Enough, Loke." Erza said, in her authoritative voice. "She is right. A lot has happened since we returned from Emzorde. It is not her fault!"
"No Erza. I'm sorry, Loke... I should have-"
"Okay, sorry, whatever." Loke just realized he had nearly completely lost his composure. "I-I am sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you, Lucy.
"But... what happened to Gray?"
"Umm... It's complicated." Levy said.
Mira came up to them, with drinks, "Please take a seat, everyone! The tables are all empty after all." Everyone settled down as she handed over drinks with a heart-warming smile plastered on her face.
"So," Erza started, "as you know, Loke and Juvia, we went to mission to retrieve the lost treasure from the ruins of Mystique Mansion, in the enigmatic city of Emzorde. The request was sent by Will Neville, who, as we got to know yesterday was found dead. He had been dead since a year."
"What?" asked Juvia, "How?"
Levy chimed in, "Well, we kind of guessed that he was possessed too, right before Gray. That report said that he had been dead for a year now, so... Plus, Gray confirmed it."
"Anyways," Erza continued, "moving on, we got into the mansion. We were going explore, but before we got a head-start, a mysterious voice started to resound in our heads, and the land beneath our feet disappeared. Natsu asked Happy to stay behind, in case they needed help.
"So, we ended up in a dark tunnel. It was like a puzzle game: the mystery voice would baffle us with puzzles, and we would solve them to proceed. But we somehow managed to pass through. That was till we reached the 'concluding stage' of the little game: the crossroads. And that was where I made the mistake. I chose the Pandemonium, and Gray chose the... treasure, as the mystery voice put it.
"Gray must have known about the path. I-I mean... I know how he thinks! He probably must have known that what he chose was the wrong path but... that idiot!" Erza's bangs covered he eyes, as she took a long deep breath to calm herself down. "Lucy called out Loke, as soon as I told her that the boys were in danger."
Lucy continued, "When I and Loke reached the location, all we could see was green mist, slowly dissipating, revealing knocked-out Gray and Natsu. We somehow managed to escape. The ruins collapsed, and eerie voices echoed around the premises. Later, the next day, we reached the guild, thought the mission was a fraud, and forgot about it. That was when it started.
"Around midnight, Wendy went to the Master and said something about Gray smelling different. They then got into a hushed discussion. At that time, I was sitting across Gray, while he was peacefully sleeping. I did not understand. A small group had formed around Master and Wendy, when I reached there; I just caught a part of the sentence '... I think Gray-san is possessed.'
"The clock chimed 12. I immediately rushed towards Gray, to check if he was okay. And all I was met with were a pair of green eyes. I was so terrified! He wouldn't respond! He wouldn't wake up from his trance! He was frozen on his spot. After a long time of futile shaking and calling his name, and Natsu nearly trying to beat him up so that he could snap out of his trance, his body slacked. And this time when he opened his eyes, they were thankfully blue.
"But the relief was short-lived. That was when I noticed things about him: heavy breathing, a terrified expression, an unexplainable cut on his hand. It was as if he just saw a freaking ghost! Only that it was much, much worse. And soon after, he passed out again.
"The next day, around the afternoon, when we came to check upon him, he had already fled, leaving behind a note, that somehow helped Freed to unlock the book-"
"Whoa, pause. A note?" asked Loke.
"Yes, I found it in the counter near Gray's bed." Erza said, as she took out a piece of paper and handed it over to Loke.
Will – Possessed
Drake Wolcott
Don't follow me
Something seemed off to Loke. Why the hell would he leave a note with absolutely unrelated random words? [AN: I found this note part the silliest among the other silly things I did in previous chapters, so I had to bring this up. Sorry to cut the flow. Please read the previous sentence again, and then proceed to the next one.]
That was when he noticed.
"This is not Gray's handwriting."
"What?" Erza snatched the paper from Loke, nearly tearing it. "Yes... the letters are a bit uncoordinated, so I assumed his hands were shaking. But... yes, you are right. The curvature of the letters is different." [AN: handwriting analysis. Go figure.] Then it dawned on to her. "You... you mean Drake made him write this?"
"Yeah... I mean, he probably didn't leave a message a while ago, when he fled due to certain reasons, did he?" he said, with a slight bitterness in his voice.
Lucy, thinking that it was directed towards her, shrank away from Loke, without him noticing.
"Loke..." Mira warned. "Yeah, sorry. Please continue."
Lucy sighed. "After Freed unlocked the Book of Emzorde which we luckily found in the guild library, and revealed all the secrets about the possession spell, I and Erza went to search for the boys, to inform them about the book, hoping that they didn't fight and destroy the town," she cracked a small smile, which soon disappeared.
"Long after the night had fallen, we did find them, sleeping under the tree. Little did we know what actually had been happening."
"What happened, Lucy-san?" asked Juvia.
"When I went to shake them, they did open their eyes.
"Only that their eyes were glowing green."
Meanwhile...
Location: Council Investigation Site, Emzorde, Fiore.
"So, you mean that this man here had been dead for a long time?" inquired Evergreen.
"Yes, ma'am," the Council's Head of Investigation replied. "The reports say that he has been dead for a year now. His body was found yesterday. Sources say that this man, Will Neville, came here for the search of some lost treasures of the Emzorde Kingdom, but wasn't able to succeed. So, he tried to seek help the guilds."
"Oh," Evergreen continued, "So you mean he was spotted alive, even after he died, according to the Council Forensics?" [AN: Let us assume such a thing exists.]
"Hai. In fact, he was spotted, escorting some people towards the ruins of the haunted Mansion. And right after that, he disappeared. This is what has been troubling us. He was found dead right after escorting those Fairy Tail mages, as the hotel manager claimed them to be. I think they are somehow involved in-"
"Okay that's it. Thank you for the information." Evergreen's spectacles gleamed in orange in the setting sun's light, as her lips slowly formed a smile. "Now if you may please look here," she brought up her hand, revealing a lacrima crystal. When he looked at it, she channelled her magic through it, making it glow bright, and the next thing we know is that the Council Member was looking at her, dazed.
"You never saw me. Fairy Tail has no relation to this case. You may continue the investigation." The Head of Investigation answered in a dazed affirmative, as she smirked and walked away.
"Heh, that man from the last mission did provide us with some nice stuff."
"Stop playing around with the Memory Make crystal, will you? We are on a job here." the voice in her left ear reprimanded her. "Sorry, Laxus." She wasn't actually sorry. "Did you listen to the whole conversation?" she spoke into the wireless.
"Yes. Good job. Check on Bickslow. I have tracked down Jean Luc Neville."
Location: Forest Area, Outskirts of Emzorde, Fiore
"Gave me a hard time, you did." Laxus said. The running person came to an abrupt halt, when Laxus appeared in front of him.
"What do you want? I don't have any information you require."
"Oh? I doubt that." Laxus walked closer. When Jean tried to run again, thunder boomed overhead, and lightning struck the ground in front of him. He froze on his tracks.
"Just because you don't possess any magic, doesn't mean that I would actually spare you. So be a good boy and answer my questions truthfully." Jean turned back. Laxus was standing in front of him.
"You were the one who met Gray and the others, before they left for the Mansion."
"I warned them, told them that my father could not be trusted! But they didn't listen and went to that wretched place, despite my warning!"
"Why was your father dangerous?"
He hesitated to answer. But, having second thoughts about the man in front of him, he guessed didn't have a choice.
"My... father and I came to Emzorde for the missing treasure of the Emzorde aristocracy. People believed that the treasure can be found in the ruins of the Mansion. But, rumour also had it that the Mansion was haunted. But a mere rumour didn't deter my father. We went through that underground labyrinth. But... those rumours, that unnerving voice echoing through the tunnel... it scared me. And as soon as we saw the skeletons... that was the last warning. I pleaded my father that it wasn't safe. But he was too engulfed in the greed of treasure. He wouldn't listen. After futile attempts to make my father forget about the treasure, I fled."
Laxus picked him up by his collar. "You left your own family in that game of death?!"
"P-please... I didn't know what could have happened... I swear! I-If I had known..."
Laxus left his collar, and Jean unceremoniously fell down. "You are a despicable human being; I don't want to be around you even for a second. So tell me everything before I smack your face. What happened to your father?"
"He... He returned the next day, but something was different about him. His crouch was gone; he had this maniacal grin plastered on his face. And... He radiated powerful magic. [AN: Fact Check: can normal ppl sense magic?]
"My father was not my father anymore. And... It was my entire fault. If I hadn't left him in that maze, maybe he would have..." he broke down to tears. "I did what a sane person would have done: I ran from my father. And as I ran, I heard him say that he would take revenge for his suffering.
"Later I realized that the revenge he talked about wasn't from me, but from everyone who made him suffer."
"What are you talking about?"
Jean looked up at him with blood-shot eyes. "He wanted to massacre Emzorde for something that happened years ago. He wanted to kill everyone who watched him suffer. And for that, he desperately needed a perfect strong vessel. And now, his wish is nearly complete."
"You... you mean..."
"Yes. As soon as the possession is complete, he would wipe out Emzorde."
"What happened after that?" Juvia asked.
"The boys would not move." Erza said, "They were dead cold, which was, at least, abnormal for Natsu. But a little later, something absurd happened. Natsu moved.
"His eyes were green. But then again, his eyes are naturally olive-green. In a mechanical voice, he asked for help. He told us that Gray and Drake were... trying to kill him.
"We were shocked! How was that possible?! But he continued to say that Gray is slowly killing him and we had to separate them to save him. He said he was dying due to connection made by them! Oh, I can't believe we fell for it!"
"It... it was my fault." Lucy said in a voice so low that if the room would have been quiet, everyone would have missed it. "I-I insisted on separating the boys. I-If I hadn't... then Natsu might have..." she started sobbing, as Juvia held her close. "I wasn't Lucy-san's fault! You didn't know-"
"Oh, I also did not know the green path led them to their deaths! I did not know that the bad feeling I had about the mission had been a premonition!"
Everyone in the guild hall was silent. Lucy calmed down her breathing, wiping the treacherous tears that dared to escape again. "What happened after it was horrible! With his green, glowing eyes open, Gray writhed around, screaming, as if someone was torturing him from within! But he wasn't screaming for help. He was screaming for everyone to shut up! I was frozen on the spot, eyes fixated on him.
"From the corner of my eyes, I could see Erza, struggling to reach Gray, but runes stopped her. The only person with him, trying to wake him up, and looking at him as if he could see exactly what was happening to Gray, was Natsu.
"In the middle of his struggles, he somehow attained a huge cut across his chest. I heard the painful uttering of my name from his mouth; mine, Erza's, Lyon's, Ultear's, and even Ur's! Numerous wounds kept appearing. It was as if... the people in his mind had impersonated all his close ones and attacked him... in every way possible!" she said, with horror evitable in her voice.
"Finally, we heard a hushed 'Natsu', a finalizing cut appeared on his arm and his eyes turned blue again. He stared at Natsu, first scared, and then his eyes became softer. It was as if at that time, the only person he trusted was Natsu."
Loke was horrified. "So... so you mean he was tortured till his breaking point? What kind of a sick magic is this? And he is injured?" Loke said, "And he has fled-"
"N-no..." Lucy said, "All his wounds healed, except the one on his arm."
"Yes," Erza said. "Even Wendy, or in fact, even Porlyusica couldn't heal them. They were some sort of... tally marks on his skin, as if counting the number of days it would take him to..." possess Gray.
Master cleared his throat, "so that was the recount of the current happenings." He looked around the table, only to find everyone looking at him funny. "What?"
Mira smiled and said, "Oh, Master. We all forgot you were here!"
"Huh?!"
Everyone gave a nervous laugh, as he sweat dropped.
"Ahem!" Makarov cleared his throat in annoyance, "Freed, Levy, your report."
"O-oh yeah." Levy smiled nervously. "Well, you see, Freed and I researched on similar cases, and luckily, we found in-depth reports about four such and only cases. The first case dates back to X650, which wasn't long after the death of Drake Emzorde. It was the guard of the Mansion, who came back to check upon the place, after the mansion was blown up. But, being old and fragile, he was easily possessed. It took Drake exactly two hours to possess him.
"According to the book of Emzorde," Freed continued, "the vessel's power is proportional to its expiry date. So he had to immediately switch to a more daunting container. So, the second one was a young lad, who was challenged by his friends to enter the mansion. And, of course, Drake was overjoyed.
"But of course, he craved for more. So when the wizarding guilds started to take notice of the happenings, he started planning. After all, what could be a better vessel than a wizard? At that time, the old guilds were aware of the happenings in Emzorde. So he had to lure in the new ones. And at that time, the guild that recently came to power, was-"
"-Fairy Tail," said a voice said from behind the Master. The golden light slowly dissipated, revealing the Fairy Tactician: Mavis. She said, "Leslie, one of the strongest female fairies, was the next victim."
"W-what? A Fairy Tail member?"
"Yes." Mavis said, as she walked closer, and stood beside the master. "I had tried my best to defeat that great evil. You were wondering about The Book of Emzorde, in the guild library. I was the one to attain it. It was a journal on the theory behind the dark magic he created. At that time, we had all kinds of wizards, but not a rune master. With horror, I realised that the book could only be unlocked my rune magic, and what there was in it, was all fake.
"All the other copies of the book were destroyed by him, so that the day, when he could actually be stopped, could never come. But of course, I hid this one somewhere safe, just in case I am not able to stop him. And it was found by Levy.
"As you must have guessed, attaining the book didn't assure victory. I tried everything, but the time was limited. She got possessed in just two days. And after that, she nearly massacred the village.
"So I had to stop her. And the only way to do that was by killing her."
Some looked at her with wide eyes, while the others gasped.
"S-so you mean... if Gray-sama would..." Juvia's lower lip started quivering, "we would have to kill Gray-sama?" Mavis looked away. It started to drizzle.
"Juvia, as soon as he took full possession, Leslie was lost forever. Her soul was dead, and her body taken over. It turned out that he could not be killed, when he possessed a body.
According to my observations, his magic enabled healing at the rate not so fast, which gave a 98.9% assurance that if I use an attack so strong..." She looked at other's horrified faces, "Let us just say that it took him nearly hundred years to heal and regain enough power to move on."
"This brings us to our final victim," said Freed, "Will Neville. He was possessed a year ago. We don't know anything about him yet.
"Summing it up, the main point I want you all to focus upon was the fact that it took variable amount of time for Drake to complete the process. The minimum has been, as in the case of the guard, four hours, and maximum, as in the case of Leslie, two days. And in each case, a certain pattern was followed."
"So," Erza asked, "You mean a certain pattern is being followed, provided that we already know the deadline?"
"Yes."
"Then we have four days, two of which have passed by."
Everyone looked at her blankly.
"What? Isn't it obvious? Lucy, do you remember the last riddle?"
"... Yes, it said:
"Offering waits for the lingering. Deception and haunting will be what one would be reaching. There is treasure, treasure for the lingering. Greed and selfishness is the means appealing. Two to Frost, one to rest. Four days till being possessed."
"Yes, that one. Offering waits for the lingering: It meant that the vessel, Gray, is waiting for the lingering, Drake! Deception and haunting... treasure for the lingering... it all makes sense! Finally, 'four days till being possessed'. We have four days."
Everyone stared at her in awe.
"So," Lucy said, "it was all in the maze. This means... remember after we escaped, an eerie voice was chanting, Imitation... Hurt... Slaughter... Death?"
"Four days, four stages. This is the pattern!" Erza said, "Each day, each stage was executed! Yesterday was Hurt. The day before yesterday must have been Imitation."
"W-what?" Lucy gasped, "But then, that would mean that tomorrow is Death! Gray would d-die tomorrow?"
A heavy silence surrounded the group.
Suddenly, Loke stood up. "That's it. I am going to search for him. Thanks for the drink, Mira." And with that, he exited to guild doors.
"Master, I am going to figure something out from the book we got." And with that, he, too, stood up to leave, when,
"Umm, mina," Mira said, hesitantly, "according to the pattern, this would be the third day. And if the pattern followed is same as described by Lucy, then the third day would be... Slaughter."
Slaughter. Murder. Massacre.
What was Drake going to massacre?
Meanwhile...
Location: Lamia Scale Guild, Fiore.
A dark silhouette walked down the road, lurking in the shadows, hiding his identity from the whole world. His only aim was to reach his final goal, to reach his destiny, Lamia Scale. And for that, he could do anything!
Okay fine. Enough melodrama.
The guild doors opened as the slightly less rambunctious guild gave sideways glances to check on the guest. Lyon was the first one to actually recognise him,
"You are Fairy Tail's Gajeel."
Hearing the name of Fairy Tail, everyone turned towards the duo.
"What are you doing here?" Lyon inquired.
"I am here on the orders of our master. You are that other Ice-block, right? Come with me."
"You just don't barge into the guild hall and demand to-" at this, Gajeel spun around and glared at him with the deadliest glare. "Look, ice-head. This is about Gray and I am in no mood to argue. Either you come with me or I carry you to Magnolia. And seriously, I would rather prefer the latter."
Lyon was getting impatient and angry. He was getting nowhere with this metal head. But what Gajeel said next, flipped him completely.
"Gray's life is in a potential danger, and the Master assumes that his arrogant surrogate brother needs to be informed about his well being. So shut your ass and follow me."
"Master! We found him!" Macao barged in, with Wakaba, and Romeo, while Warren was dragging Gray along. Everyone rushed towards them. "Oh Gray-sama! Where had you been? Juvia was so worried!" Gray just looked at her with a blank face.
"Something is off..." Erza murmured.
Then suddenly, Cana barged in. "Gray is here!" announced Bisca, with Alzak, Asuka and, well, Gray.
"What? How is that possible? We found Gray!" Wakaba protested.
"Wha- no way! We just found him!" Jet said, as he and Droy dragged in yet another Gray.
"What is happening?" Juvia exclaimed.
Master sighed and stepped forward to evaluate them all. "That idiot fooled us all. Look closely. These Grays are made of ice." At this, all the Grays grinned and vanished into thin air.
Mirajane sighed. "I am joining the search party. I prepared some food for Gray. Ha hasn't eaten since yesterday, and we don't want to starve him." She smiled and lightened the mood a bit.
"I will join you," said Erza. "Me too." Lucy and Juvia said simultaneously. The four girls exited the guild, into the cascading rain.
Makarov sighed and said, "Warren, pass around the message about the fake Grays. Everyone, continue the search!"
As everyone exited, the Master couldn't help but smile at the antics of the ice mage.
"Bickslow, do you copy?"
"Yes, I have sent my babies to map the parameter. Oh, they're back." Bickslow's babies gave them a report, as he entered the honorary gate of the honorary mansion. So far, nothing was out of the ordinary.
"I'm going in, and searching for the maze. I'll update you soon."
"Update! Update!"
"Over and out!" exclaimed Bickslow, as Evergreen sweat dropped on the other side of the wireless.
"Oh, whatever," she said, and disconnected the device.
"Hah, time to start the investigation."
Bickslow stood in front of the honorary front door of the ruins. The sun was already setting. He had to complete this before the night fell. "I should probably start from the place that looks recently blown up. After all, destruction is in Fairy Tail's blood!"
"Blood! Blood!"
He started walking towards the mass destruction, when suddenly, the ground under him disappeared, and he fell into oblivion.
He landed on a rough terrain. "Oh great. That was a really warm welcome!" He stood up to check where he was. And maybe the luck was at his side. In front of him, were the crossroads.
He smirked, as he proceeded into the green one.
"Figure Eyes!" he chanted, activating his Seith magic. It was extremely useful in detecting the souls.
He scanned around for any movement, but there were none. At last, his eyes locked on to the trunk at the end of the tunnel. And to say that he was shocked was an understatement. He removed his mask to recheck, and his fears were confirmed. "What kind of an evil sorcery is this?" he whispered, as he stared ahead, with wide, glowing eyes.
At the end of the tunnel, there was a trunk. Inside the trunk was a 140-year-old body, and within that body was a part of a severely mutilated soul.
"Where were you?" Evergreen shouted at Bickslow, as he finally showed up after two hours. They had nearly missed the last train to Magnolia. "You were gone for aeons!"
"I told you I just went in for a while!"
"And that while for you is two hours?!"
"Oh, forget it!"
"Forget it! Forget it!" his dolls chimed.
"Will you both shut up? You are giving me a headache!" Laxus glared at them.
"Sorry, boss." Bickslow said.
"So, Laxus," Evergreen asked, "did you get any report?"
Laxus leaned back on the train seat and looked out of the window. "Jean had met Will. And I don't mean a year ago. Will came to Jean, right before he went missing at midnight...
"...just before Gray was possessed."
"A pattern, he said," Mira muttered to herself.
"Hmm? You said something, Mira?" Erza asked, as they passed the scanned the river bank. In the background, Lucy was whining about the ache in her back and the absence of the dragon slayers with awesome sensory powers.
"Yeah... I mean, why would he just randomly decide to try to torture Gray for four days? There should be a reason behind all this."
"I have thought about it," Lucy suddenly said, making Mira jump. They had just assumed she wasn't listening. "I mean... Imitation: it may roughly mean impersonation, which may mean that Drake was showing him that they were impersonations? Maybe.
"Hurt: Hurt from his friends, family, everyone. A basic form of physical and mental torture, so that he could end up, severing all his ties by losing his trust.
"Death." Erza said, "the final stage. As described by Mavis, the soul was dead, and the body becomes a shell, possessed and abused my that bastard."
"And finally, Slaughter," Lucy said. "What could that mean, slaughter of the people of Emzorde? Causing harm to Gray? I am scared. We need to find the boys and a crazed spirit."
"Yeah." Mira said, "There's nothing here. Let's go into the town."
"Attention, everyone!" Natsu heard Warren's voice in his head. "Gray has spread his replicas all around Magnolia. Be careful of what you come across!"
"Che, I already know that," muttered Natsu.
He had checked nearly everywhere: Gray's house, the streets, Lucy's house, even the riverside. He couldn't track his distorted scent anywhere. "Where are you, droopy eyes?!" he said as he skidded to a halt leaned on the tree surface. "Don't worry Natsu, he will be alrig-"
"After all that you have seen, you actually can believe he is alright, Happy?!" Happy became silent. Natsu let out a frustrated groan as he slid down the tree and sat, with his hands over his head, clutching his hair. "I am sorry, Happy. It is just so frustrating! First, I cannot track his scent. And now it is bloody raining!" he sighed. "Even the sun has set... we are running out of time."
"Natsu, we will find him. I mean, we can ask around for him, like that lady in the graveyard or the guy on the top of the church."
Church?
Natsu saw Happy's eyes widen in excitement and looked up frantically. Yes, they were indeed in near the Kardia Cathedral. And the guy on the top of the Cathedral was, "Gray!"
TBC
So, recall anything after nearly-a-year's wait? Oh, I am a horrible person. *sniff*and even a horrible-er writer. I don't even know if such a word exists! *sniff sniff*
I crossed the 7000 mark! I can't believe I actually wrote so much! That's, like, 3.5 times my previous chapters! But, according to my chapter plan, it was supposed to be longer. Then I realised it was too long, so I decided to divide it into two halves.
... And now I am feeling like I didn't write much... I just rewrote the bloody story... *cries in the emo corner*
The next chapter will contain all the action and creepy stuff. Stay tuned! It will be updated soon, and hopefully, real soon.
I would love to hear from you. Feel free to review/PM, and bitch about the story!
Till then!
~Dark
