Chapter Nine
Gray stumbled and fell on the ground, looking up mutely at Natsu.
He saw the fury, the betrayal at Gray's omission playing freely on his face.
"You knew I was looking for them!" Natsu let out in an low growl. "You knew I was going after the clues that came from the bracelet – I felt that I was starting to get close to something but this-!" the fire mage threw his hands up in the air, unable to find the words he wanted to say. "What the fuck, Gray!"
"Natsu…" Gray started to say, one hand hesitantly raised between them. "I didn't…"
"No, you didn't." The fire mage retorted coldly. "What do you want from me, Gray?"
"Listen, Natsu, you have to listen to me. I didn't mean to hide this from you but it was necessary." Gray stood up slowly, brushing the back of a hand on his cheek.
"Necessary?" Natsu grasped tightly at the front of Gray's shirt and shook. "You knew what was going on and yet you pretended not to know a thing!" He let go of the ice mage's shirt and saw as he quickly regained his footing. With an odd neutral expression firmly placed in his face, Natsu looked at Gray. "You lied to me." He said coldly.
"I had to! You weren't ready yet! At the time. Going through the trials of the seals and all!" Gray said in a tightly controlled voice.
"Ah, so you knew what was going on too. Way to go, huh? You asshole…" Natsu's cold expressionlessness front shattered quickly as rage erupted once again.
"I couldn't say anything! You don't know-" Gray said earnestly.
"I don't know and now I don't know if I want to." Natsu punched a tree that was too close to the boarder of the path. It fell down with a loud thud.
"You had to undergo the trials. It's in your blood. " Gray cut in quickly. "And I, as your bodyguard, had to watch over you…" Gray started saying, taking a step toward the fire mage but stopping when he saw the tenseness in his shoulders.
"So, you being my bodyguard was the reason why you got closer to me. Fuck you Gray. Just… fuck you!" Natsu spun on his heel and started walking fast, to reach the girls as quick as possible.
Gray let out a defeated sigh.
"Shit…" he ran a hand over his face. "Way to go, Gray…" he said to himself in a defeated voice.
The ice mage shook his head, took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders, and went after his friends.
Both Lucy and Erza were able to notice that something had happened. And it wasn't exactly a good thing, given the dark cloud that seemed to be hanging over Natsu. The fire mage was behaving oddly and had reached them before Gray did.
And then when the ice mage had caught up to them, Natsu hadn't as much as looked at him. An aura of gloom surrounding him.
"Huh, boys… is everything alright?" Erza finally asked, after a long walk under an immensely awkward environment.
"Everything's fine. Why? Doesn't it look fine?" Natsu answered in a forced airy voice, though it sounded as fake as it was.
"Hey, none of that. We just want to know what happened. You guys are acting weird." Lucy replied.
"It was…" Gray started to say.
"Nope. We're going to finish this mission as soon as possible and then go back to Magnolia." Natsu cut Gray's reply caustically.
"Fine." Gray replied, as he glared at Natsu. "But we need to talk, again."
"You come close to me again and I'll incinerate you." Natsu said in what was mostly a growl. There was an air of hostility that was directed at Gray in such a degree that it was frightening.
"Boys, boys. Please, calm down." Lucy stepped so that she was between the two pissed off mages, trying to make things settle down.
"I'll be fine as soon as I don't have to look at his ugly mug during the whole fucking day." Natsu snarled, turning his back at Lucy and Gray and walking down the path.
"Natsu-!" Erza started by saying.
"Leave him be." Gray said in a defeated tone. "He's too pissed right now. It won't do anything to try to reason with him while he's with a hot head."
"He truly is a fire mage." Lucy agreed, trying to lift the mood a bit.
Gray looked at her mutely for a long time before raking his hand through his hair and letting out a humourless laugh.
"Yup, he sure is…" Gray agreed, shaking his head. "Come on. we have to catch up with him."
The three friends hurried after Natsu.
They returned to Gelida town, ending up being led by the same guy from before, towards the forest and into a hidden cabin where they met Porlyusica.
The older woman noticed the tension right away, she glanced between Natsu and Gray and let out a weary sigh before sitting down heavily behind her desk.
"So you didn't make it." She started, placing one hand on top of the desk, the other curling around it.
"No, they had already been transferred to the capital. We're quite behind them." Gray answered.
"I don't think that they have such a lead on you. Sure, they left earlier but their pace is bound to be slower, specially since they have such high profile prisoners and need to reinforce the guard." Porlyusica spoke to the girls. "But you mustn't dally, that's for sure." She stood up and snapped her fingers. One door to her side, concealed behind a heavily loaded bookcase, opened and a tall, lanky young man appeared and seemed to wait for her orders. "Bring the map, please." She told him before turning back to the team. "From the latest piece of news we got, they will take some time yet. You have ample time to catch up. And then, we'll get you inside the capital and with the connection."
"You have a spy in there?" Lucy asked, leaning slightly forward, thorn between interest and worry.
"We have several." Porlyusica said drily. "But for the subject at hand, this guy's the right person."
"How will we find that person?" Erza asked.
"He's been in the slums of the capital, the most vicious of places." She paused and threw a pointed look at Gray but only received a blank look back. "Anyway, here is our location," her spindly finger pointed to one place in the map. "This is the path we think they might be taking, a longer one but in secondary roads," she drew a line with her finger, "if you take the main road, you'll supposedly be able to catch up on the delay." She traced the new path with her finger, the tip of her nail resting above the larger dot, which signalized Celeris. "We think that this might be your best chance."
She looked at the team, waiting for questions. Seeing as there were none, she stood. "Well then, in that case, here, take the map." She handed it to Erza. "And also this," she produced an envelope from underneath the table, "will be helpful to you. It's the information you need to reach the contact – and how to. You should only read it as you're in the last leg of the trip. Also, you're to dispose of it as soon as you read it." She handed it to Lucy.
"So, we save the, huh, right, people and that's it?" Natsu asked at long last, extending his hand to take the envelope but seeing as it was handed to Lucy instead. "Hey!"
"My companion will give you some provisions so that you don't waste more time before heading out." Porlyusica said, nonplussed by the glare the fire mage threw at her. "Now, go. And, good luck."
The team started to leave the room, Lucy and Erza first, Natsu following and Gray lastly. That was why he was the only to hear the words Porlyusica said next.
"It's an acquaintance of yours…" the cryptical words made Gray pause.
"Huh?" Gray asked unintelligibly. "What do you mean?"
"The connection. You know him…" the words were said, pointed and right to the point.
Gray's eyes widened and he blanched. Then caught himself and nodded. "I see. Thanks." He gave her another nod.
"It won't be easy." Gray could still hear her say that as he left the room and joined his friends.
He got a few questioning glances from the girls but what bothered him was how pointedly Natsu was ignoring him.
It stung.
Gray understood why Natsu was acting like this, rationally, yet he didn't like it. Their relationship had always been a push and pull sort of dance and ever since the beginning of the challenges, they'd grown closer. Gray couldn't help but wish things had been different. But, he still had a job to do – and there were many other things that took precedence, such as their current mission. Gray couldn't dwell in his thoughts for long, as it was. Grabbing the bag that was left for him, he hoisted it to his shoulder. With a quick nod to the other person in the room, Gray hurried after his friends.
The main road to Celeris was a well-traveled path, with a good number of people in it, both in chariots, in small groups or single people walking. At least the team wasn't sticking out in the crowd – they commented.
As they walked, they heard the mutterings of people, their appreciation of the kingdom in the current times. There were a few small towns where the team was able to take a small rest before they decided to do the thing Natsu dreaded the most. They got a quick mission in which they were to take a few amphoras to a restaurant in the lower town in Celeris and so they got themselves a carriage.
Not much was said, the conversation was seemingly light, interspersed by the moaning noises coming from Natsu, even though it was very noticeable that the girls wanted to know what was happening and why was the air between the boys so thick that it could easily be cut with one of Erza's swords.
Still, both Gray and Natsu persisted in their silence, stubborn as they were…
And so, before long, they were reaching the grandiose city, Celeris.
As they were reaching Celeris, Gray gulped.
It had been a long time since he'd last seen this sight.
The city of dragons was imposing. The tall walls surrounding the main city and where smaller circles separated the various sections of the city – and the majestic castle at the elevated centre. The dark grey set of the stone gave a seemingly gloomy atmosphere but the light colours of the houses and some of the brighter sections made it so that the gloom dissipated a little. Also, the constant noise of the people, mostly in the market, seemed to spread out with the wind over the whole city.
As soon as the team got inside the main gates, they were swept by the crowd, the familiar noises of the hustle and bustle making everyone relax the tiniest fraction – not much as they had a mission. Gray had relaxed a bit but seeing the purple of the guards in such a number made him freeze up momentarily. Those colours and the metallic noises that came from the armours had him remembering that one fated night.
Gray glanced at Natsu to see how he was taking being back to this place but the other mage was chatting with Lucy, not looking one bit out of place. If only Gray felt the same way… alas no, he felt immensely out of place.
Erza took them to the restaurant where they were supposed to leave everything, a quaint place called "Ouroboros". The owners of the place were relatives of the people who had given them the small mission but Gray felt some strangeness coming from the man. He seemed to be looking too closely at him – and who could this big man be?
Gray wondered briefly if he'd been part of Ur's men, seeing the scars and the corpulence of the man. But he didn't dwell on it. Also, they were heading out before long.
It was time to find the connection Porlyusica had told them about.
The slums of Celeris were, well, slums. Those didn't seem to change much, in the big towns. And, more so, when you were in a town wich such high military presence.
It had to be a sign that something was about to happen, it just had to – Gray reasoned.
The conversation between the team was now sparser. They had their senses in high alert and had to be cautious so as not to be caught unaware. Also, the small map Porlyusica had given them was kind of hard to follow in a place where eternal penumbra seemed to have set.
"So, we're to reach the dry fountain and go down the eastern street… three doors down?" Lucy was reading the map as the rest of the team both followed the instructions and keeping alert.
Finding the right door, Gray knocked on it. There was a bunch of noise before an answer.
"Who goes there?" Came a muffled voice.
"The dragon under the moonlight path." Gray replied in a low tone, nearly unheard by his friends. Still, Gray caught the confused looks they shared.
In Porlyusica's instructions the only thing that said in regards to this part of the mission was to let Gray handle things.
The door swung open, and they were ushered inside quickly.
Inside, the first room where they were was dark. There was some unpleasant scent permeating the air and a voice hissed at them to shut up. The door was closed once more and a small candle was lit.
"You're finally here, huh? Took you long enough." A voice said in a slightly hoarse tone, almost as if it hadn't been used in a while. "How was the sky?"
"Hey, what are you-?" Natsu started to say only to be cut by Gray.
"Stormy clouds coming up ahead." Was the serious answer.
"Good one. Now I don't have to kill you." Their connection said in a somewhat mocking tone. "Follow me." And a wall seemed to move inwards, leading to a corridor that was quite lit at the end.
"We can trust him, somewhat." Gray calmed his friends down. He noticed how they were too suspicious of the whole situation. Yet, it made sense. "Still, we better not let our guard down too much. We never know…"
"You seem to know a lot about these secret things, huh, Gray?" Lucy asked in a suspicious tone. Erza hummed in agreement.
"You don't know how right you are…" Natsu seemed to mutter. And their friends looked at him as if expecting for him to say more.
"We should follow that guy." Gray interjected finally, entering the tunnel.
"Let's go then." Erza conceded.
Gray was the first to emerge from the other side, a Spartan but simple area, with a table and some benches around it, sitting before a fireplace. There was a half-wall that seemed to separate that area from the kitchen area. The person was waiting for them, momentarily with his back to them, staring at the orange flames of the earth.
"It really took you long enough… Gray."
That made everyone pause. The team looked at Gray but he ignored them for the moment.
There was something so familiar… that countenance… something from the past…
"L-Lyon? Is that you?" he blurted, finally.
The other turned around, an indecipherable emotion in his face.
"Long time no see, brother…"
A/N: So, it's been a while with this story...