Gray had covered all Mortis's injuries in ice. After a while she started to feel the weight and pain of all the battle she had just fought. "Hey Gajeel! Can you hear me" Natsu shouted. "What are you doing jerk?!" Gray asked. "Mind your own business ice princess!" Natsu snapped. "Nah can't hear nothing" Gajeel responded. "I just want to know where you learned your dragon slayer magic. Apart from Mortis, you're the only other slayer who knows the same sort of magic we do" Natsu said.
"Gray hold on" Mortis said, as she hobbled over to the edge and slowly climbed down to Gajeel. She needed to know if this part of the story was the same or different. She wanted to find Igneel, just as much as Natsu did. "Shut up" Gajeel grunted. "Don't be like that!" Natsu shouted.
Mortis hobbled next to him and sat down. "Please Gajeel" she begged. He hated the fact he was beaten by Fairytail but caved in and said "Metalicana. The iron dragon." "What!" Natsu shouted as he fell to their level. "What an idiot" Gray said as he and Erza walked to the edge to watch their conversation. Gray was about to climbed down when Erza stopped him. "What are you…" "This is slayer business Gray" she said calmly. "Another fight won't happen."
All three slayers were sat crossed legged as Mortis asked "where is he now?" "I have no clue" he answered looking at the sky. Natsu lost his temper and was about to shout at him, but Mortis punched him in the face and shouted "shut up and let him talk!" Natsu had to rub his head as Mortis rubbed her hand. They were still weak.
"He just disappeared. Yeah, I was training with him. But one day he just up and left. Talk about a selfish jerk" Gajeel explained. "How have you been any different?" Mortis asked. Gajeel stared at her knowing she had a point. But ignored her. "He didn't disappear on July seventh seven years ago did he?" Natsu asked. GAjeel stared at him and asked "yeah he did. Do you know where he is?"
Natsu shook his head as he explained "not a clue. But I've been looking for Igneel the fire dragon I mentioned earlier. The last time. I saw him was July seventh seven eyars ago." "What about you?" he asked Mortis. "Me and Natsu were not trained together. He disappeared on me a few over seven months ago now" she explained.
"Hold on. Seven months ago for. And we lost our dragons on the seventh, of the seventh, seven eyars ago…" Natsu suddenly butted heads with him and shouted "what's with all the sevens huh?!" Gajeel grunted and shouted "how should I know?!" They both regretted it. "I don't care what happens to that jerk anyway" Gajeel said, standing up. Gray and Erza climbed down and helped the slayers up and started to walk away. "Gajeel!" Natsu shouted. "Let me know if you hear anything."
"Why the hell would I do you any favours?" he asked, disgusted. "We're fellow dragon slayers" Mortis said. "Screw the two of you. Next time we fight, your both dead meat. You'll be begging for mercy!" Gajeel shouted. "no need to be so brutal. I was thinking about calling a truce but now I think I might just forget about it."
Before anything more was said, Erza punched Natsu out cold. "That will keep him quiet for a while." Mortis and Gray laughed as they climbed down. "I've got you" Gray said, carrying Mortis, as he created ice on the water to skate back. All she could do was lay on his chest. Something she had wanted to do for a long time. Gray couldn't help but to smile. She looked so cute, cuddling up to him.
A while later, Lucy and Mortis were standing together by the edge of the sea, unable to believe what had happened that day. Mortis was bandaged up and with a few healing crystals was able to stand without exhaustion. "Are you ok?" she asked Lucy. "No, I'm not" she answered. "This is all my fault. If I had never of come here, then my father wouldn't have done this and you wouldn't have been dragged into this." Mortis smiled as she said "I don't care about that." Lucy's eyes were wide as Mortis continued "yeah I can use both fire slayer magic and ice maker magic together. I still don't know how that's even humanly possible, but I could have handed myself in at anytime, but I kept on fighting. It's what Fairytail does. And I wanted to protect you more than anything."
"Why would you want to protect me?" she asked. "You obviously ran away from your father for a reason" Mortis simply answered. Lucy stared at her feet and said "it's a long story. How are you doing anyway?"
Mortis stared back out to the sea as she said "I just went through the biggest battle of my life and I nearly died. But I didn't. I feel like I just got stronger as a Fairytail wizard." "You have my child."
They both turned around to see the master with the entire guild behind him. "Lucy you have gone through much today. It must have been difficult to have your secret revealed like that" the master said. "I should apologise for that" she said. "No don't you dare. I won't have it. We all have our reasons for it. And for you Mortis" he said, staring at her. "I couldn't be more proud to call you my child."
Mortis's eyes started to water. "After every beat down, you got back up. Yes, in life strength out ways the good sometimes. But it will never out way the good, depending on the person with it. You proved yourself a true Fairytail wizard. And a true dragon slayer!" he said.
Suddenly everybody raised their finger, signalling the Fairytail sign. Lucy was crying loudly, as Mortis tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Her face was flooded with tears. She looked through the crowd to see Natsu, Gray and Erza. She smiled and also raised her finger.
Minutes later she and Gray had found a quiet spot in the town. Sneaking down an alley, they couldn't resist each other any longer. They locked lips and held each other close. "You have… no idea… how hard it was… to just watch you and Gajeel" he said in between kisses. Mortis pulled back as she said "that was a dragon slayer battle. You joined in when me and Natsu needed you. If you had come in sooner, you know Gajeel would have just…" Gray nodded as he said "yes, I do know. And it sucked."
Mortis hissed as her side started to give her pain. "I think those crystals are wearing off" she said. Gray helped her site down on the side of the alley. "How long until your recovered?" he asked. "Mira recons only three days if I take it easy" she smiled. "That's good. I thought you were on deaths door" Gray smiled also. "I just remember being so numb and tired. The thought of some sleep was amazing. Sleep still sounds amazing."
He slipped his arm around her shoulder as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "It sucks we have to sneak around" she said. "I know, but we both agreed the guild isn't ready to know about us yet" Gray reminded her. "Speaking if us, what are we?" he asked. "Hmmm" Mortis pondered. "Dating."
"Not together?" he asked. "Why do want to skip the dating part of it? Learn a bit more about each other, have a bit of fun, without the guild" Mortis suggested. Gray leaned his head back on the wall as he said "that does sound nice." They both smiled as the thought about the idea of a date.
"Oh my god!" Mortis panicked, standing up. "What, what's wrong?" Gray asked, worried. "Look I'm so sorry, but I have to go" mortis said. She was about to go, when Gray grabbed her wrist. "Wait please" he begged. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked. "No of course you didn't" Mortis said, wrapping her arms around his body. He held her as she said "I just need to do something. I'll see you tomorrow ok" she said. She leant up to kiss him one last time, before she ran off.
Gray was left in the alley, still smelling the scent of her hair. The feeling of her lips on his, her smooth skin. He smiled as he decided to surprise her with a fancy dinner the next night at his place.
Mortis ran through the streets as Magnolia sunk deep into the night. "Come on!" she grunted. She was trying to pick up a cent. A certain cent that didn't smell right for a human. "Where are you?" she grunted. She skidded to a stop, when she saw an old barn in the middle of town, almost destroyed. She ran inside to find a mirror prison.
She ran up to it as she shouted "Loke!" "Mortis? Is that you?" he shouted. "Yeah, don't touch the walls ok!" she warned. She placed her hands on the mirror and ice creeped its way all over. She then punched it and Loke landed on the floor. "Are you alright?" she asked, helping him up.
He nodded as he stood nervously near her. "Um… thank you" he murmured, clearly wanting to run away, but trying to be respectful. "Your welcome" Mortis smiled. Loke went into his back pocket as he said "could you give these back to Lucy for me please." He gave her Lucy's spirit keys.
"Are you sure you don't want to give them back to her?" she asked. "It's fine. I need to go and rest for a little while" he said, walking away. Mortis felt her heart clench for him. she knew what was happening and wished she could talk to him about his pain.
It was dark when Mortis finally hobbled back to Natsu's house. "Hey Mortis, where have you been?" Natsu asked. Mortis ignored him and fell face first on the green sofa. She watched the fire burn away, as recalled the event over the past couple of hours. "Mortis?" Happy said, worried. He walked over and saw her red tired eyes crying.
Mortis was proud of herself for what she had done. It was the biggest battle she had ever fought in, but she remembered her fear and anger. She almost died. It frightened her. She cried into the sofa, as Natsu walked over and sat beside her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
He didn't say anything. He knew how tired she would have been and how relieved she was to be alive. He knew he was glad she was alive. He thought during his battle with Phantom, Mortis had died. He was grateful to Mira for using all her healing crystals on her. He started to stroke her forehead to calm her to sleep. Once she was asleep, Natsu stood and did something that surprised Happy. He was doing the washing up.
Happy climbed onto the kitchen table and watched his best friend in silence. "Are you ok?" he asked. Natsu nodded as he said "I'm fine buddy. It's been a difficult couple of days huh?" happy nodded as he said "aye."
During the night, Natsu placed a blanket over his sister and slept on the floor next to her, to make sure she would be ok during the night. "Natsu! Mortis! Happy! Wake up!" Someone was banging on the door. Happy rubbed his tired eyes as he said "Wha… who?" Natsu sat up right, unable to open his eyes. He found his way to the door and opened it to find Gray, out of breath.
"You wanna fight now, ice popsicle?!" Natsu shouted. "Shut up flame brain. We need to get to the guild. The army are arresting any guild members who are not there in ten minutes" Gray exclaimed. "What?!" Natsu screamed, waking Mortis up. She gasped and screamed. She had a nightmare. She soon realized she was home and was breathing deeply to calm herself down.
"Mortis come on, we need to go to the guild" Natsu said, helping her up. "What time is it?" she asked. "Three in the morning" Gray said, helping her walk fast the guild. "You guys go on ahead, let the master know we are on our way!" Natsu nodded running off, with Happy flying behind him.
"What is this all about?" Mortis asked, yawning. "The army have arrived to find out what happened between us and Phantom" he explained. "I'm not surprised, they have gotten involved after the everything is over. I'm surprised that they've arrived to do everything so bloody early in the morning. It hasn't even been twelve hours since we won" she explained. Gray smirked, nodding in agreement.
She was breathing deeply due to the pain in her side. "Can we please slow down" she begged, clenching her eyes shut, due to the pain. "We're nearly there" Gray said, stopping. They were just around the corner. "Listen… if anything happens" she said, holding his sides. "Nothing will happen" Gray smirked, reassuring her. She leant up and placed her lips on his. He held her, cautious of her wounds. He leant his forehead on hers. "We shouldn't do this now. We know the next few ours isn't going to get any easier" he whispered, as he couldn't stop smiling. "I know how we can get through it" she smirked. "Oh yeah?"
"A date. The night after the army let us go, we go on a date. You choose. Yeah?" she suggested. He nodded as he laughed "absolutely. But I'm going to make you regret letting me choose."
They joined the rest of their guild mates to find the military surrounding them and the surrounding area. It was chaos. Natsu was all fire up, with seven knights around him. Lucy looked upset and guilty. The master was trying to contain his rage. Erza was co-operating with the knights, while Cana was shouting. "We save the people of this town and this is the thanks we get" Mortis muttered. "Makes you want to be sick, doesn't it?" Gray asked. She could only nod.
Two guard ran up to them and asked "are you Mortis Draglilth?" Mortis nodded as they said "right you are under arrest on suspension of terrorising." They cuffed her behind her back, causing her tow wince from the pain it brought to her body. "Get your hands off her!" Gray demanded, as he was pushed back towards his guild mates. "If you don't want to get arrested, then I suggest you join your guild. Whatever's left of it anyway" the knight sniggered. "Gray I'll be fine. Don't worry about me" she said, winking at him with a smirk. "I'll see you soon!" he promised as he was pushed away.
Everyone turned to see Gray walking towards them. "Where's Mortis?" Natsu asked. "She got arrested, before we even got here" he explained. "She was?" the master asked, shocked. He turned towards the general as shouted "you told me we all would be gathered together for questioning and no one would be arrested until after questioning!" The general laughed as he said "we do what is necessary, especially with Miss Draglilth's special abilities." "You better not harm her" the master threatened. "How can we make her more of a mess than she is right now" the general laughed.
Gray gritted his teeth as Mortis was dragged into a tent, where she wasn't restrained to a chair. Once she was left alone, she lowered her head to try and get some rest. "We just seem to keep bumping into each other." She raised her head in alarm. She saw Siegrain walk in front of her.
She glared at him as she spat "all the while, you always seem to have me in chains or in a cell. Not exactly what I call a coincidence. Jella…" He was right in front of her face, his hand smacked on his lips. Her eyes were wide as he smirked and said "yes, I'm here this time. I thought it was important this time to actually see you again. And I think the secret still needs to be kept from Miss Scarlet don't you think?" He removed his hand and Mortis could only nod. "Don't think I'm doing this for you, you scum!" Jellal laughed as he sat down opposite her. "I know trust me. Now for the real reason I'm here…" he began. Mortis stared at him, wondering why he would come to Fairy Tail.
"You have become quite a problem in the magic council now. You haven't even been in Fairy Tail for that long" he explained. "What do they plan to do with me?" she asked. "They want to lock you up deep underground. They are very concerned that you are able to contain two very different types of magic. But don't worry, I'm reassuring them by being here" he explained.
"I feel very reassured" she mocked. "You should. You will go through questioning and depending on the reports I'm given from the knights will help me decide your fate" he explained, smirking. "No one decides my fate, but me!" she snapped. Jellal knelt in front of her, held her chin and whispered very close to her ear "believe me, Mortis. I can make your life hell in Fairy Tail. And not just for you, for Gray Fullbuster as well."
Mortis stopped breathing. "Just be a good dragon and you and he will be fine. And stay a little secret" he said, before kissing her cheek. She stared at him in shock and full fear. He winked at her before he left the tent.
The following morning Mortis was asleep in the chair, still chained up. Knights were outside, guarding the tent. The master, Gray, Natsu and Erza walked up as the master demanded "let us in. We brought her some food." The knights looked at each other and nodded. They walked in and they all were shocked to find her in the state she was in. "Mortis!" Natsu shouted. He knelt down in front of her and held her face gentle. "She's exhausted" he explained.
"I was afraid of this" the master said. "What is it?" Erza asked. "Mortis's strength in her both her strange magic abilities. The magic council are probable growing increasingly concerned about her" he explained. "But that's ridiculous! She's one of us!" Gray screamed. "Even so, the council have the right to overrule a guild master. They have the right to take her away" the master sadly explained. "They're not taking her anywhere!" Natsu screamed. "I'm a dragon slayer too and they've never threatened me!"
"Even so my boy, they probable are fearful of the fact she has the power over two elements that never should be combined" the master said. He snapped his fingers and the chains vanished. Mortis's arms flopped lifelessly down the side of the chair. The knights walked in and demanded "what do you think you're doing. Her questioning isn't complete yet!"
The master walked up calmly and with his smile as he explained "you can surely see my child is exhausted. Let her rest for a while and when her strength is back, she can return to finish her questioning."
The knights looked hesitant at first, but one then said "fine, but she needs to be monitored elsewhere than her current home! And the guards will be waiting outside, guarding the prisoner!" "Prisoner?!" Erza shouted, outraged. "She saved everyone here in this town and that's the thanks she gets!"
"She can stay at my place" Gray said, calmly picking her up. "You can monitor her there and you'll see she's no threat to any of us" he said, walking out of the tent. Natsu and Erza walked with him. The knights followed to Gray's home and waited outside.
He walked into his front room and placed her down on his sofa with a pillow and blanket for her. She was pale and had black circles around her eyes. Natsu stood by the sofa and stared at his little sister. Gray walked in with drinks for everyone. "Thank you Gray" Natsu said. Gray was surprised he got a thanks from his life long rival.
"We all owe it to her" he said. During the day, the knights summoned the wizards for questioning. "And where were you when the Phantom guild arrived?" a knight asked Gray. "I was on top of the guild roof, placed ice shield around the building" he answered. "A big job just for yourself" the knight said, surprised. "I wasn't alone. Mortis was up on the roof too helping me" Gray explained. "So, you and Miss Draglilth were place defences up. How did she know that Phantom were going to attack?"
"She had been captured by Phantom, he was going to kill her, so he told her the plans. Probable trying to make her feel guilty for the fact she wasn't going to be there to help us, but me and Natsu got there in time to save her" Gray explained. "That's funny. Master Jose Porla hasn't mentioned anything about telling her his plans. Are you sure she knew?" he asked.
"Of course, I'm sure. It happened and she would never lie to us!" Gray snapped. "In fact, none of the Phantom guild have said anything about Miss Draglilth knowing the plans. Maybe she knew the plans from a different source?" he wondered. "Or maybe Phantom are lying to you. Like we all told you, they attacked us first. Mortis was simply defending us and her home!" Gray stood, raging.
The knight still remained seated in silence. "Your questioning is done. You may go" he said. Gray left and went straight back to his home, to find Mortis gone. The knights were no longer outside his house. He panicked wondering if they took her.
Deep in the forest, Mortis stood knee deep in the river. She had woken up when the knights had taken the others in for questioning. She had followed them and listened in on the questioning. She was safe with Erza and Natsu, but when she heard the knight questioning Gray she panicked and ran.
She felt hurt in her chest. She clenched both her fists above her heart and cried. The knight was right. She had lied and the way she heard Gray defend her made her heart ache with guilt. She covered her eyes and fell to her knees in the river and sobbed. She couldn't contain herself. The secret was slowly opening up questions.
Tear streamed over her fingers as she covered her mouth to try and stop crying. Nothing was working. "Mortis!" she stood and turned to find Gray, Erza, Happy and Natsu stood up a slope by the river. Gray wanted to run to her and hold her and say everything would be ok, but he knew he had to let Natsu do it.
Natsu ran into the river as Mortis kept stepping backwards, fearful that her secret had been revealed and they would reject her for not telling them. "Natsu… please…" she sobbed in a panic. She fell back and Natsu grabbed her back up and hugged her. "Don't listen to those scum bag knights. We believe you. You won't be taken anywhere. I promise you" he said. "but how did you…" Mortis sobbed. "I could smell you by Gray's tent. Your safe now" he said, letting her go. Erza walked down and opened her arms. Mortis couldn't resist and cried on her shoulder, with Gray rubbing her shoulder.
They all led her back to Gray's home. Many questions were flowing through her head. Did she finally crack under the pressure? Was she just tired and not thinking straight? Will Gray now doubt her in the future?
When they arrived back at Gray's home, night had fallen. Erza, Happy and Natsu promised to visit first thing in the morning. When they left Gray asked "are you going to be ok on the sofa? If not, then your welcome to share…"
Mortis shook her head as she said "not yet, Gray. I know your not expecting anything, but not just yet" Gray smiled and said "whatever you want. I won't ever make…" "I know you won't" Mortis finished for him. "Well then, I guess I'll see you in the morning" he said. "No goodnight kiss?" she smirked. He smirked and kissed her. "I'm cooking breakfast" he smiled. "Yay burnt pancakes" she laughed as he walked up the stairs. He stripped to just his underwear and opened up his windows to let the cool air in. he stared up at the moon and couldn't help but wonder if Master Jose really didn't tell Mortis their plans, then how did she know what was going to happen?
Mortis waited until she heard Gray asleep. She walked out and walked to the guild, where some wizards were still being questioned. She found the master in a tent by himself. "May I come in master?" she asked, popping her head in. "Yes. what can I do for you?" he asked. She sat down opposite him as she said "I assume you've been asked how I knew about Master Jose plans?" He nodded and explained "I was going to talk to you about that." Mortis felt a lump in his throat as she said "I want to explain how I really know, but you understand we all have secrets from our past?" He nodded. "I need you to understand that I can't explain everything I say or do. It's like a demon past really" she said.
"It's none of our business to pry. Can you promise though that what you say and do is for the good of magic and Fairy Tail?" he asked, staring at her. Mortis nodded and said "you can alays count on me to do that, master." He stood up and walked in front of her smiling as he said "then you have nothing to worry about and you can count on us to stand by you Mortis." She smiled as she said "thank you master!"
Mortis snuck back to Gray's and she lay on the sofa, realizing that even though she broke down, she did resolve the worry about what Fairy Tail might do. But if the Master trusts her, then she didn't need to worry about anything. Finally some doubt in her head since she arrived had finally been resolved.