Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail

Getting a good night's sleep didn't do a ton to improve the mood in town, but Gray could admit he was starting to feel a little more focused. Natsu, Lucy, and Happy all seemed to be handling the news as well, though they gave him odd looks after the discussion from last night. Meanwhile, Zeref was acting as if nothing had changed, sitting in the corner with a journal and writing at a rapid pace.

"Gray…" Lucy bit her lip. "Look, I don't want to pry, but the way you were talking yesterday…"

"It sounded like you were saying you killed Lulu." Happy's ears were bent slightly, almost flattening as he nervously spoke.

Looking at them, Gray let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Can we not do this right now?"

"Not gonna happen." Natsu folded his hands over his chest. "The two of you both snuck out last night and yesterday you were going on and on about this secret mission you've kept from us this whole time. Now, Lulu's gone. I get that mistakes happen, Gray, but we're part of your guild. We need to work as a team going forward, alright?"

Closing his eyes, Gray swallowed. "It…if you really want to know, I was never interested in the stupid curse in the first place." Gray looked over at Zeref. "I just got lucky enough to stumble across Deliora the first night we arrived. Figured there would be information on what I saw in Lulu's library, so I joined in and played along for the time being."

"That doesn't answer the question." Lucy frowned. "We're not trying to upset you, but it's just…we need to be prepared, okay?"

"If you wish to blame someone for her death, feel free to blame me." Zeref spoke calmly, echoing his words from last night. "I made a decision in the middle of a fight with Gray, knowing well about his bias towards demons. That decision resulted in Lulu's destruction."

"I told you to stop with that nonsense!" Gray shouted. The black wizard shrugged. "Look, it's exactly like he described yesterday. I…apparently, a demon's life is heavily connected to some book. I destroyed Lulu's and this is the result." He met Lucy's eyes. "Can we please just move on? There's other things to work on, aren't there?"

"Like what?"

"How about we discuss iced shell?" Zeref leaned forward with a smile. "I am aware that you likely do not all have expertise in the matter, but it could be beneficial to be able to bring up my theories on a counter spell and discuss them with others."

"That isn't our concern." Gray smirked over at him. "According to our little deal, you're the one who has to find the answer all on your own."

Zeref shrugged, returning to his book. "Very well. It was simply a suggestion for a different topic." He began writing again, ignoring the room with ease.

"You know, if you need help, the people around here are pretty nice." Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. "Plus, they've got some pretty ancient text books on magic. If you're trying to make a counter spell on your own, I imagine one of them has a book that'd help you figure out the design."

"Hm. No, that won't be necessary." Zeref shook his head. "I would prefer to avoid contacting them if it is at all possible. They may have useful reference materials, but I should have retained enough to manage without." He paused for a moment, before another book appeared in his hand. It looked very much like he was using it as a reference, based on the way he was skimming through pages already filled with writing.

"Natsu, is it just me, or does it look like he actually does need some sort of assistance with his research?" Happy whispered to Natsu, though the cat failed to actually be quiet.

"Dunno. He's definitely using someone else's notes there." The dragon slayer reached out, grabbing the second book without warning. "Huh. This book seems like something you should read, ice princess. It's got a lot of stuff on ice magic." Without warning, the book was tossed in his direction. Gray caught it, glaring at the dragon slayer before sighing and sitting down with the journal. It was a small piece of literature, bound with no actual title, so he supposed journal really was the more accurate term.

Zeref looked up at Natsu with a frown, narrowing his eyes. "Both of you, please stop interfering. I need quiet and focus to work." Zeref turned towards Gray, letting out a sigh. "Or are you going to keep the journal from me out of spite?"

Gray skimmed through a few pages, seeing descriptions of ice magic and multiple variations of how it could be used. There were spells he'd never even heard of in the book, including ones that supposedly managed to influence mental processes. If he had more time, he probably would have been interested in just seeing what else was there. However, they were working against whoever was using Moon Drip right now.

Closing the journal, Gray set it on the ground and slid it back towards Zeref. The black wizard nodded at him, quickly flipping back to the page he'd wanted before resuming his work. Like this, it really was difficult for Gray to wrap his head around exactly who this wizard was. He was studying ice magic, not death magic or even living magic. He was working on countering a spell, not creating a curse. Even if that counter came with a cost, Gray couldn't imagine it was the sort of spell that wouldn't benefit others in the future.

Then again, he'd seemed somewhat intimidating towards that stranger from last night. Frowning, he realized he'd never quite gotten an explanation or an answer about her either. He hadn't exactly been in the right mindset to question her odd actions, but when he thought back, he realized that she was more suspicious than he'd originally thought. Maybe he should get involved, to stop her from causing this village any more grief than they were already going through.

Looking over at Zeref, Gray sighed. "Hey, you remember that girl from last night?" Zeref lifted his head, frowning. "She came over to me for a bit after you left. Something seemed off about her and since you talked like you knew her, I figured you might have some answers."

"Not particularly." He studied Gray for a moment. "Did she threaten you? Or question why I had been speaking with you?"

"Why would she threaten me?" Gray narrowed his eyes. "Please tell me you didn't do something to piss her off."

"I'm not certain." Zeref tilted his head. "She, along with her companion, were individuals to which I offered a sort of back-up arrangement should my plan fail to bring an ice-make wizard to this island. They are not the sort of wizards I particularly enjoy dealing with, but I could at least be confident they'd accomplish their side of the deal. Backstabbing is far too common amongst dark wizards for them to take such a risk with a wizard they know so little about."

"Wait, you're saying there's a known dark wizard in town and you're just sitting here casually like that means nothing?" Lucy glared at him. "Someone just died! Don't tell me you were going to let this wizard go and kill more of these people."

"As I keep saying, they are demons." Zeref sighed. "And I hardly view her as a threat so long as she gets the answers she is looking for. From my brief interaction with her, she was at least smart enough to attempt to plan ahead."

"What sort of deal were you even trying to make with them?" Gray frowned. "I can't imagine a dark guild would have been satisfied with a counter-spell to iced shell or anything as minor as that."

"Deliora's book." Gray stiffened at that. "It still holds some use to me, if I keep it, which is why I was not fond of giving it away for nothing." He paused. "Well, it could, though I likely won't pursue anything with it. Regardless, it is still a powerful object and I'm not usually fond of letting dark guilds get their hands on that sort of thing. They tend to do stupid things with that sort of magic."

"More like deadly things." Lucy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Really, I don't get why we had to bring another weirdo into the team. Can't we find someone normal for a change?"

"What do you mean, Lucy?" Natsu grinned. "He seems perfectly normal to me! I bet Gray agrees too, right?"

"Natsu." Gray narrowed his eyes. "You're being too loud."

"Well…I was hoping we could take a break from this research and go on a walk. Talk about other things." Natsu looked over at Zeref. "Like…maybe discuss Igneel and where he's at. Or—"

"No. I already explained why that's not an option."

"But c'mon! At least tell me something about him."

Zeref sighed, looking over at Natsu and pausing for a moment. He'd been avoiding looking at the dragon slayer, now that Gray thought back to his behavior. Usually, Zeref would look at either him or Lucy when speaking, but never Natsu. "Igneel and I…met quite a long time ago." He swallowed, looking away. "We were friends. Just as you've lost him and been separated, so have I."

"But you said you knew where he was!"

"That does not change the fact that I cannot contact him, nor can I seek him out." Zeref gave Natsu a small smile. "I miss him too, if it is any consolation. So please, do not ask me to say anything further regarding the dragon."

"Anyway…back to the previous topic." Lucy looked over at Zeref. "You're sure this girl won't harm anyone? Because you asked if she'd threatened Gray which makes me think she might."

"That's because I wasn't certain if she'd decided to attempt to negotiate a deal with me or not." He looked over at Gray. "As Gray is the wizard currently intended to fulfill my goal, he is technically what stands in her way of negotiating with me once more. When he mentioned she approached him, it simply came to mind as a potential result of such an interaction, that's all."

"Then I suppose I'll just stay out of her way for now." Gray shrugged. "It isn't like she's trying to destroy the town. Even she said she just had some questions to ask them."

"Indeed." Zeref looked at them. "Now, I will say this discussion is interrupting my progress so I would advise you all to run off elsewhere if you must keep talking. I cannot devise a new spell without giving it thought, after all." He tilted his head. "Especially for something as complex as this will have to be. I can certainly see why most wizard gave up on creating a counter for what I have designed as the theoretical model for iced shell."

"I don't know." Lucy watched him. "How do we know you won't just jump back and curse the village again?"

"Lucy, calm down." Gray shook his head, thinking back to what Bobo had told him. "We're giving him what he wants. He has no reason to keep the curse active anymore."

"Fine." She sighed, shaking her head.

"Actually, Gray, would you mind staying for a moment? I realize you don't typically deal with magic from this sort of theoretical modeling approach, but I was hoping you might be able to at least partially verify that I am not too far off of the actual layout for iced shell."

Letting out a sigh, Gray nodded. "Fine." He looked over at the others. "You guys head out without me. See if they need help setting anything up for…the funeral."

Lucy and Natsu gave him a small smile. After giving him a brief and surprising hug, Lucy turned towards Natsu to leave. Gray shifted his weight after the door closed, uncertain on what to do now. He turned towards Zeref, running a hand through his hair and approaching just a little bit closer. "I'm not worried about your curse while I'm doing this, am I?"

Zeref looked up, blinking at him. "Oh, that." He shook his head. "Just stay over there for now. We'll slide my notes back and forth as needed to discuss, or alternatively, I am willing to open a telepathic link to share the information through mental images if you'd prefer." He tilted his head. "Telepathy would be more efficient, but I suspect you lack the trust to allow me to use magic—"

"Go for it." Zeref blinked, while Gray raised his eyebrows. "What? Telepathy doesn't sound like that much of a stretch compared to the other things you're known for. I can't imagine you'd screw it up that badly."

"It…are you aware that telepathy can be used for more than just conversation?" Zeref frowned at Gray. "Are you not wary of me interfering with your memories? Your current thoughts, even?"

"It'll make this go by faster, right? Saving Ur is more important and we don't exactly have all the time in the world for that." He met Zeref's gaze. "Unless you wanted to speed up your timeline for me using iced shell, I really don't know of much that'd motivate you to mess with my head."

The black wizard slowly nodded, closing his eyes for a moment. Gray felt the small burst of magical energy from him, before the link formed. Zeref's mind was guarded, almost difficult to hear unlike his previous, rare experiences with telepathic links. That's simply due to practice controlling my own thoughts. It isn't a skill that is easy to learn in the span of a single lifetime.

Gray nodded. "What did you need help with?"

This actually makes it simpler, as I no longer need to explain my model to you. You've seen iced shell used before, haven't you? Gray slowly nodded. While I suppose I could go through the effort of explaining things and then discussing the actual mechanics of using it, I believe the fastest verification would be to view your own memory of it being cast.

"You want me…to remember that now?"

Zeref nodded. I understand it is not a small request.

"Not a small request? That's one of the most traumatic moments of my past." Gray glared at him. "I spend most of my time doing whatever I can to not think about my childhood for a reason. That'd be like me asking you to relive the moment you were cursed or something else that is equally absurd."

Hm. I suppose you have a point. Zeref paused. We can try the alternative for now then. So, what I am attempting to do is model out the final magic circle that forms from iced shell, disregarding the mechanics of exactly how it is cast. What I've been working from in its design is specifically the end result and my own knowledge of transformation magic, combined with some detailed notes on the concepts of ice magic as a whole.

So, that was the reason for the book then. So far, my theory of its design looks something like this. An image flashed in Gray's head of some complex magic circle. Gray had never really considered their appearances much in the first place; magic was about heart and specific techniques, including visualizing results. Visualizing it in this form was just weird. I am aware that this is not the typical approach these days for magic. However, it is the necessary approach if one wishes to design something new.

"So, what do we do from here then? Talk about how I would actually cast it?" Zeref nodded. "Well, I can't say I know much about the actual design of the magic circle it forms. As you said, that's not the sort of thing I typically focus on for magic. From my understanding, iced shell is mostly about energy, stance, and intent. Unlike most ice-make magic, the circle appears at one's feet as that's where you start to pool your energy for the spell. Your body needs to be braced for the transformation." Gray stood up, crouching to demonstrate the appropriate stance. "Like this. Your gaze needs to be focused on the target and then you just focus on your end-goal for the spell."

"Hm." Zeref studied the picture in front of him for a moment, tilting his head. So, it takes on more influence from transformation magic than I thought. Did I leave out too much from that side of things? It isn't usual to merge elemental magics with that sort of a skill so the balance may be off…ah, there's the mistake. This rune placed here would force energy to dissipate to this side of the circle. Unbalanced, the result would be… The black wizard blinked, looking over at him. "Sorry. I may have some control over my thoughts but I do get quite focused if I am contemplating magical theories." He paused. "I would break the connection, however, I fear this may be pushing me to my original request anyway."

"I told you, I'm not reliving that just for your research."

"It is to free your own master." Zeref shrugged. "I do understand your hesitation, however. I would share in your discomfort if put in your position."

"Then why not make some stupid deal again like you've done twice now?"

Chuckling, Zeref shook his head. "Did I not just say I would be uncomfortable? To put it simply…I do not want to."

Letting out a sigh, Gray ran a hand through his head. "Not even some small reward for showing you something that personal to me? You offered me an open question of my choice to just confirm I knew Natsu, you know."

"I suppose I did." Zeref watched him, before letting out a sigh. "Very well. The same reward as then, would that satisfy you? I apologize, but as you can tell from the telepathy already, I am quite protective of my thoughts."

At least it was something. Slowly, Gray nodded. "Fine. Let's just get this over with then." Zeref closed his eyes, focusing in on Gray's mind. It was weird, but he could actually feel the black wizard's anticipation, pressing against his head with an odd sort of pressure. Grimacing, Gray tried to ignore the sensation as he joined the wizard in closing his eyes, thinking back to a moment he tried his best to forget in his past.

In front of him, Deliora was rampaging in some town he could hardly remember anymore. He'd likely visited it with Ur and Lyon in the past, but his focus was on the rumor he'd heard about the monster. Deliora was going to be stopped, no matter what. So, Gray charged into the town with a shout, confident in his newly acquired magic. He'd still been a child. That confidence was more accurately labeled as arrogance at the time.

He'd used one of his favorite spells, his ice-lance that was far more powerful today. The ice only shattered against Deliora's skin, doing nothing against the monster. Though, it did get the demon's attention. Turning towards him, the demon roared into the sky in anger. Gray had stumbled back, afraid and realizing just how much of a mistake he'd made. He braced himself for the killing blow, ducking his head into his arms and curling up on the ground. Yet, the attack never came.

"Get out of here! Run!" Gray blinked, stunned to hear his master's voice. Yet, Lyon was already dragging him to his feet, assisting Master in the rescue.

"Ur? Lyon?" He looked between the two of them. "What are you doing here? This is my fight! I'm going to kill Deliora!" He glared at both of them. They were going to die with him! Didn't they see that? They didn't belong in a fight that he'd chosen.

"Saving your ass, kid." Ur had never been afraid, giving him a smile before returning her focus to Deliora. "Get him out of here and make sure he doesn't come back, Lyon."

Things would have gone alright, if Lyon had listened to Ur. Yet, he saw the demon break past her shield, crushing her leg in a harsh sweep of his hand. She let out a cry of pain as it likely broke her leg, but she still got back up to face the demon. Using her magic, she created a brace for her leg to stabilize her on the ground. As she did so, Lyon dove out in front of him, determined to help Ur.

"I can beat him, Ur! You don't have to get hurt anymore." Lyon grinned savagely at the demon. "I've been reading those books you said we weren't ready for and I know exactly what will stop him. Watch me, Ur! I'm going to be the strongest wizard alive, the only one strong enough to defeat a demon!"

"Lyon, what are you doing? That stance…" Ur broke off, rushing forward towards him. Gray could already see magic swirling around him, the spell beginning to form as Lyon took on a strange stance master had never taught them before in their lessons. Yet, Ur quickly slammed her fist hard on his head, knocking Lyon out and stopping the spell. "Stupid boy. Still…to think he'd have the same idea as me." She looked over at Gray, carrying Lyon over to him. For the time being, Deliora was distracted by some of the other fleeing residents of the town. They had a brief reprieve form the rampage, though it wouldn't last long.

Ur placed Lyon on the ground by his side. "Take good care of him, okay? And please, whatever happens, learn to smile for me." Ur reached out, touching Gray's cheek. "I'm going to seal your darkness away for you, Gray. That way, you'll be able to look forward to a bright future."

"Ur…" Gray hadn't quite understood what she was going to do, but that had sounded too much like a goodbye for him to not be alarmed. He watched her with wide eyes, seeing her take the same stance as Lyon from before. She faced the demon with a smile on her face, never looking away as blue light surrounded her during the casting of the spell. The power of it was unleashed, her entire body vanishing and shooting towards Deliora in a beam of light. The demon screamed as ice began to freeze around his entire form, solidifying and stopping his rampage once and for all.

The memory still lingered as Gray opened his eyes. He felt numb, his thoughts almost hollow after recalling the moment he'd lost her so intensely again. Zeref's eyes opened, meeting his for a brief moment. The connection between them vanished as he gave Gray a quick nod. "Thank you, for your assistance." He was quiet, looking down at the journal. "Take as much time as you need. I will answer your question when you've recovered."

He stared at the black wizard, wanting to shout at him for writing off his mood so readily. Yet, hadn't he just requested that Zeref stop pretending like he cared? He was doing exactly what Gray wanted, in a weird way. Still, the odd silence from him was almost uncomfortable. Gray was used to someone always doing something to fill the gaps with noise, but Zeref seemed to not mind either way.

"Did…did it help at least?"

Zeref met his eyes, slowly nodding. "You have a vivid memory, for an event that happened when you were so young." He paused, frowning. "Though, I suppose events like that do tend to remain more than we'd like."

Letting out a slow breath, Gray nodded. "Good." He swallowed. Earlier, he'd demanded an answer from Zeref too. Yet, he didn't quite know what else he wanted to know about the black wizard. He wasn't going to just sit around and wait to ask his question though. So, what came to mind was exactly how he'd been behaving recently more than anything else.

"So, my question. Yesterday, and even today, you were very insistent on saying you killed Lulu. I know you don't see me as anything more than a tool to use that spell for you, so you weren't doing that to ease my guilt or whatever." Gray frowned. "And you also have yet to really show me any signs that you're the sort to lie about things. You don't sugar-coat the truth." He'd bluntly stated that Gray had killed Lulu when he'd destroyed the book, after all. "So, what exactly did you mean by that instead?"

Zeref stared at the book on the ground for a moment, his hand not moving as he frowned. "Out of all the questions you could ask, that is what you wish to know?" He tilted his head with a faint smile. "I suppose you must have lost your curiosity about who I'm targeting with iced shell then. Regardless, I did promise an answer." Gray blinked, feeling stupid for impulsively asking now. Damn it, Zeref was right. That answer was way more important than this.

"I—"

"No, you asked one question. I was not intending on providing you with an alternative one." Zeref tilted his head. "After all, that would be untruthful of me, regarding this sort of arrangement. Following through on such a suggestion would be as if I had dodged answering your initial question, thus making me the one to break the deal."

"I get the feeling you just don't want to tell me who the target is."

"No, I actually wouldn't care." Zeref shrugged. "It wouldn't change the fact that our deal still remains, regardless of what you know." Gray sighed, shaking his head. "As for your original question…you do have some interesting hunches. I was not lying when I said that I killed Lulu, as you've already assumed." Zeref met his eyes. "I killed her a little less than four hundred years ago. And then I brought her back as a demon."

"You…killed her that long ago?"

"It was an accident, but yes." Zeref sighed. "An unfortunate result of having a curse such as mine is that such accidents are rather common. The advice I was trying to give you is the best means I have of coping with such things." Zeref shrugged. "All things die at some point, so all I truly am doing is moving up the date at which that happens. In the grand scheme of things, they would have died with or without my interference. Yet…that was a lesson I had not learned quite so well at that time." Zeref shrugged. "That is why she lived on as a demon."

He was trying to brush it aside, but Gray could see the avoidance on the subject. Zeref had said he'd be uncomfortable, talking about his past. Had he just stumbled on to one of those topics on accident? Gray didn't know, but he was quiet to allow Zeref to continue his notes.

After a moment, Gray sighed and shook his head. "I guess I should apologize then. I might not quite relate well to that sort of comfort, but I guess you were trying to help in some weird way."

Zeref looked up at him with wide eyes. "You're…apologizing to me?"

"Yeah." Gray half-grinned at the baffled expression on his face. "Come on, it can't be that unusual. We're working together towards the same goal for now. I've just shared more with you about my past than I have shared with anyone since the day I joined Fairy Tail. I might not quite agree with a lot of what I know about you, but want to know what I've realized? I make a lot of assumptions based on rumors it seems. I looked at Deliora and used that as a basis to judge all demons even when the ones here were alright. So, I'm going to do my best to at least try and not make the same mistake with you."

"Gray, I made all demons, including the destructive ones."

"For no reason other than to cause destruction?" Zeref didn't answer. "Look, be as secretive as you want about it, but you've got reasons for what you do. I'm not gonna say we're best friends or anything, but I think I can tolerate you a bit more now that I at least have some understanding of that."

"Most of the rumors about me are true, Gray." Zeref closed his book, looking up to meet his eyes. "I may have killed Lulu on accident, but I have killed plenty of people intentionally. I have caused destruction, encouraged others to take part in dangerous schemes, and even overthrown numerous governments simply because I could. In short, I am not a person you should consider to be an ally in any stretch of the term. We have a deal, you have a right to despise my existence, and that is all there is to the circumstances surrounding us."

Well, he was oddly insistent on that. Gray was about to question exactly why that was when Zeref blinked for a moment, rising to his feet. "Excuse me. Something has come up and I need to take a break for the time being." Without another word of warning, Zeref vanished from sight. He left behind his journals, both abandoned on the floor of the cabin in his hurry to leave the room and the conversation Gray had been trying to pursue.

And we've got more a bit more interaction between Gray and Zeref this chapter. I hope you have all enjoyed. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!