The sea was stormy which made the boat ride one or two waves dangerously, making the boat's occupants hold their breath and hold on to whatever came at hand really strongly.
It was quite a bumpy ride but thankfully they managed to reach the shore unscathed.
It was under heavy rain that the team, with a low morale, reached the inn.
They split up to dry up and it was decided that they would go to the inn's restaurant that night.
After waiting for Natsu to take his shower, it was Gray's turn to go into the bathroom. As he got rid of his remaining clothes, he couldn't help but look at his scratched torso. He blinked and let out a frustrated sigh. What he had seen had been too much.
'Maybe it was too much for me.' He thought wryly to himself.
But, how could it not be so? Gray couldn't explain what had happened.
Gray stood up, taking the forest in. His head was starting to throb, making him give a shake and run his hand through it. His eyes were looking around, taking in the trees and the small opening – a clearing? – nearby. The tree leaves were rustling and a small breeze slid through his bare frame. Gray looked up and saw that his shirt had been left, ripped, among the tree branches. The mage gave a quizzical smile at himself. And then a noise broke his contemplation of the place.
"Ahh, so you finally got here…" said a voice behind him.
Gray turned.
Before him stood a young man – or was it a woman with short brown hair? The androgyny of the person made it hard for Gray to qualify – with a lopsided smile. The lithe frame was dressed in a simple green shirt, a dark olive vest and long shorts. The feet were barefoot.
"Who are you?" Gray asked, wary. He hadn't seen anyone or heard anyone approaching.
"I am who I am." The woman – it was a woman now – said nonchalantly. And then the eyes turned to Gray and the ice mage couldn't help but gulp due to the weirdness of the eyes. They were red and fiery could be a good description to them for there seemed to be flames dancing.
'It's not possible, no Gray, you're wrong and must have hit your head so that you're seeing things. Flaming eyes, please…' he chastised himself.
"Hmm? Why not? It isn't uncommon between us…" the other said.
Gray froze, eyes widening.
"How could-? What are you?" Gray asked vehemently while his head started spinning. This being couldn't be reading his mind, right? It was impossible, right?
"Nah, not impossible." Came the reply, with a shrug. "And, as for what am I… well, let's say that I'm just someone that lives here." And then with a smirk, he finished his sentence, projecting to Gray's mind. 'I've lived here for quite a while…'
Gray gasped.
"Stop it." He demanded, adopting a fighting stance.
"Or what?" Was the amused reply. "You'll find out that your magic doesn't work here." The woman started walking towards the clearing, giving wide berth to Gray. "Then again, I'm sure you noticed some change, haven't you?" She smiled coquettishly.
"I… You're wrong." Gray denied.
"Ahh, no." The man's tone was amused. "It's there. Even if you deny it. Sooner or later you'll notice." There was a pause where the person tapped his index to his lips before stage whispering. "Though I hoped it would be sooner rather than later… Oh well, doesn't matter. Things have been set in motion already. You probably saw the girls."
"Girls? Wait, you know who they are?" Gray couldn't help but ask curiously.
In response he got a loud snort.
"Do I?" The man asked before laughing heartily. "And so will you." He concluded predatorily, with a smile full of teeth.
Gray's instincts seemed to instantly go to fight or flight mode as in a subconscious level he knew that what was coming there wasn't good.
The other raised his right hand and from the ground green vapours seemed to rise, coming to stand floating in an amorphous mass that settled in the form of distorted and weird leaves. Three slits created what looked to be the eyes and mouth. A menacing noise, as the one of falling rocks down a cliff, seemed to be emitting from them.
"But for now, much to my chagrin," the woman raised her arm and her face adopted a mask of mock-regret, "you better go." She let out a loud sigh and turned to the side, facing away from Gray. "And it might be better if you hurry…" she tilted her head so that she was looking at Gray. "Otherwise, some… unpleasant things might occur…" she concluded with a chuckle before making a dismissive gesture with her hand and turning on her heel and disappearing amidst the vegetation.
There was a moment where it seemed to Gray like the world stood still. The green things, the wind, the trees, the odd bird. And then everything started to happen too fast.
In one instant Gray, who had been on edge, had his nerves – his whole body, even – screaming at him to 'run'. And that's what he did.
Gray plunged into the forest, doing his best to evade the odd sapling that got in the way, trying not to slip in the leaves and pine needles that coated the floor, hoping that he wasn't being slowed down by the branches that fustigated him. And through all of this he could hear the gravely noise a hairsbreadth behind him.
'I just hope that I'm going the right way…' he thought. And in the far distance, he could still hear some mocking laughter.
And in the back of his mind, Gray had the niggling thought of how hard it was to reach his magic. How the other person had been right. And that was only increasing the sense of panic that was brewing inside Gray into a storm.
Strangely, his feet seemed where to take him and so, before he knew it, he was bursting from the brush and hurtling towards his friends.
They were waving frantically at him and Gray really needed no further incentive.
The ice mage sighed.
'What the hell… no, why the fuck did that happen to me?' he wondered as he got dressed. 'First it was the others saying that I've done something I've no idea of having done. And now that person. What did they mean with what they said?'
The ice mage returned to the bedroom to see Natsu sitting at the table and being weirdly contemplative. When did Natsu pause long enough to look at the rain going down the windowpanes?
"Hey Natsu. Ready to go?"
The fire mage seemed to snap out of his thoughts and stood up. His movements seemed to be strangely slow, lacking that spontaneity that so characterized the dragonslayer.
"Yeah, let's go. Time to eat." The dragonslayer's attempt at levity seemed forced.
They went to the girls' bedroom and in no time the team was going to the restaurant.
The meal was a subdued affair as not many words were exchanged. The food seemed to be tasty but, Gray spoke for himself, to him it was like eating ash. Even Natsu's enthusiasm at eating seemed to be lacking, as the fire mage was making use of his usually forgotten good manners. It would have been funny if the ambiance wasn't so serious.
No-one mentioned the island.
It was just too muddled and strange. And that bad feeling from before still pervaded.
Soon after they were heading for their rooms. Outside, the storm was still raging.
"Do you guys want to come to our room to talk for a bit?" Lucy started, tensely.
"It might be a good idea. We need to talk about what happened today." Natsu agreed.
They reached the room and didn't take long to take a seat, the girls in their beds and the boys at the table. Gray noticed how Natsu stopped to stare at the window.
'Weird…' he thought to himself.
"So…" Erza started, letting the word hang out in the air. "That island has some evidences about having unnatural things occurring."
"Yeah, you can't explain that house." Natsu quipped humourlessly.
"Natsu." Lucy admonished.
"Not yet. But it might be important for the mission if we do find what's behind it." Erza continued.
"But, don't you think that it might be going further than what was asked of us?" Gray queried.
"That is true but…" the red head's words failed her. "I don't feel well with myself if I think about leaving without discovery this mystery. Besides…" she did a meaningful pause. "It's not only this mystery. There are more things out there…"
"You have a good point." Natsu said distractedly as he toyed with his scarf. "There's much for us to learn…"
"Well then." Lucy said with her 'this means business' tone. "What happened to you after that… thing…?" she let out a cough. "You know… I don't have much to tell. I found myself at the beach, near the place where he embarked."
"I was in the yard in front of the house. Those slabs of stone are too hard. I think I might've bruised my coccyx." The older mage let out a grumble.
"Ahh, there's nothing to know about me. I mean, I was thrown into these ruins – they looked quite old – and then I decided to find the place where you might be. I saw the heavy clouds and how they didn't look like good news. And then was that awful boat ride." At the last sentence the fire mage grimaced and seemed to pale slightly.
"Yeah, that was a tough one." Lucy said helpfully. And they looked at Gray, waiting for his side of the story.
"Huh, I think that my time separated from you guys was more eventful." At the enquiring noises, he continued. "Yeah, so… I found myself in the middle of the forest. Kind of lost my shirt in the trees. But then there was this weird person there… I can't say if it was a man or a woman but they started saying some really weird things. I don't…" Gray cut himself and tried to sort his thoughts. "Okay, there were these weird leaf-like things that just… terrorized me. What the fuck was that?" he said in an incredulous tone. "And then I ran."
A stunned silence met the ice mage's words.
"That doesn't seem possible?" Erza started.
"Don't you think that I know that?" Gray replied curtly. He let out a sigh. "But it did."
"Well then, that settles some things, then." Natsu said in a decided tone. "We probably need to go back to the island but it's too dangerous for you to go."
"Wha-what?" Gray spluttered.
"Natsu's right." Erza agreed.
"Erza! No. I… I'm not a liability!" Gray stood up and turned to the red head.
"No, you're not. But it's not a matter of that. It's about your safety."
"It wouldn't matter if it were me or you. You would probably act the same way." The irate mage was trying to keep his voice level controlled.
Strangely, his statement was met with a wry smile from the red head.
"I understand that you don't like this but, it has to be this way." Erza repeated.
"I think that, before setting any plan on stone, we should take some time to think about what happened, to rest." Lucy cut in, in a conciliatory tone. "We can take the more serious decisions tomorrow, don't you think?"
"Okay. Fine." Gray grumbled and left the room.
"See you tomorrow, girls. Have a good night." The fire mage said as he walked out of the room at a slower pace.
The two mages lay in bed in silence. The darkness was near complete but each knew that the other wasn't sleeping yet.
"Gray, you were a bit over the top earlier, no? The girls only said that because they're worried about you…" Natsu told the room at large. There was an instant snort in reply.
"Yeah. I do understand that they mean well but I don't need to be coddled." The anger was tightly controlled in the ice mage's voice.
"They're not coddling. You would probably do the same if any of us were acting weird." Natsu replied. "Or having weird encounters."
"I wasn't the only one with one weird encounter. You also had one." Gray shot back.
"Okay," Natsu conceded. "But it was only one thing. You… to you it seems like you're attracting those things."
"What are you implying, flame-head?" there was a rustle that meant that Gray had sat up.
"I don't mean anything more than what you understood. But it's better to just go to sleep now."
"Ugh, you're acting like such a child." Gray said, hopelessly.
"Nu-uh. The one acting like a child is you…" Natsu replied in a sing-song voice.
"Oh. Go to sleep, you." Gray lay back down on the bed.
"Sure thing, frozen-brain." Natsu replied agreeably. "But my promise remains…" he added in a low voice before moving to a better position to go to sleep.
The shadows moved slowly, twirling and contorting, as dense as smoke. Silence was complete.
The world was still grey due to the mists that seemed to muffle the whole world.
The noise of the waves crashing against the shore increased in volume as did the moistness in the air.
He could feel his feet, how they were on water.
Sinking in the sand as the water made the sand dance in tourbillions with every movement of the waves, the results of such a meeting being the white foam and dark grey sand spiralling everywhere. The white fabric clung to his legs. It was flimsy but it still stuck to him uncomfortably.
There was a voice. In a high-pitched tone.
He looked up to see the girl by the tree line. Her mouth was moving.
The hand was stretched out in front of him, delicate limb and shiny bracelet.
As the hand closed on thin air, despair filled him.
'No, it can't be!' A female voice, not his own, uttered. The sentiments that those words carried struck deeply.
The movement was too fast. The water reached her arm, enveloping it and closing in around it and starting to bleed into her body. It started becoming leaden, the water squeezing and making pain course through his body. He felt himself falling forward. But just before falling flat on his face, he felt himself be suspended on air. A hand caressed his cheek but it was too hard to open his eyes. He let himself plunge into unconsciousness.
A/N: New chapter! So sorry for the delay but I had a moment where I didn't have internet and so, couldn't post. Then again, that made me continue writing so, was it a bad or a good thing? xD
And in this chapter we see what happened to our poor Gray. Yet another new character and does anyone have any idea about what's going on? No? Good. xD Just kidding. It shall be explained, later. It will!
Anyway, no beta, hardly any rereading to make sure if things make sense (sorry if they don't) and this is for ya, my dearest Citrus. ^^
Ah, I almost forgot, a quick heads up, I changed one or two things at the end of last chapter. Nothing major but it was just so that the continuity flowed better. And there was a word that was slightly confusing, maybe.
My most heartfelt thanks to those who are still hanging on and especially to those who comment. You really don't know how happy your comments make me.
That said, it's always awesome to get feedback.