I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters
Chapter 11
*Gray's pov*
"What the hell?! Aren't you supposed to be dead?!" All thoughts of going back to sleep had been abandoned. Staring at Natsu in front of him, he felt his mind go blank. Had he finally gone over the deep end? Had he finally cracked? That was the only answer that made any sense. Because Natsu was dead. He was when they pulled the plug; he was when they put his coffin in the ground. How could he be alive and standing here when he was in the cemetery? Oh god. He had gone crazy.
"I must be crazy. This-this isn't possible. You died! We buried you! Yeah, I'm definitely crazy, that makes so much more sense." Natsu chuckled a little and Gray just continued to stare with wide eyes at the pinkette.
"Do crazy people debate whether they're crazy or not?" He saw Natsu's mouth move and heard his voice, and it all seemed so real. But it wasn't.
"You're not real. You are just a figment of my imagination." Natsu shot him an exasperated look while the raven just calmly stared at the pinkette.
"Gray, for heaven's sake, I'm not dead. I'm seriously here right now." Gray just shook his head, not believing it for a second.
"No. You're not. Natsu would have never been buried; he would have visited way before now. None of this makes any sense. You don't make any sense." He saw the frustration in Natsu's eyes as the dragon slayer released a low growl.
"I can explain if you'd even listen to me! But you won't. I know you! You're rationalizing everything right now, am I wrong? I know I'm not." Gray narrowed his eyes at that.
"So what if I am? If you're something I'm imagining of course you'd know me and what I'd do. But for the hell of it, why don't you try to explain this." He gestured between them and stepped back, letting the dragon slayer in. The pinkette nodded in acknowledgement and plopped down on the couch, gesturing for Gray to sit down across from him. The raven did so and sat expectantly, waiting for Natsu to speak.
"Okay, so I was attacked…" The pinkette began and the raven rolled his eyes.
"No shit, dumbass." Natsu narrowed his eyes.
"Am I talking? Yes, I am. Stay quiet and hear me out. No interruptions. Got it?" The raven nodded. "Alright, so after our fight I decided to stay and wait for you. I promised I would stay and that we'd stick together until we felt it was safe again. I wasn't going to go back on that, no matter how angry you were. So I fell asleep in your bed after you stormed out in my sweatshirt. I woke up when I sensed someone here and it definitely wasn't you. He was trying to sneak up on me, which I found amusing. You know it's nearly impossible to sneak up on me. He must have thought I was you, because at first we just fought, nothing too serious. I lost him in the darkness, and then lit my fist on fire to try to find where he was hiding and that's when he must have noticed that I was me and not you, because he pulled a knife and you know what happened. I tried to crawl away, but then I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen, so I just lay there, thinking. I came to terms that I was going to die, you were angry and no one suspected anything. No one would be coming in time. So I accepted it, I only regretted not being able to make up with you and not being able to say goodbye to everyone one last time, to say goodbye to you one last time. While thinking that, my blood kept draining and there had been no way for me to stop it enough. That's when I fell unconscious." He stopped there for a second, letting the raven process it. Gray had felt the same way when he had found out what had happened to the pinkette.
"Then all I remember is darkness. I started walking but I never got anywhere. Then I heard you speak. You said to fight like I never had before, and all I knew was that I needed to find you, so I ran. I ran and ran, but still never got anywhere. I wasn't sure if I was dead, or just unconscious, but I never woke up. The darkness was everywhere but I could hear and feel bits and pieces. I felt you hold my hand, and I heard you and the others say your goodbyes. I realized then that I really was going to die, that you all were really saying goodbye. It really pissed me off that you were all so sad, and I couldn't do anything about it; and I knew that I was the cause of it. Then I heard you speak. You said that you loved me, and that you'd live for me and I just crumpled to the ground. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't respond. Nothing. I yelled out in response, but I knew you'd never hear me. I wanted to live for myself, not live through you or in your memory. I know it was selfish, but I wanted to be beside you and with Fairy Tail, even if it was just for a little bit longer. I didn't want to die! I heard all the background noise fade away, which I never even noticed until they weren't there anymore and I turned to see this light behind me that hadn't been there before. I got up, figuring that wherever it led, to wherever my death would bring me or back to reality, you all would be okay. Everything would be okay. So I walked into it. I heard a voice say, 'you must live, Natsu. You still have many things to do.' And the next thing I remember is waking up in the forest Igneel found me. I know I died, Gray. I don't know how I'm here now. I have ideas, like maybe Igneel brought me back, or maybe I heal really slowly because I'm a dragon slayer, or maybe it was a miracle. I even thought maybe it was your power, but Levy said it was highly unlikely. So I guess in the end I don't really have any answers for you. I'm just as confused as you are." He finished what he said with a sigh and ran a hand through his pink locks in frustration.
"Okay." He didn't know why, but he believed him. It didn't matter that it didn't make any sense. Maybe he just really wanted Natsu to be here with him; maybe he just wanted to believe Natsu was alive for one more day. Maybe he really was here. Natsu glanced up at him in surprise and the look sent a pang through Gray's heart. How could Natsu look so alive and attractive, considering the circumstances?
"Okay?" Gray nodded as he glanced down at his hands.
"Okay." He may have whispered it, but he couldn't remember when he had ever been so sure about something like he was right now.
"Seriously? I tell you all of that, and all you say is okay? No questions? Wow, I'm surprised." Gray searched for any questions he might have.
"You heard everything?" Natsu nodded slowly and Gray looked away with reddened cheeks, slightly embarrassed.
"You know, I still feel like you're not really here. It's gonna suck if it turns out this really is all in my head and I finally wake up and realize you're still dead." He said a little sarcastically but still deadly serious. Natsu stood up abruptly.
"Where are you go-" He stopped abruptly when Natsu crouched and moved his face extremely close to Gray's.
"What are you do-" He could feel the dragon slayer's hot breath on his face as Natsu swiftly leaned in and pressed his lips against the raven's, effectively cutting Gray off again. The kiss was gentle and too soon Natsu pulled away, smirking.
"You talk too much. Does it still feel like I'm not real?" Natsu was still extremely close and it was making Gray's head hazy. He shook his head no and reached forward and grabbed Natsu's vest, pulling him closer. He rested his forehead on the pinkette's chest, just listening to his heartbeat. He felt Natsu hesitantly wrap his arms around the raven.
"I missed you…" He whispered and he felt the warm arms tighten around him.
"I missed you too… Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you and I should have been more careful. I never wanted to hurt you or anyone else and that's exactly what I did…" He clenched Natsu's vest tighter as he looked up at the pinkette.
"No. I'm the one who should apologize. I was jealous; I just didn't want to admit it. I don't want to lose to you, or admit defeat. Sometimes, I feel like we're still rivals, that we still need to compete. That's not true and I know that, but I must be so used to it that I automatically got defensive. So I'm sorry. I should have been here; maybe you would have never gotten hurt. I thought you were gone forever…" he trailed off as he gently put his forehead back on Natsu's chest as he felt his eyes begin to water. He wouldn't cry. Shouldn't he be happy? He was happy, but he couldn't forget what he had gone through these last weeks without the dragon slayer, and he probably never would.
"I know…I never meant to die on everyone. Even so, you're really strong, Gray. You would have been able to heal, move on. You probably would have been better off if I had stayed dead. I debated whether I should come back or not at first. I thought maybe this was where I had to let Fairy Tail and all of you go. That maybe it was for the best. You guys would have been fine without me, but I just couldn't stay away. As much as I feel that I'm not good enough, Fairy Tail is my home. You're here. Erza, Lucy, Happy and everyone else is here. There was no way I could never come back…" Gray's eyes widened.
"Y-you weren't going to come back? You were going to let us think you were dead until one day we accidentally bumped into each other and we realized you weren't?!" Natsu looked guiltily to the side, nodding slightly.
"I thought that you all had already let me go, so why cause the trouble of coming back after everyone already accepted my death? Plus we both know that we would have never run into each other, at least not as long as I was able to sense you. But then I thought of you." Natsu looked straight into the raven's eyes. "You'd have killed me if I had done that. So here I am." He smiled and scratched the back of his head.
Gray felt anger bubble up and he slowly pushed Natsu away.
"How could you even think about doing that?! You mean everything to Fairy Tail! What about finding Igneel?! You were just gonna give it all up?!" Natsu's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the raven's words.
"At first, but I didn't. Why are you so angry?" Was he stupid? Wait, Gray knew the answer to that. Natsu wasn't stupid per say, more like he could be extremely dense in certain situations. Other times, Natsu could be incredibly intelligent but that wasn't the case. Even though the ice mage knew that, it didn't make him any less irritated.
"That's not the point! You thought about it! It shouldn't have even been an option! That's why I'm angry!" He didn't know why he was yelling at Natsu right after he had learned he was alive, but letting all of them think he was dead? That was too cruel, he couldn't help but get angry.
"I wasn't thinking about it because I wanted to, I was only debating it because I thought you all would be better off. All I do is destroy stuff and cause problems for the guild! And you know why I thought it'd be better for you as well…"
"I know why it'd be better for me? Really? Why, Natsu? Enlighten me, because I really don't know!" Natsu looked away for only a moment before looking Gray in the eyes with the fiercest look Gray had seen in a long while. Natsu only got this look when he was serious, usually when they were fighting major battles that threatened his family or the guild. Needless to say, Gray hadn't seen that look in a long time.
"Because Gray! This- this isn't healthy! Look at us right now! What do you see? I see two people fighting over something stupid and we both know that we care too much to just let this go… If we stopped, we'd both end up seriously hurt in the end. I didn't want you to have to go through that and feel like I abandoned you because I don't care. This is too fragile right now, and you know how I am with fragile things. If I ever broke up with you, it would be for you, not because I don't care anymore, Gray. I always have and always will, even if we can't be together. You should know that. That's why it would have been better if you had thought I was dead, it wouldn't have felt like I left you on purpose and you'd move on, overall it seemed easier for you even if I had to suffer. Either way, I wasn't strong enough to stay away. I had to see you again. So even though I knew that this wasn't good, for either of us, I couldn't just stop how I felt. I love Fairy Tail and everyone in it! I love you, dammit! Just thinking of never coming back was torture! I've been a part of Fairy Tail for so long, what or who would I be without it? I'd be nothing…" He trailed off slowly and hung his head in frustration. Gray was surprised to say the least. How was he supposed to respond to that?
"Repeat what you just said." Natsu lifted his head slightly and looked at Gray, slightly miffed. He knew that he should respond to everything but his mind was stuck on one thing.
"That without Fairy Tail I'd be nothing?" Gray could see the frustration and confusion in the dragon slayer's eyes as he randomly guessed.
"No, before that." Natsu seemed to think for a few seconds before speaking.
"That I love you?" Gray nodded slightly, still shocked. Natsu smiled slightly but it was not his usual grin.
"I love you, Gray. There's nothing that can change that." Gray smiled sadly as he cherished the words. It was the first time Natsu had said it.
"I love you too. That's all I need. I don't care about how this isn't healthy. I love ice cream and that is unhealthy too. It doesn't matter. I don't care how much we fight, we used to all the time anyways. It's what makes us us. You're right. We both care too much about this to just let it go, but why do we have to? Sure, it's fragile but most things are. I learned that a long time ago when I learned ice make magic. Ice is fragile, but strong. That's what we are. It was already too late to move on, I never had any closure thinking you were dead. If we ever really break up, we both will have to accept it and move along. That's part of being a Fairy Tail wizard, right? Being strong enough to endure almost anything. I know you care because I care just as much about you. Don't do unnecessary things that will torture you, just do whatever makes you happy. That's what the Natsu I know would do. Why overthink things? Just enjoy it, because all I know is I'm really glad you're alive and I never want to go through that again. I can't." Natsu stilled as he took all of it in but then he smirked at the raven, making the raven slightly nervous.
"Why overthink things? That's hilarious coming from you! You always tell me to think before I act." He let out a contagious laugh that had Gray's cheeks turn a light red.
"Well, I fell in love with you, didn't I? Clearly boisterous Natsu accomplished that without using his head, so why change now?" Natsu grinned.
"Yeah you're right! You fell in love with an idiot. I swear one day you'll regret it!" He let out another laugh at his tease but Gray was deadly serious.
"I won't. I'll never regret it." Natsu's smile slowly faded as his eyes turned serious.
"I know. I won't either." He felt Natsu's hand ruffling his hair before the pinkette stood up slowly. He held a hand out to the raven and Gray took it, relishing the abnormal warmth.
"Let's go to the guild!" Gray groaned and rolled his eyes.
"You woke me up extremely early… I want to sleep…" He whined but one look at Natsu's face quickly shut him up. Natsu leaned in and moved his mouth close to the raven's ear.
"Come on. It'll be fun. Plus you can sleep later tonight. If you even want to.." He said the last part with a smirk and Gray felt his face heat up. He playfully shoved Natsu further away.
"Fine, whatever. Don't joke about stuff like that." Natsu just blinked.
"You thought I was joking? I wasn't." Gray's face heated up even more as he stared at the serious dragon slayer.
"I-I'm going to get dressed." He stated awkwardly and Natsu grinned as he took in Gray's boxers and t-shirt Gray had haphazardly thrown on to answer the door. Gray just walked into his room and grabbed clothes, changing. As soon as he was done, they were walking towards the guild.
*Natsu's pov*
He happily walked down the streets of Magnolia with Gray close behind. He slowed down so he was walking next to him. He felt a tug on his vest and he glanced over at Gray.
"What's up?" Gray looked at him once he asked and he began to lose himself in those cerulean orbs.
"So what are we going to do?"
"We're gonna go to the guild obviously." Gray rolled his eyes at him and he chuckled. Gray could be really sassy if he wanted to be.
"I meant about us. Are we going to, you know, tell them? And are you going to live with me again?" the raven asked him quietly. He grinned at the ice mage as he realized what he meant.
"Well, it's really up to you. We can tell them if you want to. I don't want to do anything that would make you uncomfortable. And as for living with you, we'd have to talk to Erza. Speaking of, I haven't talked to her yet." Gray nodded at his words slowly.
"Okay. Let's tell them in a few days. Let's talk to Erza when we get there." He raised an eyebrow.
"Wow, you really want me to live with you, don't you?" He joked before he saw Gray's reprimanding look. "Kidding. So is three days from now okay with you?" The raven nodded in response and Natsu smiled a little, resuming their walk when he felt another tug making him stop once again.
"What is it n-" He stopped as soon as he felt Gray's arms hugging him from behind. He smiled as he felt Gray rest his head on his shoulder blade. The dragon slayer moved his hands to cover Gray's as they stood like that for a while.
"I really, really missed you." He squeezed the cold hands.
"I know." He said it with a small smile but he still felt guilty for putting Gray and the rest of his friends through all that happened. Especially because he had no answers as to why he had returned in the first place. How the hell was he even alive?! That one question rang through his head ever since he woke up in that forest from his past and still confused him. He was glad to be alive, but did he really deserve it? He had died, he was sure of that, but here he was breathing. Many good people died young when they had so much potential but they never took another breath. So why did he?
"Are you okay?" He was jerked back to reality and realized he must have been zoning out.
"I just don't get it… Why am I alive, Gray? It doesn't make any sense. I should have died that day you let me go, I'm positive I did. So how am I here?" He voiced his thoughts aloud but it didn't make the answers any clearer.
"I honestly have no idea. You're right about it not making any sense. You shouldn't be here but I'm glad you are. I'm sure we'll figure it out, either that or it was a question that was never meant to be answered."
"Yeah, you're right." He forced a smile but his dilemma still plagued his mind. "Let's get going." Gray nodded and they continued walking towards the guildhall in comfortable silence. A few minutes later they arrived at the guild doors. Natsu took a deep breath then kicked the doors open like he usually did. He walked in nonchalantly with a grin he had forced onto his face and Gray in tow. Mirajane greeted the two with a smile.
"Hello Natsu, Gray." She said in a singsong voice, he replied with a wave and headed over to their table, currently occupied by Gajeel, Levy, Lucy, Erza, and Wendy. Happy and Carla were sitting on the bar counter, talking to each other. He sat down heavily as Gray slid in next to him. He felt a burning stare and looked up to meet Erza's wide eyes. Then it dawned on him and he wanted to smack his head into the table or run away before it was too late.
"You're supposed to be dead." He suppressed a groan as he realized he'd have to relay the story again for the one-hundredth time in the past week.
"I was. I died when you all pulled the plug. I was stuck in this dark in between life and death place and I wasn't getting anywhere, then you all let me go and I saw this light. I went into it and died or at least I'm pretty sure I did. I don't remember anything except a voice telling me that I had things to finish and I wasn't ready to die yet and then I woke up in the forest Igneel found me in. I have no idea how I'm even alive right now." She just stared with steely eyes; he felt a shiver run down his spine.
"How long have you been back?"
"A week." She nodded and stood; now he was really afraid. She quickly grabbed him in a crushing hug and his head painfully banged into her armor. He suppressed a grimace and slowly hugged her back.
"I missed you too, Erza." He said softly, knowing that she was very happy he was alive.
*Gray's pov*
Natsu had been back for a week? That meant… His eyes widened with realization. That must have been why Mira was smiling impishly at them when they had returned… and it also explained the incident with Lucy. She must have been trying to explain that Natsu wasn't really dead when he yelled at her. He looked over at the blonde, who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him. He looked away guiltily when a metal hand ground into his scalp.
"Owww! Wha-" He looked up into the dark eyes of Erza who was surrounded by a very dark frightening aura.
"Apologize." He glanced over at Lucy while Erza was still holding his head down forcefully. She looked very anxious and scared by the way Erza's emotions were all over the place.
"Erza, it's really okay, do-"
"No. He needs to apologize properly."
"Wait. What's going on?" The raven glanced at the pinkette and saw the confusion clear on his face as the dragon slayer looked between Lucy and him. He looked away in shame.
"Gray screamed at Lucy yesterday and made her leave in tears. Explain yourself, Gray. Then apologize." He looked down at his hands while he spoke.
"When you died, I kinda didn't clean or do much of anything and after your funeral I went on a mission with Erza to keep my mind off of things just for a week, but without your sense of smell we had a hard time and it ended up taking us three weeks total. When we got back I heard Lucy was at my place waiting for us, which seemed odd. I started thinking and remembered how she hated us messing her place up and how it was always clean. She hates messes after all. So I got home and found my entire place clean like I feared… It wasn't even that she cleaned that was the problem. It was the fact that I had your sweatshirt I wore that day and your scarf that Erza gave me and she had washed them. At that point I thought you were still dead, so I freaked. It was the last thing I had of you so I just lost it. I yelled at her and told her to get out and she started to cry and left. I knew I was wrong and should apologize but I was really angry. I even slammed my bedroom door in Erza's face…" he trailed off and glanced up to see complete shock on Natsu's face. He stood up abruptly and bowed to Lucy and Erza.
"I apologize for my behavior. I was wrong to yell at you, Lucy. I was wrong to slam the door in your face, Erza. I know you both were trying to help and it was very rude to behave the way I did. I'm really sorry." Lucy stood up and bowed as well.
"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have cleaned your apartment without permission." He sat down again next to the dragon slayer as a comfortable atmosphere came over them.
"Levy, did you find anything?" He was surprised to hear Natsu speak. The bluenette shook her head sadly. Gray was lost already.
"I couldn't find anything about bringing someone back from the dead. There are mages with that power but they're very rare. It's old magic and there's not much about it but I am planning a trip to the bookstore in town and they have a lot of rare books, so I'll keep looking." She smiled encouragingly as Gray looked at the slayer to see how he felt about the lack of information. The raven was surprised to find that Natsu actually was deep in thought.
"You said there were mages with this power?" Natsu asked Levy slowly, and Gray caught onto the pinkette's thoughts. She gave him a small nod and explained.
"It's a curse called necromancy that mages can perform, it brings people who have died back to life. There are some theories that say that they can control the people they resurrect but I haven't found any concrete sources that point to that." A disgusted look crossed Natsu's face and Gray desperately wanted to reach out and comfort him. But he didn't.
"So basically someone could be able to make me do things and there's nothing I can do about it?" He could hear the loathing in the slayer's voice.
"Well, we don't know if that's what happened yet. Plus, I'm not even positive necromancers can do such a thing." Levy must have heard it as well and was trying to comfort him in a way.
"Levy. What else could it be? We don't have any other ideas… I could become the enemy…" The pinkette slammed his fist on the table abruptly, making the raven jump. He looked over and saw many emotions cross the slayer's face, a few of them being anger, pain, and resignation. Gray hated that one the most.
"Natsu, it'll be fine. You won't become the enemy, you'd never do that." He was trying to be comforting but Natsu was still pissed. He glared at Gray although he knew that Natsu wasn't angry with him.
"Gray. This is the only explanation that makes any sense. If this is really what happened, are any of my decisions right now my own?! Did I return to Fairy Tail because I wanted to? What if I'm here to take all of you down?" When he put it like that it seemed really bad. But they had just gotten Natsu back and now he was possibly their enemy?! He couldn't handle that, not after everything.
"Natsu, sorry but I think you may have misunderstood what I said. Controlling what you do, that's not likely. On the other hand, they control your actual life in a way. Or at least that's the theory. When they bring people back, there's a sort of connection formed. Almost like the two are bound together, when the necromancer dies, so do all of the people they resurrected. I think you still have free will and a mind of your own. For now, I wouldn't worry about it. I'll definitely find something and tell you." She finished with a confident smile and Gray couldn't help but admire her confidence and optimism in their current situation. They still didn't know who had attacked Natsu and in all the commotion since the actual attack, Gray hadn't really tried to figure it out who it was.
"Yeah, you're right Levy! Thanks a lot!" The dragon slayer grinned and seemed to cheer up. He let a small smile grace his features as he watched. He decided then that he wanted Natsu to keep smiling, it suited him better.
"Well, the renovations on my house are done and I think I should go back and put everything in order. Natsu, you're staying with Gray for now. Does that sound okay?" Gray looked over in surprise at the red head. It had only been a month since Erza had started the process on her house. Were renovations usually that short? Erza gave him a knowing look, as if this had been her plan all along. Had she been lying from the start? Were there actually no renovations and she had just been staying with him to keep an eye on him? He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Yeah sounds great, Erza!" Natsu said, still grinning. He continued to look Erza in the eyes, silently telling her he was onto her before he looked away, focusing on their other friends' conversations.
*Levy's pov*
"Oh! I should get going if I want to go to that book shop." She looked at the clock; it read 2:45 PM. She got up and started gathering her things.
"Shorty, it's only the afternoon." Gajeel pointed out.
"Yeah, but it's all the way across Magnolia and it closes at 7. See you all tomorrow!" She said cheerfully as she headed for the door.
"Do ya want me to come, shrimp?" She stopped and turned to the iron dragon slayer. She had gotten used to the nicknames at this point.
"No I should be fine. Thanks though." She smiled at him and he looked away with a huff.
"It's no big deal. Just thought I'd offer." She waved at everyone and turned back around. She heard Lucy and everyone bid her goodbye as she opened the door and left, heading to the bookstore with hurried steps. On her way, she began to try to come up with some ideas as to why someone would even bring Natsu back. Maybe they were good and just trying to be nice? She found that hard to believe considering what had been happening recently… Before she knew it, she had arrived at the bookshop and 30 minutes had passed. She opened the small wooden door and walked inside the little room. She couldn't stop the small smile that resulted in seeing all the old books on numerous shelves. She wanted to get them all! But she couldn't, she was here on a mission. She went to the dark magic section, hoping to find something there. Necromancy had to be considered dark magic; it wasn't normal or condoned in the world, that much she knew. She grabbed a pile of books about curses and sat at the small table in the back. She put on her reading glasses and speeded through them, looking for anything that could relate to bringing people back to life. The first few had nothing; the next couple mentioned it but never went into detail. There were plenty of curses in these books; she just knew that necromancy had to be among them. She went back to the shelf, looking for others that might have something when she noticed a book hidden in the back. She picked it up and inspected it. It was very old; maybe it would have something? Why had it been hidden in the way back of the shelf? She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, focusing on the ancient book in her hands. The bluenette made her way to the table sitting down and opening the dusty cover. She began to read and thought it was another dead end, until she reached the last chapter. It was labeled as Revival and Other Similar Curses. Necromancy was definitely in that category. She began to read the chapter a little slower and her eyes widened at the contents. She quickly shut the cover with a thud and grabbed all of her stuff. She went to the register and paid the owner for the book.
"Do you happen to know where you got this from?" She asked the older man as she stuffed it in her bag. He looked away from her inquiring gaze.
"No, I'm sorry…" She watched as he seemed to struggle with his answer, and she slowly grew suspicious. He was hiding something from her.
"Oh. That's okay. Thanks for your help anyways." She said slowly and quickly left the shop. The sky was darkening into purples and blues, the sun slowly lowering below the horizon. She sped up, hoping to make it to the guild before the sun went down completely. For some reason, she didn't want to be out here alone anymore. She wished she had taken Gajeel up on his offer. She could feel herself tensing up as the sky grew darker and all she could think about was how it was taking her forever to get to the guild. Maybe she was just paranoid, and she would have just gone home and went to bed if not for what she had just discovered. Levy gripped the strap of her bag as she tried to speed up even more. That's when she felt them. The eyes burning holes into her back. She quickly looked behind her and saw nothing. Now she was really freaked out.
"G-Gajeel? Natsu?" The solid script mage called out nervously, but no response came. She quickly continued on her way and by now she was almost running, trying to get to the guild that seemed just out of reach. She stopped dead. The sun was no longer in the sky and the stars had long since appeared.
"N-no… No way…" She whispered as the bluenette finally realized what was happening. She would never make it to the guild. Maniacal laughter echoed around her and she quickly grabbed her pen, getting into the defensive.
"I was wondering when you would figure it out..." The voice sent a shiver down her spine. It seemed to come out of nowhere. She slowly rotated, trying to find the source but nothing moved. The petite girl quickly turned around and ran straight into something solid. She fell backwards with an ear-piercing scream and landed hard on the cobblestone beneath her. All she saw was a figure in a black hood before she was picked up and the attacker's fingers wrapped around her throat, slowly squeezing. Levy kicked at her assailant, but they seemed unaffected. Her hands reached up and struggled against the hands on her neck as she slowly choked on the need for air. Her vision grew darker as she struggled, to no avail.
"G-Gaj-eel.." she wheezed out before she felt her eyelids lower and the darkness encompassed her.
*Unknown pov*
He watched the one-sided struggle on his lacrima with a sick, sadistic grin on his face. He had heard of the mage known as Levy and her intelligence but he had never thought she'd end up finding that book. Clearly the bookkeeper hadn't hidden it well enough.
"This really is a pity." He mused quietly; he had almost wished he had seen her in action before she ceased to exist. If his plan was to succeed, they could never find out the contents of that book. The young girl had become a part of something she shouldn't have and naturally he had to remove her from the equation. She should have never involved herself in this. The man dropped the blue-haired girl and she landed on the cobblestone road with a sickening thud. He smiled smugly as he turned away from the lacrima, turning it off. What he didn't know was that somewhere in Magnolia a sleeping dragon had been awoken.
TBC
Author's note: I started working on this immediately after I finished chapter 10, and I also won't have my sister reading these, so I'm sorry if there are a lot of mistakes but there shouldn't be too many. As for the whole Levy pov thing, I want to branch out a little and explore some of my other favorite characters, considering this story's description says that Gray and Natsu get to know other guild mates, so that's my plan. Nothing is really changing except I may be writing from a few more perspectives. As for the manga lately, I feel absolutely awful for the dragon slayers. Poor Natsu actually witnessing Igneel die and then Gajeel and Wendy saying goodbye! Ugh, sooo depressing. I've literally cried from some of these latest chapters… Anyways! Thank you to all who favorite, follow, and/or review! You all are AWESOME! It means a lot to hear all of your feedback and reactions! Don't hesitate to point out anything weird that I don't catch from now on. Now onto the reviews!
sktrgrl13: "nori... what did you do?! seriously! WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?! First you kill the love of Gray's life and THEN he somehow appears out of nowhere?! don't you dare leave me hanging on this I need an explanation damnit! AND A GOOD ONE! Sorry for my rage... I liked the chappie... IM JUST SO CONFUZZLED! and in my opinion Gray had every right to lose his shit on Lucy; you don't mess with a grieving person's belongings it just isn't right! -.- waiting ever impatiently for your next update!"
Yay! It's been awhile since you reviewed! Well my friend, I actually have no idea what I've done lol I really try to plan ahead but I always end up changing my idea last minute! At this moment in time, I have an idea of where I'm going with this story! And it all will definitely be explained soon, I promise! Don't be sorry! I actually really loved how you reacted to my chapter! I'm also sorry that I can't tell you anything or else it'd ruin the surprise for you! Actually, I updated rather quickly for my usual time that I update so at least I didn't leave you hanging for too long haha Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :D and I know it's really confusing and I apologize for any more confusion I may have caused in this chapter. Hahaha yes, I also agree, especially considering he wasn't home and she knew he had the scarf too, but I guess she just didn't think about it. I absolutely LOVED your review and look forward to hopefully reading more reviews from you (even if you yell at me :P ) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you again for reviewing! ^^
uzukun89: "Natsu, you will not be forgotten...only for finding the individual which resembles you in front of Gray's apartment. Maybe it is an enemy's trick.
Damn cliffhanger. Hopefully Gray can settle this."
Hello again! Yes, Natsu could never be forgotten even if they wanted to. As for Natsu being evil, hopefully it's a little more clear in this chapter although I didn't necessarily say whether he was or not and I left it off very weirdly haha sorry about all the cliffhangers but it definitely keeps things more interesting! I hope you liked this chapter and thanks so much for your review! ^^
Guest: "I'm so happy that you've updated your story! thank you XD"
Hi! You're so welcome and I can't thank you enough for continuing to read my story! I hope you liked this chapter as well and thank you for reviewing! ^^
.oO: "I really hate cliffhanger :( I wonder if it's the real Natsu, I mean they buried him weeks ago... Please update soon because I need to know what happened!
Thank you for the update :D"
Hello! I am sorry for the continuous cliffhangers, on the other hand, it definitely keeps things more interesting :D As for Natsu, I think I kind of explained it a little even if I left the whole explanation kind of hazy? I keep trying to update sooner but it just never happens, although I feel like I was quicker this time! You are very welcome and thank you for continuing to read and review each chapter of my story! I hope you liked this chapter and I look forward to hearing from you again! ^^