All Rights to Hiro Mashima

This chapter kicked my ass all over till it was black and blue! I had once scoffed at the mere mention of writer's block, but I can tell you I am a complete and utter moron and hypocrite! It is real!

AND IT SUCKS.


~ Part Two: Submerge ~

Verb: to put or sink below the surface of water or any other enveloping medium; immerse


"What did you just say?"

Gray's voice is low and feral. Something that Lucy normally associates with the Dragon Slayer's in her life, the Ice Mage looks the picture of terrifying. He spits the words at Moka as if they are poison in his mouth and he can't even stomach them anymore.

In contrast to his half-brother, Lyon looks like he wants to be violently ill. His face – which is as white as snow – blends in almost perfectly with his hair.

Moka opens his mouth, then closes it, choosing his words with an uneasy care. He eyes Gray warily as the Ice King grinds and gnashes his teeth in his anger. "The woman who found me this piece, she told me that her name was Ur."

Gray exploded, the air around him becoming dangerously cold freezing over the floor and much of the walls except the area around Natsu. Lucy shifts closer to her other half, leeching off of his abnormal body heat.

One minute, Gray's eyes hold only fury and a deep-seated pain, the next…he slumps, sitting on the floor his head caught in his hands as his shoulders shake.

The whole group watches as the ever stoic Ice-make mage breaks down in front of them and sobs.

Erza turns towards Lyon, eyebrow quirked in a silent question.

The Cold Emperor sighs and ruffles his hair, the white spikes becoming even more unruly with every pass. "It is physically impossible for Ur to have sold you this. There must have been a mistake…or…or…fuck! Someone must have been lying! Goddammit!" Lyon seems to be gathering his anger as well, the temperature starts to drop at an alarming rate.

In an attempt to calm her comrades, Lucy steps forward towards Gray's prone figure still sitting on the slippery floor. "Gray, could you be mistaken? How are you so sure that Ur wasn't the one?"

Hiccupping slightly, Gray turns weary eyes towards his friend. "Because we watched her die."

With that said, the mood of the room turns even more sombre if that were possible.

"What? You witnessed her death?" Lucy's voice holds pain and suffering for her friend. She can almost relate to him, her mother did die after all. "Gray…please…let us help you." She kneels in front of him and takes a single hand of his in both of her own.

His skin is so cold it almost burns her.

"Deliora killed our family. Wiped out our whole village. Lyon and I were found by Ur, and she taught us how to use Ice-make magic. That's why we both strip, she taught it out in the elements of one of the Northern provinces. One day, I decided that I was strong enough to kill this demon on my own. Gods, I was so stupid! I was just a fucking upstart kid that thought he had surpassed his teacher. I left alone, in the dead of night to confront Deliora. When I found him, I was almost killed by one attack. Ur found me in time, but there was only one way to get out of that situation. Iced Shell."

Gray breaks down again, unable to go on. He gathers Lucy in his arms and cries quietly into her shoulder.

Natsu doesn't say a word, he can tell that his rival truly only wants a shoulder to cry on. Purely platonic.

Lyon takes up his mantle and continues. "Iced Shell is a forbidden spell, only to be used in the direst of situations." He turns towards the hunk of ice containing Deliora. "It turns the body of the caster into a cage, made entirely of ice. There is no way to break it. No known spell or incantation. It is the strongest substance known. That's why Natsu couldn't melt it."

"So, you're telling me that the ice around Deliora…is actually Ur? Fuck that's so messed up. She sacrificed herself for you, didn't she? No one should ever do something like that." Natsu's voice rang out in the expansive hall, echoing off the walls.

It was silent for almost three full seconds, the air filled with a tension that wasn't there previously.

Gray surged forward out of Lucy's arms, eyes blazing and nostrils flared. It was the most furious that anyone had ever seen him. Natsu had all of half a second before Gray decided to do something incredibly stupid in his rage.

"ICE-MAKE ICEBRINGER!"

Erza gawked at the unexpected ferocity of her comrade, but no move to stop him from swinging the gigantic sword composed of ice at Natsu's neck. Ironically enough, the abruptness of his movement and the strangeness of the situation rooted her to the ground, as well as everyone else including an incredulous Natsu and a terrified Lucy, to the floor as if they were composed of the same ice Gray was wielding.

However, something strange happened before the attack could connect. A new voice could be heard from the shadows by the grand double doors.

"WATER LOCK!"

A bubble of crystal clear water encased Gray, completely submerging him in the undulating liquid. This, coupled with the surprise over suddenly being soaked, snapped the raging Ice King out of his murderous mindset.

All eyes swivelled to the new arrival, silently trying to determine if the person who stood with her pale arm outstretched in front of her was an enemy or ally. Bright blue hair and sparkling blue eyes were all they could see before the figure darted forward to stand between Natsu and the water holding Gray suspended above the ground.

"Juvia will not let her darling Gray be taken in by his demons. Juvia will only remove the water once Gray promises to calm down."

With a quick nod from the water logged Ice Mage, the woman released her spell letting Gray flop onto the floor, wet and panting. She smiled demurely at him.

As if a switch was flicked, the new arrival clapped her hands together and gave Gray a look of undying love that Lucy had not even seen on Natsu's face, and she knew that he loved her with his whole being. This was something…else. Almost desperation. No, this was absolute and utter infatuation.

Mind you it only seemed to be infecting the interloper.

"Oh, Gray! Juvia is so happy to see you!" The woman – Lucy believed that her name was Juvia – attached herself like a barnacle onto Gray's arm, purring like a contented cat into his ear. Giggling like a school girl the whole while.

Gray, on the other hand, looked entirely confused and downright uncomfortable. He tried to shake off Juvia, his efforts were unsuccessful. His eyes pleaded with his friends for help, but everyone was still stuck to their spots. Now more than ever.

There was no rescuing Gray from this…problem.

Natsu snorted his amusement as a lick of flames left his smirking mouth. He reasoned that Gray deserved this attention for all the crap he had put Lucy and him through over the past three days especially.

A strangled sound left Lyon's body. Everyone's eyes turned towards him and were entirely surprised with what they saw.

The silver haired man looked like he had found the Gods and were gazing upon their faces. He seemed to finally find his voice as he uttered only one word.

"Beautiful."

Lucy couldn't help but agree, but kept her opinions to herself. Juvia looked a touch unstable, and she did not want to be caught up in that shit storm. While Gray tried to shake her off for the second time and Lyon plucked up his courage and tried to say a full sentence to Juvia, Natsu offered Lucy a hand and hauled her off the cold, wet ground.

He bent down to whisper in his mates ear unintentionally – when he was lying to himself, it was totally intentional – grazing the shell of her ear with his sharp canine. "Uh, what the fuck is going on?"

She looked deep into her mate's eyes, trying to fight off a pleasurable shiver, and shrugged. Usually, Lucy had the answers, but this situation was so far outside her wheelhouse that she was at a complete loss. It was slightly entertaining, though.

Jura finally took charge and untangled Juvia from Gray – much to her displeasure – and started to question her.

Was she the one behind the attacks on the patrons of the hotel and casino?

No. She only just arrived.

Did she have any idea about Deliora or who 'Ur' was?

No. It was the first time she had ever heard of those names.

Where was her stamp?

She didn't have one, she was alone, but was wanting to join Fairy Tail to be closer to her Gray.

How did she know Gray?

"Juvia met her handsome Gray in the club Fairy Tale weeks ago. We left and made love in his car. Then in his kitchen, then against the wall, then again in his bed..."

This answer seemed to set off a chain reaction within the stricken Ice Mage. First, his face bloomed into a brilliant blush, but then he seemed to remember something about her story that drained all the blood away from his cheeks. He tried in vain to cover Juvia's mouth with his hands before she spoke again.

But alas, he was too late.

As Natsu gawked at his rival secretly planning to outdo his apparently impressive stamina with Lucy and a whole night fuck fest, most all other mages present had the good grace to either blush or to pretend they couldn't hear Juvia's words.

Until she kept speaking, and everyone's eyes were riveted on her as if the proceedings were a horrible car accident that none could look away from.

Juvia's voice obtained a very low gravely tone as her eyes flashed with restrained anger. "...However, Gray called out a different woman's name when he climaxed that fourth time. He didn't say Juvia's name." Her hands curled into claws and her face contorted into one that would only be fit for a demon. "Juvia will find this 'Lucy' and fight her for Gray's attention. She is my love rival, and Juvia will be the only one for Gray."

At her exclamation Lyon wilted like a dying flower, pouting like a child, while Lucy held her face with her hands, trying to mentally will away her blush that spread from her chest all the way up to the tops of her ears.

The Dragon Slayer to her right – whom had loosely been holding Lucy to his side with a single arm over her shoulder – crushed his bonded to his torso and tried to shield as much of her from the almost apologetic looking Gray who was trying to shoot them a silent 'sorry' without uttering a single word.

But Natsu was having none of that. This fucking asshole would undoubtedly be reincarnated as Satan's toilet paper, of this he was sure. Fire exploded outwards from the Fire Dragon, engulfing him in flames while his horns, talons and tail ripped their way through his clothes.

Lucy was surrounded by his warmth, it was calming, but also invigorating. She witnessed looks of complete shock and awe grace her comrade's faces. She knew what they were seeing, a Dragon of a man encased by fire holding onto her like she would float away if he let go.

She also knew without a doubt that Natsu's flames would never ever hurt her. They felt comfortable and helped to stave off the last of the lingering cold she had been feeling from Gray's outburst earlier. Lucy glanced up towards Natsu's face and was surprised to see his eyes shift between fathomless black and blood red. Was that something that they did when he was angry?

"What the actual fuck Fullbuster! Gods, you are such a bastard. I cannot wait until I get my damn hands on you." Lucy's restraining hand on his bicep was the only reason he seemed to be not ripping Gray a new asshole. Natsu's tail flicked once in irritation then unconsciously wound around Lucy's stomach, placing an unintentional - or intentional, depending on who was asked – claim on his mate for all to see.

Juvia stepped in between Gray and Natsu holding her palm in front of her, a threatening look in her deep blue eyes. "Natsu will not touch a hair on Gray's beautiful head! Juvia will protect him from you with everything she has."

The water mage and Fire Dragon stared each other down for an extended moment before they were interrupted from their glaring contest.

Moka coughed awkwardly into his closed fist, trying to bring this…discussion…back on track. "If it was not Ur, then who brought me this ice?" Lucy had never been so thankful for the Demon leader before and almost kissed him full on the mouth.

This snapped everyone out of their combined embarrassment or fury or confusion. Lyon's dejected voice answered the friendly demon. "We don't know Moka, but we will stay for a while longer until we understand just what is going on around here. Deliora is dangerous, and if someone is trying to release it…you will need all of us to subdue it."

Jura and Erza confer for a while longer before giving their ascent to the plan before Natsu practically demands a new, separate room far away from Gray in a voice that was mostly growls and snarls.

Moka had no chance to stand up against an alpha Dragon Slayer when he felt his mate was in danger and quickly complied.

Lucy gave Erza a look that said that she would explain everything later and tried not to look at Gray as she was still trying to push down her previous blush.

Natsu subdued his Dragon Force long enough for them to stalk towards their new room and out of sight.

Erza pinched the bridge of her nose between two gauntleted fingers, the beginnings of a stress headache beginning between her eyes.

"Look…Erza…I'm sorry about all this and all…but it wasn't really my fault…"

Before Gray could keep speaking, Titania had slammed a single fist into his stomach knocking him out. She flipped the Ice Mage onto her shoulder and beckoned her remaining comrades to follow her up to their rooms. "Juvia, you may stay in Natsu and uh…his mate's old room. Consider this mission a probation period so that we may gauge your magical abilities and compatibility with other mages before bringing you to Fairy Tail. All you must do it protect your friends with everything you have and not take unnecessary risks and all will be well."

Their strange procession wound its way from the ballroom and into the elevators, oblivious to the stares from the other patrons. Most had never seen a woman carry an almost entirely naked unconscious man before, nor had they heard that amount of high pitched squealing.

Moka only hoped that these strange wizards would complete the job quickly and then get the hell off his property.