Chapter 21 – Surprise Attack

Gray POV

We left the room in a quiet mood. Natsu had been worryingly quiet since waking up from that nightmare, and it concerned me. Every time he noticed me glancing at him, however, he shot me a smile, saying "It's alright, I'm not freaking out any more" however I never quite believed him. As we entered the dining room we were met by the two Sabertooth Dragon Slayers, but oddly no Erza or Lucy. "Where are the girls?" I asked Sting, who shrugged.

"They haven't shown up" he stated the obvious, "Guess they're still in their room". The blond was busy drinking his morning coffee whilst Rogue sat in a brooding quiet. "Is something wrong with Rogue?" I asked Sting, who laughed.

"He's just in a bad mood because he's stuck with the girls, that's all" he said jovially, "Nothing to worry about" he added.

Natsu nodded, as Blake appeared with coffee for both me and the pinkette sat beside me. He quickly scribbled something in the air.

I HEARD YOU TALKNG. ERZA AND LUCY WERE ON NIGHTSHIFT, REMEMBER, CYRUS SAID THEY'D REST UP THIS MORNING.

He wrote before disappearing off. Before he could go we thanked him for the coffee and turned back to the two Dragon Slayers. Rogue looked to us with a passive expression, "We've got the next night shift" he stated. I nodded as Natsu chatted with Sting.

"Yeah, that'll be tough. Do you not want to sleep before you do it or something, so you're not tired?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"I can go without sleep for a long period of time" he said. I glanced over at Sting, who caught my look and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be fine to help keep watch over Natsu with you, if that's what you're getting at" he said. I just shrugged.

"If you're sure you'll be okay" I replied.

"If who'll be okay doing what?" Cyrus asked as he entered the room. Despite the Script mage's insistent complaining at everyone reporting to here early, he always seemed to appear later than anyone else. I was starting to think he waited around for everyone to arrive and then enter the building himself. "I was just checking to see if Sting was sure he was up to both keeping guard over Natsu and doing the night watch" I told the brunette. Cyrus was busy fixing his light blue shirt collar and tightening the darker blue tie around his neck as he responded. "I spent all last night fixing defensive enchantments everywhere, and Blake didn't find anyone in the forest. I think they've pulled further afield until we're lulled into a sense of security before they attack" the script mage stated, "I don't want it to seem that we've let our guard down, so if Sting can only handle one of the two jobs, you'll need to make sure you can do the night watch" he said, shrugging his dark blue suit jacket on and fixing the sleeves. Sting met Cyrus' gaze as he replied. "I think I can do both" he said definitively. Cyrus shrugged.

"I think it's better you focus on one task. Leave Gray to look over Natsu" he stated. At that moment Blake entered with all the prepared breakfast foods. Cyrus smirked. "Don't worry they'll be fine" he added as he wandered over to Blake to discuss something with him. They exchanged a few hand signs and Cyrus turned back to the group. "Blake agrees with me" he stated, "For now let Gray look after Natsu, you focus on keeping an eye out for anyone suspect".

Sting pouted but then shot us both a grin. "Looks like you get Natsu all to yourself then, eh Gray" he raised his eyebrows before tucking into his breakfast. I shared a look with Natsu.

"Don't worry, I said before…" Natsu started to whisper, however I narrowed my eyes on him.

"Don't say that, you always say it. I'm not jealous. I was actually worrying about whether he knows about us" I whispered back at him. I made sure my voice was audible only for Natsu, since with Dragon Slayer hearing any louder than a horse whisper and I thought Sting might hear that we were talking about him. Natsu thought for a moment and then nodded. "I still think he was convinced before, but maybe he isn't…" he thought.

I pouted, "We need to make sure" Natsu nodded at that.

/

General POV

The Nightmares stood on the crest of the hill. "Looks like the girls are in bed" Sanity stated. Madness shrugged. "They still aren't the major threat; however, we only have to wait one more day before we attack anyways" he stated. Sanity nodded in agreement.

"Not anymore" a voice said.

"Hope?" Sanity asked the air. "Are you communicating or…" he was cut short as the young boy appeared from out of the bushes.

"Nope, I'm here. I arrived because we need to revise our strategy" the young boy said in his reedy voice. He brushed off his waistcoat before speaking again. "Seem's Walter… that is their leader, Prime, is coming here tomorrow. If he arrives our chances of survival in this will be even slimmer. Even for my skills it could be difficult…" he surveyed the scene with his golden eyes, vision cold and calculating, none of the usual amusement and childish innocents. "We need to attack by dusk, when the shadows will be to our advantage, but before it's too dark and then they have the advantage of numbers" he stated. "I've got an idea for some cover that'll act as a distraction… oh… and you two no longer need to replace the two Sabertooth Dragon's, so you can focus on going all out when we attack" he smiled at them. Sanity and Madness shared a look.

"Really?" they asked him. Hope nodded.

"Yeah, just leave Natsu Dragneel to me and you two take on all the rest" he stated. Madness grinned wickedly whilst Sanity looked out towards the cluster of buildings. "Seem's like fun to me" Madness stated. Sanity shrugged.

"What's your idea for cover then?" he asked Hope. The young face twisted into an evil grin.

"Let's say it'll really… bug them" he laughed before he began to explain his newly revised plan to the two twins.

/

Natsu POV

We returned to our room with a spring in our step. "Whether Sting knows about us or not, you've got to admit he's pretty funny" I said as Gray trudge along beside me. The White Dragon Slayer had been cracking jokes all morning, several of which Gray insisted were about me and him being 'together'. I just ignored them and chose to laugh alongside the blond. "Awww… is someone upset?" I asked Gray in a mocking tone.

He pouted and crossed his arms whilst I unlocked the door. "Shut up, flame brain. You should be worried, not laughing" he sighed. I just chuckled and kissed his cheek whilst no one was around. "Come on, let's get inside. I want to make the best of having you to myself" I said to him, grabbing Gray's wrist and dragging him into the confines of our comfortable room. "Okay then…" Gray said, more willing now to let me lead him in.

As we entered I closed the door and Gray sat down on the sofa. I sat next to him, my hand on his thigh. "How much do you want to do?" I asked him calmly. I wouldn't mind going full on but… he already has earlier I thought as Gray's beautiful eyes glimmered. Gray smiled and shrugged. "I don't mind how much we do" he answered me. I nodded before leaning in, my free hand moving up to his head whilst the other held firm on his thigh. We kissed, our lips meeting softly. Gray was smiling but then his expression changed, closing his eyes he opened his mouth. I slipped my tongue inside, enjoying the warm feeling and comforting presences he gave me as we continued to kiss. Our tongues battled, moving from his mouth to mine, however eventually we had to pull apart before anyone managed to get ahold over the other. Gray's face resumed the smile he had before we kissed.

"I really want to do this with you again, but…" his eyes went over to the bed. I smirked.

"Was it too much for you, the spell?" I asked him. Gray's eyes met my own once more and he tried looking firm, but melted quickly as I scooted closer to him on the sofa. "You don't have to worry, I wasn't making fun of you" I said, "I was just checking. It's only good if we both enjoy it, right, so if you'd rather do something else-" I was stopped by a quick kiss to my lips.

"It's not that I don't want to do it, I just think, with people around the buildings, if anyone comes in they might hear us, especially if that spell is affecting us" he stated. I pouted.

"So you'd rather do it somewhere else then?" I said, voice shifting to a slightly darker tone. Gray nodded, before grinning brightly and patting the spot beside him. "On the sofa?" I asked for confirmation.

Gray nodded. "Of course" he said cheerily. I smirked and jumped up straddling myself on his lap. "Okay then" I replied, grinning down at him from my now slightly raised position. Gray leaned up and our lips met again. Gray mumbled something before going to open his mouth again. My tongue flicked around his lower lip, more slowly entering now than it did before, savoring the feeling of Gray beneath me.

Unfortunately, luck was not on our side today, as not long after we began our make-out session, a knock was heard at our door. "Hey Natsu! Gray! Are you two in there?" a voice called out. A higher pitched, whiney voice, I stopped kissing Gray and visibly scowled, knowing full well who it was. Oh, come on, just a little time alone, that's all I want I cursed silently. Gray sat looking up at me, as he was still pinned down under me. "It's Lucy" Gray stated the obvious, I sighed and got up off of him, walking up to the door. I tried to put on my best smile. "Don't worry, I'm coming" I called out. Well, I wish I was coming anyways… I thought with a sly little grin. Opening the door, I was met with a smiling, tired, but friendly looking Lucy, as well as the one and only passive-faced Queen of the Fairies herself, Erza. "Hey guys, what're you doing here?" I asked them. I heard Gray get up behind me, but couldn't tell if it was to come to the door or to try to block the view of the bed.

Lucy pouted at me. "You're not going to let us in?" she questioned me. I shrugged.

"Sure, you can come in if you want. But Gray's getting changed, so he's currently butt naked" I answered, giving an amused look as Lucy's expression instantly changed.

"In that case I think I'll wait…" she said, "Anyways, we came over to see how you guys were doing. Erza and me were up all night on the whole night watch thing, but we went to bed around the same time the sun was starting to rise" she made idle chat.

I looked over to the armored wizard beside Lucy. "Did you guys notice anything then?" I asked her. Erza shook her head. "Seem's Cyrus was right with what he told us before we retired last night. They've probably gone into hiding somewhere slightly further away, but close enough that they can strike when our guard's down" she said flatly. "We must not drop our guard" she added with a bit more bite in her voice. I nodded in agreement whilst Lucy looked on, unsure of what else to say clearly.

"You guys missed breakfast" I said, trying to distract them from the still lack of Ice mage. Lucy nodded, her eyes telling me she was annoyed by this.

"Yeah, we're going to go get something to eat now, before it's too close to lunch time" the blonde said. I nodded.

"I'm kinda hungry too" I stated. Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You're always hungry Natsu" she stated. Gray reappeared, wearing exactly the same clothes as before. Using his scent, I knew he was hiding around in the adjacent walk-in wardrobe, but now he must have decided that it had been long enough.

"Hey guys" he said pleasantly, although I could tell from his scent that he just wanted them gone too, so we could resume our little bit of 'fun'. Lucy smiled at him. "Hi Gray" she beamed, "Are you two getting along?"

Gray smirked and patted me on the back. "Sure we are, just like I said we would" he seemed to direct this more at Erza than Lucy, "Are you guy's checking up on us because you found something or…?" he left it open for them to finish. Lucy shook her head.

"No… we didn't see anything, right Erza" she looked over to the Requip mage, who nodded curtly. "Yes, it seems our foes are currently in hiding. We just came to make sure you two were behaving whilst we were on our way to get food since we missed breakfast" she stated. Gray nodded.

"Well… we're behaving" he said, unsure of what else to say. Erza nodded.

"I'm happy you are, however…" her stomach rumbled, "I think I would be even happier if we got some food. I guess we'll see you two at lunch then" she turned to march smartly off towards the dining hall. Lucy smiled one last time at us before going off to follow the redhead.

"Yeah, guess I'll see you guys later" she waved.

"Bye" we called out in unison. As soon as they were out of sight me and Gray shut the door and grinned at each other. "Now where were we?" I asked him.

/

A little while later

A scream broke the quiet of mid-afternoon. Me and Gray were busy doing push-ups on the floor of our room, our eyes locked in heated competition. After Lucy and Erza had visited us before we resumed making out on the sofa, before doing a little more. After that we had simply talked, cuddled up against each other on the bed. It had been around noon when Cyrus told us to come for lunch, and now, after arriving back me and Gray had decided to spend our time wisely training. Unfortunately, old habits die hard, and me and Gray ended up arguing over who could do the most push-ups and sit-ups, leading to our current competition. When the scream sounded, however, we both stopped instantly. I jumped up, a fire in my eyes. Gray's eyes were steeled, ready for combat instantly. "Wait here" he had stated, moving to the window and observing the scene outside. Suddenly Lucy dashed past, sending me over to the door quickly to go and helped her, however Gray stopped me with his arm. "It could be a trap or something Natsu, they could be here for you" he stated. I glared at him.

"That was Lucy, Gray, she needs our help" I retorted, moving to the door again. "If you don't want me to get captured then come with me, you're supposed to be my guard, right?"

Gray groaned. "Just stay inside for a minute Natsu" he stated, moving to stop me again, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Please?" he begged. I turned around to look at him.

"Come on, we don't need to go far, we just need to see what's going on" I insisted. Gray shook his head as my hand reached for the door knob. "We're not going Natsu" he stated, before I felt a cold sensation fill the room. Before I could react Gray's Devil Slayer Ice shot past me and froze the entire door. I turned to look at him in surprise as he smirked at me, moving to the windows and freezing them over too. "Did you really need to freeze the windows?" I asked him sarcastically. The Ice mage shrugged. "I know you Natsu, you'd have jumped out of them" he stated. I growled at him as I paced back up towards the bed and sat on the edge. "You're really taking this guard thing seriously" I said in an annoyed tone. Gray nodded.

"One of us has to take this stuff seriously, and I know you wouldn't" he replied, before sitting down next to me. "Anyways, me and Erza agreed that in the event of an emergency, I'd keep you in here until she, or Cyrus, said otherwise" he explained. "If it's not the kidnappers though, then I'll unfreeze everything and then you get to fight, okay?" he smiled at me. I shrugged, a pout on my face.

"I guess that's sensible" I replied, fire forming around one of my fists. "Just as soon as you let this stuff go I'm going to go out there and beat the crap outta whatever made Lucy run" I vowed. Gray laughed. "I think Erza might have you beat there, pinky" he said, pointing to one of the iced-over windows. Her shape was slightly warped due to the ice, however the clear form of Erza stood strong in her Heavens Wheel armor, swords dancing around her. She flung some of them at an enemy we couldn't see around the corner of our building. "Gray, it's okay to let him out. It's not the Nightmares" the redhead stated aloud. Gray looked to me.

"Ready?" he asked me. I nodded with a grin.

"Of course, just open it up already" I replied impatiently. Gray laughed and let the ice disappear. As soon as it was gone I bolted out of the room and nearly into Erza. "Watch where you're going Natsu" she commanded, "The enemy is over there" she pointed with the tip of her sword at two quite surprising assailants. Crawling over the building's and along the floor was a variety of giant insects, from huge spiders, to large man-sized mantises, even one or two giant centipedes were present in the horde. "Whoa, that's a lot of bugs" I commented, allowing fire to form over each of my fists. "I guess Cyrus wasn't joking when he said about them being huge". Erza shrugged, as her swords sliced through a pair of bright orange and black spiders, which leapt forward, their fangs bared. "They seemed to all just rush out of the forest as soon as me and Lucy were returning to our room after lunch. Sting and Rogue are with Cyrus and Blake near the woods, driving them back. We've got the job of getting rid of all the ones here" she said. I laughed gleefully.

"Great" I stated, before earning another look from Erza.

"Try to avoid damaging the buildings Natsu" she said. Gray stood near our building, blades of ice in each hand.

"Natsu, you go find Lucy, me and Erza'll deal with the one's here" he shouted to me. Erza nodded at me and gave me a little cover from the onslaught of insects. I sniffed the air, the stench of bugs and blood heavy in the air. I identified Lucy's familiar smell quickly and followed it to the area behind Sting and Rogue's building. "Hey Lucy" I greeted her. Taurus was standing nearby, chopping through any bug that came within range of his axe. "Miss Looocy, there's a lot of them coming this way" the bull-man warned. I growled with amusement.

"Don't worry, I'll help deal with these suckers" I proclaimed, taking a stance beside the celestial spirit, whilst Lucy stood a little further behind us, her whip ready in case any insect got past us. The swarm seemed to be keeping its distance, aware now of the danger posed by Taurus' axe, however I noticed several of them swivel their many eyes towards me, primal hunger deep within them at the prospect of a 'less deadly' opponent; How wrong they were. The first stupid bug to attempt to strike was a large green spider, about the size of a sheep. Hissssss it sounded, as a glob of sickly fluid was spat towards me. I unleased flames from my hands and evaporated it before it managed to reach me. "Hah ha, is that all ya got" I taunted it. Suddenly two more spiders came up alongside the green one, all roughly the same size. They charged at me, their fangs bared, with more green fluid dripping off of them. "Fire Dragon Roar" I commanded, sending a more controlled than usual, cone of brilliant red flames rolling over them. The spiders were roasted instantly, along with a few other unlucky insects that happened to be a little too close to the trio of arachnids. I laughed in amusement as the flames sent a few of the squeeling away towards the trees. "Yeah go on, run" I shouted after them. A pair of giant mantises then decided the attack from the shadow of the building, their hard, emerald carapaces easily deflecting the flurry of punches I sent at them. "Natsu, watch out!" Lucy called out to me, using her whip to send the creatures back. Taurus swung his axe and broke through their armor, cutting off one of the two's arms. "Hey, did you see that Miss Loocy?" he called out to the blonde. She sighed, "Yes, I did Taurus, but watch it, the other one is still lurking around there" she warned. "Don't worry, I got it" I said, rushing forward. I used my flames to give me much more power in my punch this time and hit the uninjured mantis square on the head. It crashed to the ground, either knock out or dead from the impact. I looked back at the crowd of insects, now significantly fewer than before from both our attacks and the retreat of some of the more cowardly critters. Lucy met eyes with me and we nodded. "Time to take em out" she said. Sending the bull away she drew out another key; the Archer. In a flash of yellow light, the familiar form of a man in a horse costume appeared beside me. "Howdiliy do, my lady" Sagittarius greeted with a smart salute. "Hey Sagittarius" Lucy replied, "You've got to take out as many of these guys as you can, think you can do that?" she asked. The archer nodded.

"Of course, anything for you, lady Lucy" he replied, notching a few arrows. I got back as the horse-man unleased volley after volley of arrows, completely bathing the creatures in them. The arrows, so expertly flung, pierced through armor and fang, spider and mantis, even some of the giant scorpions I only just now noticed, were skewered to the ground. "Well done Sagittarius" Lucy praised the spirit as the few survivors of the attack fled the scene. The archer nodded and disappeared, "If that's all my lady, I'll bid you a good day" he said as he faded away. I grinned at Lucy.

"Come on, we gotta see how Erza and Gray are doing" I said to her, offering my hand to drag her along. She nodded and started running, but refusing to take my hand, since she knew she'd get dragged along by me.

"Yeah, let's go" she replied as we ran off back towards mine and Gray's room.

/

We returned in time to see Erza slicing through waves of insects. Black-blue blood dripped from her weapon as she sent another group of insects fleeing in terror. "Come back here!" she demanded fiercely. The insects had no intention of returning as they scurried back towards the forest. Gray laughed. "Let 'em go Erza, they're running away" he said, using his ice to freeze a group of giant scorpions that were going to attack him. Erza scowled at me and Lucy as we arrived. "Where did you run off to?" she asked the blonde. Lucy gave me a panicked look.

"I was just a little freaked out when that pair of giant wasps began charging at me. I eventually lost them and started fighting some of the insects near Sting and Rogue's building" she explained. Erza nodded.

"We're almost done here too. Once these ones have been dealt with we can go and back up the others" she stated. I nodded.

"Well then, let's quit standing around and do some proper fighting" I cheered, charging into a group of bugs and smashing them with fists and feet aflame. As I dealt with these Erza requipped into her Black Wing armor and cut down a few more with her sword. The horde of bugs seemed more afraid now, and soon they all began turning tail and running. "Gray, do it now" Erza called out. Gray looked over to me and I came over to back him up. Whatever 'it' was I guessed Erza had planned for it to go well. As I fought the bugs which had previously been trying to attack my boyfriend, Gray charged his magic up. "Ice Make; Tunnel" he commanded. Placing his hands to the ground, walls of ice erupted along both sides of the area where we were fighting. The ice continued to grow, moving along, separating us and the bugs from the buildings, forming a large cavern that lead all the way to the forest. I realised that Erza intended to force the bugs to return to the forest, so I mustered up flames in my mouth and spewed them forth carefully, trying to scare the bugs whilst not melting Gray's ice. Gray smiled at me as the bugs ran in instinctive terror from my flames. "Good job Natsu" he praised me. The remaining bugs all fled, some tried to climb the ice walls, but it was too slippery for them to maintain their grip, and they slid back into the fleeing horde. We chased them down the length of the tunnel until it met the area near the forest where both Sting and Rogue, as well as Blake and Cyrus, were fighting in pairs. The Dragon Slayers were almost overwhelmed seeing the onslaught of insect's charge past them, however Cyrus and Blake expertly dodged out of the way. Sting used his White Dragon Roar to fling himself high into the air and avoid getting crushed by the bugs, whilst Rogue slipped into his shadow form. Once the bugs passed, taking their kin that Sting and Rogue had been fighting with them, we all cheered. Cyrus came over to us and nodded smartly. "Well done, everyone" he praised us, "It's unusual for so many to attack at once, so I think someone must hav-" he stopped midsentence as two mantises, that seemed to have been hiding in the shadow of the dining hall building, leapt forward. Their sharp raptorial forelegs swiped forward at me and Gray, however I leapt up and sent my fists crashing down into them. The pair of creatures staggered, but did not go down. I readied another attack, however the mantises drew back. A laugh sounded around the area.

"That hurt" one of the mantises seemed to say.

"Agreed. Definitely a nasty punch on that one" the other replied. I stood dumbstruck for a moment.

"They can talk?!" I blurted out. Suddenly Cyrus pulled me back, placing himself and Blake in between me and the insects. "Natsu, keep back" he said sternly. I noticed Gray come up beside me, stance telling me he was ready to both attack or restrain me, depending on what happened next.

The mantises looked at us. "Guess he's figured it out then" one of them said, the triangular shaped head turning to its partner. They exchanged a twitchy nod, before drawing back a distance away from the group, their backs to the forest. "Time to shed these unnecessary disguises".

A hazy outline formed around the insects, as if they were a drawing that had been smudged, followed by a slight purple shimmering. After a moment it passed and standing before us were two men, each with grins plastered on their faces. "Unfortunately, looks like we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way, dear brother" one of them said, looking to the other.

"Indeed" the brother agreed, both turning to face us.

/

Cyrus stood his ground at the two attackers. "Who are you? Which Nightmare?" he demanded. The two brothers laughed. "Like you need to know that, Digit" one of them sneered. It was difficult to tell the two apart; they both seemed to be in their early twenties, although one appeared older, but could only be a year or so older than his brother. They both wore white shirts and brown waistcoats, with matching brown trousers and shoes, although the younger of the two seemed to have boots on instead of shoes. "Just answer the question" Cyrus reiterated. The older one shrugged. "I am the Nightmare of Sanity" he stated.

The younger bowed. "I am the Nightmare of Madness" he chimed in. Cyrus analysed the two carefully, his gaze cold and critical. "We have not fought before then" he stated, "So I don't know your powers, although you are clearly practitioners of Illusionary magic" he added.

Once more the elder, Sanity, spoke. "I guess you could say that" he stated, "But anyways, enough about us" he gestured to our group, "you know what we've come for".

Cyrus nodded. "Yes, Natsu" he said flatly, voice emotionless. I saw his foot twitch, clearly tense and ready for a fight any minute.

"Will you give him up to us, hmmmm?" Sanity asked, tone showing his amusement at the situation, despite the fact he was outnumbered. Cyrus shook his head. "Surely you Nightmares know by now we will never give up anything to you" he stated. Madness laughed.

"Haven't you given up a lot already though, I find that statement ironic coming from you. Now… if you're not going to give us the pink haired one, I guess we're at an impasse" the younger Nightmare stated.

"Yes, we are" Cyrus replied, before smirking. In a blur of motion letters appeared in front of the Script mage. "Red Script; Flare" he instructed, before an explosion of flames shot towards the Nightmares. They laughed and dodged to the side, leaving the flames to dissipate quickly, before they could hit the forest. "He's feisty" Madness cheered, as he and his brother ran in darting motions.

"Erza, Sting, everyone" Cyrus looked at them; they knew what to do. In an instant Lucy held a key up, Sting and Rogue entered their respective 'Drives', and Erza requipped into her Robe of Yūen armor, a naginata-like blade forming in her hand. "Gray, Natsu, come with me" Cyrus then stated, not giving me a minute to argue back as he forcibly dragged me behind him by the wrist. Gray followed willingly, eye's darting about ready for an attack from the shadows. As we curved around the side of a building Cyrus let go of me; I didn't need a mirror to know my eyes were burning with anger. "Why'd you drag me?" I asked him gruffly, trying to keep a reign on my temper for a moment. Gray replied for him.

"Because you were going to run straight into them, and they obviously wanted you to do that, hence why they acted all pompous to provoke you" the Ice mage said.

"I wasn't going to-" I started, before Cyrus raised his hand up to silence me.

"Doesn't matter" he stated, "What we need to do now is get you to your building, it's the safest place here, I made sure of that".

I flicked my gaze behind me, to where my friends were fighting. "They're fighting to protect you, help them by coming with us" Gray said, clearly reading my thoughts with ease. I looked intently at him for a moment, before turning my back to the pair, towards where the others were fighting. "If I help them fight we can easily beat those two guys, just let me fight" I said. Gray placed his hand on my shoulder, however I heard Cyrus mutter something.

"Just make this easy" he said, in a tone I guess he thought I couldn't hear.

"No, I won't let my friends fight without me" I barked, turning. In a blur of motion Cyrus leapt forward and smothered my mouth with his hand. After a few seconds I could taste something bitter as darkness quickly overtook my vision.

My last sight was Gray slumped over to support my weight before I completely passed out.

/

Gray POV

"What was that you just gave to Natsu?" I asked with the now unconscious Dragon Slayer on my shoulders. Cyrus smirked.

"Blake gave it to me before I attacked, it's just a little sleeping powder. He'll wake up in about ten minutes, long enough for us to get him to the building, and for you to restrain him with ice, yes?" the Script mage made it sound as if restraining my boyfriend would be easy.

"Sure, I guess" I replied as I half carried, half dragged Natsu over to our building. Cyrus followed me inside and I placed Natsu on the bed. Once I was sure Natsu was in a comfortable position I left him there alone. "Ice Make; Cocoon" I called on my magic, my ice forming a smooth shell over Natsu, which continued to grow until the entire bed was consumed in ice. I made sure Natsu could still breath in the icy prison, giving him a slot in the side through which to speak, most likely to hurl insults through. I then covered up the shell in a sheen of Devil Slayer ice, along with the windows. Once that was done Cyrus bowed to me. "I'm going to go deal with those two annoyances that have just showed up. Once I leave put a seal on the door, and I'll put my own spells around the building just to be extra careful" the brunette said, I nodded in compliance. Following him over to the door he stepped outside, before suddenly forming a fighting stance. I followed his line of sight and I quickly spotted what had cause his reaction. "Hey boys" a voice sounded; sitting on top of the adjacent building was a young boy wearing a shirt and waistcoat, both of which were shades of blue, along with matching trousers and shoes. He also wore a dark black cape over his shoulders. I looked over to Cyrus, about to ask him if he knew this newcomer, however the Script mage had already summoned up three barriers of enchantments, seemingly around the entire building, and was now holding his pen in the air ready to write an attack spell.

"Hello… Hope" the brunette stated, narrowing his eyes on the figure, which continued to sit cross legged on the adjacent building roof.

"Hiya" the boy stated again, a wicked grin on his face, "Now… where's the pinkie?" he asked.

Chapter 21 End

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