I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy!

Gray let out a spluttering cough, trying to clear his lungs from the dense smoke filling the air. It felt like a lifetime ago when the guild members had unwittingly rushed into a heated battle coming straight for them. The raven still wasn't sure who screamed bloody murder earlier, but he was sure it was just to lure the mages out of the guild hall. The ice mage brought his hands naturally into his combat stance, one hand facing outwards on top the other. Ice lances shot out at the next attacker that appeared in his view.

A gruesome skeleton type figure was coming towards him. Pearl white bones gleamed, the hallow black eye sockets revealed nothing, just the craving for lives to feast upon. Visible joints clinked together with the skeleton's movements. A bony hand clenched a short sword and swung the weapon full force down at him.

Gray evaded the hit from becoming fatal, the blade still managed to nick the skin on his arm though, causing fresh crimson blood to drip from the slashed skin. The ice mage let out a curse as he plunged an icicle into the ribs of the skeleton. A crack appeared and the bone shattered before coming to a heap on the ground. The ice mage leaned back and moved away from the pile of bones. Luckily for the Fairy Tail mages, the attackers weren't too difficult to defeat. There was just too many of them. That was just the beginning of their problems.

They kept coming back.

The bone pile began to tremble violently. Bines fused and knitted back together in hundreds of places, until a full size skeleton was reformed from the remains of the last one. The bony figure gripped its weapon from earlier and slowly lugged forward to the ice mage. Gray placed his hands on the ground, forming a thin iced sheet over the ground, it wasn't much, but it worked in slowing the creature down. The ice mage moved to his free side, eluding another blow from a different departed being.

Gray let out a pant. He could barely make out Erza and Wendy fighting somewhere away from him. But they were getting further and further away from him. He lost sight of everyone else in the guild, only a few figures were still visible between the distance and the smoke and dust rising up from this catastrophe.

What the hell is going on?

The ice mage thought bitterly. The Fairy Tail mage dived as yet another swung a weapon at him, driving him backwards.

There attacks are easily avoidable compared to what they could be…

The ice mage rolled to the side as another skeleton tried to dig a dagger into his neck.

They fighting the wizards and pushing them back towards the guild…

Gray let out a growl as another skeleton crowded around the already surrounding group. A bony hand clamped onto his ankle from below and pulled his leg out from under him. His head hit the hard ground and he ground his teeth together, refusing to cry out at the sharp pain as his skull sliced across a rock settled into the ground.

But they're pushing me in the opposite direction.

Gray swung a leg out, kicking two skeleton soldiers down at once. He pushed himself up from the ground and formed another ice attack as he got into a standing position. An iced covered fist scraped across fleshless bone, marking deep scores into a white mandible. A hand lashed out and twisted firmly around his throat, cutting off his access from fresh air to fill his lungs with. The edges of the fingers clawed into the tender flesh. The mage could feel warm blood slip down his neck and sprinkle across his pale skin. His vision was becoming blurry and figures smeared into uncertain colors. The ice mage struggled under the grip, he squinted his eyes, trying to focus on the creature that had a hold of him. Sunken obscure holes were in front of him, a skull holding them. Gray attempted to tear at the dead figure, only to have the dizziness of lack of oxygen sap his strength away from him. Through his bleary eyes he saw the skeleton straighten up suddenly and the firm grip on him loosened the tiniest bit. The hold released completely and the ice mage fell back to the ground, only to have a skeleton slam a knee into his chest, pushing him back even farther.

Another skeleton soldier approached him, leaving the larger fray that the guild members were fighting back to back in. Curiosity perked up as the skeleton did so.

If I get away from here…

Another skeleton soldier made its way to him.

…will they follow me…

A third skeleton made its path to him.

…and leave the rest of the guild alone?

The ice mage took a few experimental steps backwards, then a few more. The skeletons followed in suit, matching step for step. "Well what do you know…" Gray spun on his hell and took off, trying to get as far away from the guild as he could. Skeleton soldiers chased after him, their bony feet smashing against the soft ground in pursuit. Occasionally the ice mage would send ice projectiles behind him, taking down a few of his predators. The sounds of the larger fight back of the guild were fading away, becoming more muffled and distant.

The skeletons weren't as slow as they were earlier. They had increased their pace, coming at him with more vigor. Gray let out another curse when a bony hand flung out and wrapped around his arm. He yanked himself free but the action was enough to slow him down. Another white hand twisted itself around him, getting a firm grip on his upper left arm. A third hand twisted into his raven colored hair. Gray tried flinging his arm away from captivity, only to have the weight of several skeletons crash down on his back. The ice mage toppled to the ground under all the literal dead weight.

He rolled over, hearing the cracking of bones as he did under him. The ice mage swung his arm out to free it and brought his hand to meet the other in his signature ice make stance. Ice blades jutted off his forearms to past his elbows. In seven swift movements the remaining skeletons fell to the ground, sliced to ribbons. A smirk was beginning to travel across the ice mage's face in triumph.

A clinking sound rose from the pile of now shattered bones. Gray's smirk disappeared as the bones began to fuse together. To his horror the bones weren't reforming into another assembly of skeleton soldiers. Bones stacked on top of one another, creating a monster of unreasonable size. A ten foot giant stood were seconds ago there had only been a pile of bones. The creature reached down a picked up a bone that had been reused in the process. A perfectly shattered piece of bone that was sharp enough to stab through a body with enough force.

"Shit."

The ice mage dived as the giant brought the spiked bone crashing down at the spot he had previously stood. The giant pulled the bone back up from the ground and turned to where Gray now was positioned. The ice mage sidestepped and tumble rolled away from the next attack. The bone weapon stabbed into the tree that was next to his head moments ago, splintering the trunk in two pieces. Gray cautiously backed away from the giant before putting his hands back into ice make locus.

"Ice Make: Ha-"

A sharply pointed sword flew towards him. The projectile pierced his skin and went through his body into the tree behind him, trapping him in place. The weapon dug into the left side of his chest, into the narrow space between his heart and shoulder. A grunt of pain escaped him as blood cascaded down his blood. The bone giant took a step towards him, intent to kill in its hallow eyes.

Gray gritted his teeth as he waited for the finishing blow to be delivered. The giant took another step forward. Dust began rising from the monster. The ice mage watched as the bone began to disintegrate and sweep through the air. Gray blinked at the now empty spot in front of him. All that remained was the bone sticking in his chest, perfectly intact and not giving any sign of disintegrating, keeping him locked in place against the tree.

"How unfortunate."

Gray's head snapped up at the familiar voice. He turned his head to the left in time to see a dark figure coming near him. "Zeref?"

"I remember strictly telling them to not cause any damage to you. I suppose that's the flaw in using the dead. Their brains are gone so they can't think about anything." The dark mage stopped a few feet in front in the ice mage. "Admittedly, some of that may have been my fault. My magic control isn't as strong as it used to be."

The ice mage stared at the figure in front of him. His memory of him was different. When he saw the dark mage just days ago he looked youthful and energetic. Now he was like a living corpse. Gray gave him a glare. According to his friends at Fairy Tail Zeref wasn't exactly a friendly guy. "What the hell do you want?"

"I'm dying. I want your body."

Gray blinked at the dark mage. He hadn't expected an actual reply. "My body?"

"I already have half of it; it's just the matter of the other half." The dark mage took another step towards him.

Gray struggled against the bone pinning him down. "Are you insane?!"

"Perhaps. You tell me, would you rather kill me, or I kill you."

The Fairy Tail mage gave him a look of disbelief. "You're kidding right? Why the hell are you even asking that?!"

Zeref gave an uncharacteristic shrug. "We're soon to be the same person. It would only make sense I treat myself well."

"You are insane."

"What would your answer be then?"

"I'm not a murderer."

"Very well." Zeref raised a hand and magic energy began to swarm around him. "Shall we get started then?"