A/N: yoooohhh im bacc
just so ya know for porlyusica this ep.
she attacc
she protecc
but most importantly
she get your boyfriend to you, who is dead, and bring you bacc
i suck at these lol bye
Natsu attempted to get into the hospital wing to see Gray again.
As it turned out, it didn't really work.
Eventually, he tried breaking in with brute force, but there was some kind of enchantment on the door.
Erza thought of everything, he thought bitterly. Everything to keep me from getting in there.
"I already know what's going on," he growled to himself softly. "I just want to make sure he's not dead!"
Pausing, he took a few deep breaths and tried to calmly turn the doorknob. To his surprise, it actually opened.
"Huh." He opened the door and stepped inside.
"What are you doing here, human?!"
Natsu shuddered and looked up at Porlyusica holding a random broom.
"You are not allowed to be here!" she scolded and attempted to whack him, which he easily dodged.
"Calm down, I just wanted to see Gray!"
"Nobody is allowed to see the patient, human."
Natsu hissed. "If Erza has a right to see him, so do I, don't I? He's my friend!"
"Just because he is your friend does not give you permission to barge in like a ruffian and interrupt me. Erza-san was here to stop others from coming in."
The Fire dragon slayer glowered. "I told ya, I wanna see him. I'm not gonna let anyone else in. I already told you, he's my friend. Actually, best friend, I think. I just wanna make sure he's at least alive."
The old woman calmed down. Sighing, she muttered, "I see, I see."
Natsu paused, puzzled. "Eh?"
"You may see him. But take too long and I will kick you out."
Natsu's face lit up and split into a delighted grin. "Really?!"
Porlyusica nodded. She wasn't entirely pleased with this option, but if she paid attention to the young man and her patient, she could gather more information about what Gray meant to Natsu.
"Perhaps I should leave you two alone for a minute," she rasped, and then swept out of the room. However, she left the door cracked and peeked inside, listening closely.
Natsu sat down on the edge of the bed, looking down at the sickly Gray.
"Laxus-san was right. You do look like shit," he murmured. "You're really sick thanks to whatever dark magic that hurt you. I promise that when I find who did this, I'll turn them to ashes." His hands clenched into fists.
Gray stirred and Natsu seemed alarmed. Porlyusica knew he wouldn't wake up, but the Fire wizard didn't. Gray stopped moving again and Natsu stayed still for a few moments before resuming to whisper to the sleeping patient.
"You know, the guild seems quiet without you there. Nobody's getting me all fired up. Nobody is there to get in trouble with Erza with me. Nobody is constantly challenging the whole guild to a brawl out of nowhere. Nobody is stripping every three seconds."
The smaller wizard began to slowly trace Gray's face with his hand. For once, both of them looked peaceful when together.
"I wish you knew how much I love you. I know you can't hear me right now, and that sucks, but at least I have more time to sort out my thoughts."
Natsu looked up out of the window, bathed in the warm afternoon sunlight. He seemed so blissful, like no matter what the world threw at him, he would stay like that forever.
"It's funny, actually. I always thought I hated you. I guess… I guess I still kinda do. And here I am now. All I want to do is hold you close and protect you from all of the bad things in the world. I want to wake up and see you there. I want to lay in my grave next to you. I want to stay with you until the end of time itself, because I love you, and sometimes I wish you knew that."
Porlyusica was extra careful not to make any sort of noise or sudden movement.
Natsu leaned down and gently kissed Gray on the cheek. "I guess it's time for me to go," he whispered. He stood up and then walked out of the room.
Porlyusica's theory suddenly went skyward. It was proven.
Natsu had feelings for Gray.
"Young ones these days," she muttered. "It might be a good idea for you to wake up soon, boy. Heh!"
Gray started to stir. A lot. He even started to mumble very quietly and he looked tense.
"Porlyusica-san? Is it okay to come inside? I want to check on Gray-san," a voice called from outside the hospital wing. It was Artemis'.
"Is… something wrong?"
The old woman sighed. "Maybe."
Artemis, who was standing outside, began to panic.
"Oh no."
Ey burst into the room, muttering, "Oh no, no, no…" Eir eyes were wild as ey slammed the door shut and hurried towards Gray's bed.
"What… the hell...?"
Artemis gasped and stopped so suddenly ey were unsteady and ey fell over backwards.
"You're… alive…"
Eir eyes filled up with tears as ey picked emself up.
"You're alive!"
Artemis couldn't hold back eir tears anymore. Eir tears landed on Gray.
"You're alive!"
The Ice wizard coughed and groaned. "Who… what… what happened? Ugh, my head…"
"It's alright. You're going to feel like this for a while since you haven't recovered yet," Artemis said in a hushed but relieved voice.
"Who… the hell… are you?" Gray croaked.
Artemis' face fell and eir shoulders dropped slowly. Ey looked away. Ey'd almost forgotten than Gray had never met em before.
Artemis would have to come out… again. Except to the person ey hurt.
Artemis was about ready to tell Gray the wrong everything when Porlyusica spoke.
"This is Artemis. Artemis is neither a boy nor a girl and you shall not refer to em as such. Ey uses ey/em pronouns and nobody will disrespect that."
He rubbed his eyes. "Oh... okay... I've been awake for, what, two minutes and I'm already being scolded."
Artemis' eyes were tear-pricked. "I-it's okay if you don't accept me, I-"
"No, no, it isn't okay, Artemis. If he doesn't accept you, it is not okay," Porlyusica interrupted.
Ey looked up at the old woman. "Porlyusica-san..."
Gray was still only half-functional. "So... new member... Artemis... uuh..."
"Yes, eir name is Artemis."
Gray could hardly keep his eyes open. "I..."
Artemis let out a hiss and asked for Wendy.
"I'm he- Gray-san!"
The dragon slayer ran over to Gray's bed.
"I don't know if it will work, but I can try."
She used her healing magic continuously for a few minutes before stopping, tired.
"He's still sick, but he won't be as bad now. The illness will be more like just the flu. Thankfully, he's awake, and that must have helped in some way."
"Why are you healing him? I told you, you can't!"
Artemis looked behind em to see Azrulia, standing tall and ferocious and beautiful.
"I can't just let him die!" Artemis shouted back.
"Huh?" Gray croaked.
"He's too powerful! You'll be in grave danger if he is kept alive!" Azrulia exclaimed.
"I don't see how he is of danger to me. If he is dangerous, at least tell me how!"
The demon sighed and looked away. "Unfortunately, I cannot tell you that. I wish I could, but it is the sacred word of the future that I have vowed never to speak."
Artemis hissed. "Whatever. This is stupid, anyway."
Azrulia seemed upset as she disappeared. "Stop trying."
Artemis turned around to see a couple of surprised faces.
"Azrulia again, yes?" Porlyusica presumed.
Ey nodded. "She keeps telling me Gray is a danger to me. She can't even tell me because 'it's the sacred word of the future that she vowed never to speak!' I love her, but I really hate her sometimes! Ugh!" Artemis kicked a chair in frustration.
"Calm down, Artemis," Wendy said nervously.
"I'm usually calm. I'm sorry. I'm just so… fucking... angry at her! She never tells me anything!"
"I understand your frustration, but-"
"Ugh! Everyone says that and they all end up dead!"
The room went silent except for Gray's slightly unsteady breathing.
"I swear that I… won't die… okay?" he promised weakly.
Artemis looked over, the effects of eir rage still apparent on eir face. Gray looked scared and ey winced.
"Sorry," ey muttered. "You promise?"
The Ice wizard nodded. "I swear on… well, my life… I guess."
This made Artemis laugh. "I suppose so."
Someone banged open the door and Porlyusica roared, "Natsu, I'm not letting you in again!"
Everyone looked over at the entrance where Laxus was standing awkwardly with a perplexed expression.
"Uh… hi? I'm just here to get Art. I wanna get something to eat with em."
Gray was even more puzzled. "Laxus, wha…"
The Lightning wizard's gaze landed on the guy in the hospital bed.
"Holy sh- you're awake? When the hell did this happen?"
"Ehmm… just, like, ten minutes ago."
The bulky man blinked a few times. "Oh. Good to see you awake, man."
Both men were extremely confused.
Artemis looked back and forth in between them. "So… I don't suppose you two... know… each other…?"
"Well, duh, but we've never been in this kinda situation," Laxus sighed.
"O-oh."
"Well, uh… thanks?" Gray replied.
Something clicked in his mind far too late. "Hold on, did you say you weren't letting in Natsu… again? When was he in here?"
Porlyusica glowered. "You weren't awake yet. He was too determined and I figured that he'd find a way in sooner or later. He wanted to visit you."
The Ice wizard blinked, a hint of a blush appearing on his cheeks. "Oh. Okay." He looked towards Laxus again, but this time, the Lightning dragon slayer had a mischievous smirk on his face.
"What the hell does that face mean?!" he shouted, but then coughed.
"Don't overexert yourself, and especially not your voice. Don't even think about trying to walk," Wendy scolded.
The bedridden wizard hesitated, then laughed. He was fatally ill, and was just scolded by a little girl not to overexert himself, and learned that there was a new member, and that damn Laxus had smirked as if he knew something. Intelligent-yet-sneaky bastard.
"That's a good sound to hear!" Artemis said warmly, smiling.
Gray stopped and stared out the window, smiling fondly at the beautiful day. The lazy late afternoon sun shone through the window and landed on Artemis and Wendy as the two softly giggled to each other. Just seeing the two children, although very different, getting along so well, made Gray nostalgic and almost a little sad. He and Natsu had wasted their whole lives fighting each other and made their whole relationship based on their rivalry.
Now, here he was, in love with the infamous Fire dragon slayer.
He'd always known that ice and fire are polar opposites and should not even dare to cross paths, much less build friendships and date. He'd always thought that if two elements oppose each other, they shouldn't interact.
"Something wrong, Gray-san?" Wendy asked quietly.
Gray shook himself out of his trance and answered, "No, everything's okay, Wendy-san."
"A-ah, you don't have to call me 'san,'" she replied shyly.
Her reluctance to accept being called "san" reminded Gray of Natsu, oddly.
Well, everything reminded him of Natsu, so this wasn't really an exception.
Artemis suddenly stood up and announced, "I promised to go with Freed-san to... someplace. I'd better go now, I think." Ey rushed out of the hospital wing (but blew kisses to everyone in the room first) and shut the door behind em.
"Huh? What does ey have to do with Freed-san?" Gray muttered.
"Ey're living with Freed-san, since ey're not much older than I am and we have no gender-neutral dorms," Wendy explained happily.
"O-oh. Wait a minute, what even happened to get to this point?"
"It's a really long story."
"Well, I've certainly got time."
So, Wendy told Gray all about the events from the past week. She'd gotten all the details from Artemis emself. Gray listened quietly, nodding every ten seconds like some awkward introvert that had been forced into a conversation.
When Wendy finished the story, she panted, tired from so much talking. "So basically, that's the story," she concluded, smiling.
The older wizard was still processing everything, but understood most of it.
"I don't get one thing, though. Why would the Council arrest Artemis-san just for eir magic? I mean, yeah, it's probably some kinda Lost Magic, but ey's just a kid. Dragon Slayer magic is a Lost Magic, too, and Natsu has definitely committed more crimes than Artemis-san. Altogether, it makes no sense."
Wendy nodded. "I'm not sure many people know that answer, Gray-san. It's most likely highly confidential. Ultimately, the Council's word is law. It's frustrating, but we can't really do anything about it."
The Ice wizard growled. "It really grinds my gears."
Wendy nodded with fake seriousness. "They really know how to make everyone annoyed." She looked around. "I guess I have to go now."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
The girl turned to Gray with a huge smile on her face. "I'm going on a job with Artemis-chan and Gajeel-san."
"I don't know if Gajeel-kun is to be trusted with two kids," he snorted.
"Both Artemis-chan and I are perfectly capable wizards, Gray-san," she replied indignantly. "I really should be going now, though. I'll see you later!" She got up and left the hospital wing, leaving Gray alone with Porlyusica.
"The child's got a lot of energy," the old woman commented."
He laughed. "Both of them do. Wendy and Artemis, I mean."
"At the same time, they both are quite self-centered and shy. Both have a definite imbalance between the aspects. Wendy is definitely shy, but at the same time, she loves people. I haven't had enough time with Artemis to know much, but I'm pretty sure ey's very quiet and likes to spend time alone."
"How do you know so much, Porlyusica-sama?"
The woman scoffed. "Oh, don't bother calling me 'sama,' just 'san' is fine."
Gray chuckled. Shortly after, Porlyusica left the room, and Gray was alone.