What had happened to Gray was the talk of the entire town that evening. Everyone had heard stories about the deformed man who lived in the church but they had never seen him before today. Some of the people expected him to be much more horrible looking, others thought that he was just as frightening as the rumors said. Some thought that he was in fact a demon while others saw him as a man with an awful condition.

"I must say that creature was not at all what I thought it would be." Meredy said to her fellow gypsies.

"I know." Sho said. "I expected him to have fangs and claws and hair all over his body. You know something beast like."

"Well the name demon definitely suits him." Wally said. "Did you see those marks on him? What a monster. You know I hear that sometimes at night he comes out and hunts for children to eat."

"Is that a valid fact?" Sho asked.

"It's what I heard."

"Do you think that he's even human?" Meredy asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't." Wally said.

"How dare you say such things." Juvia interrupted. "Don't you have any compassion?"

"Oh we were just talking Juvia. No harm done." Wally said.

"I don't approve of you talking about him like he's some kind of monster. The only monsters I saw today were those people who were torturing him."

"She's right." Jellal agreed. "As gypsies we know all too well how it feels to be persecuted by others just because we're different. What they did to that man was horrible."

"It's all my fault." Juvia said. "They did that to him because they thought he attacked me."

"Juvia you are not to blame for what happened to him. You told that soldier that he was innocent but clearly he didn't inform anyone of that."

"Still I can't help but blame myself and...And why did they have to do that to him."

"Try to understand Juvia, it's in the nature of human beings to react negatively to things that they don't understand. And you must admit you do find his appearance startling."

"I won't lie, when I first saw him I was a little frightened but there's a big difference between being startled by a person's appearance and just being cruel to them."

"I agree with you but I don't think he's as innocent as you think he is."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"No man should have to suffer what he's went through today but remember he serves that lunatic Invel."

"So?"

"So I don't trust him. No gypsy should trust anyone loyal to Invel or that church. That fanatic has been trying get rid of gypsies for years, spreading vicious rumors that we're devil worshippers and that we practice witchcraft."

Juvia sighed then a few hours later she started walking.

"Where are you going?" Jellal asked.

"I'm going to the church to pray."

"You know I don't like you in that church."

"I won't be long. I swear."

...

When Gray came to the first thing he saw was Natsu's face up close.

"Oh good you're awake."

Unfortunately Gray's first response was to punch him right in the face.

"Ow! Oh God why would you do that?!" He groaned clutching his nose.

Gray then grabbed him by his shirt collar and pinned him against the solid concrete wall. Natsu's feet were just inches off the floor.

"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" Gray demanded angrily.

"Okay now just calm down. Whoa! Man are you strong! What are you half bear?"

"I asked you a question! Why are you here?!"

"I...I saw you getting whipped back there and-"

"And you came to finish the job?! To see the freak?!"

"No! No! You had passed out on the ground! So I brought you inside!"

"You... Helped me?"

"Yes. Now that we've established that can you put me down?"

Gray dropped him.

"Thank you." Natsu stood up and then punched Gray in the face. "That was for earlier."

But that was a bad move because Gray punched him back and the two started fighting. They might have beaten each other to a pulp if Erza hadn't of bashed them both on the head with a frying pan.

"Ow!" They both shouted.

"Natsu you should know better than to provoke a man who's that strong and you sir are in no condition to start a physical fight." She scolded.

"Who the hell are you?" Gray asked her while rubbing the back of his head.

"Watch it you're in a church so don't curse." She said. "My name is Erza and this meat head is Natsu. He brought me here to help you. Now lie down and take your shirt off."

Gray took notice of her provacative clothing which consisted of just a corset and skirt. He realized that she was a prostitute. Getting the wrong idea, he blushed real hard and said.

"Uh...Sorry but I'm not into that kind of stuff and...And...We're in a church so that would be wrong in so many ways. Also I'm flat broke."

"Not that kind of help you idiot!" She scoffed. "I'm going to dress your wounds. You've got some nasty cuts on your back and they're still bleeding out. So do as I say if you want to heal properly."

Gray swallowed hard then nervously took off his shirt and laid down on his stomach.

"Now just a warning to you, this is going to sting real bad so I hope you have a high pain tolerance." She said.

"If I can get through being whipped within an inch of my life I'm sure I can tolerate a little stinging."

Erza soaked a rag in a bucket of water and began to clean the bleeding cuts on his back. Just as she had warned, it stung really bad but Gray just bared his teeth and clinched his fists while trying to ignore the pain just as he had done earlier today. After she had cleaned his wounds she rubbed liniment on his back and wrapped a gauze around his back and waist.

"There? Feel better?" She asked.

"Did you have to make it so tight?" He complained.

"The tighter it is the better it will hold."

"So if I may ask. Why did you two help me?"

"Well duh because you were hurt." Natsu said. "What were we supposed to do? Leave you there to bleed out on the streets?"

"Why not? It's what everybody else would have done."

"Look pal we just helped you so the least you could do is say thank you." Natsu said.

Gray went silent and looked at them suspiciously. After what happened today he wasn't sure if he could ever trust anyone except Invel. Invel had told him that if he ever went outside the people would only hurt him and treat him cruelly and that's exactly what happened today. He went outside and everybody treated him like crap. They tied him down and whipped him like he was some mule and they laughed at his pain. It was awful, it was cruel, and it was inhumane.

However that gypsy girl who he had met didn't treat him like the others did. She had helped him and she had spoken so kindly to him. He never thought that anyone there would help him especially not a gypsy. Then there were these two. This man and this prostitute.

When Gray had seen Natsu that first time he was sure that he was one of those cold hearted spectators who had come back to mock him and hurt him further. Imagine his surprise when he found out that Natsu was only trying to help him.

As for Erza, Invel had warned him about prostitutes. Calling them filthy, money grubbing, whores who had no shame, modesty, or morality. But if she had no morality then why would she tend to his wounds like this?

"Thank you for helping me." He said finally and without another word he ran away.

"Rather ungrateful isn't he?" Natsu said.

"I'm not surprised especially since he's been abused." Erza said. "People like him who have been abused all their lives often have a difficult time responding to geniune love and affection mainly because they believe that it's not possible for anyone to truly care for them."

"I was abused and I don't believe that."

"That's because your abuse ended once I took you in and you were still a child when it ended but he's still getting abused. I can tell by the extreme suspicion and distrust in his eyes. My eyes were once the same way."

"You were abused? Erza you never told me that."

"That's because I don't like to talk about it."

"Erza what happened? You can tell me. You can tell me anything."

"I know Natsu but...There are some things in a person's past that's so horrible that even just thinking about it makes you hurt."

She shuddered a little. Natsu gently grasped her shoulder comfortingly.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I understand. Why don't we just go home?"

She only smiled softly and the two went home. In all the years that he had known her, Natsu never knew that Erza had been abused. He wondered if any of the other girls who worked at the brothel knew that about her. He wished that Erza would tell him what she had been through but he didn't want to push her so he was going to be patient and wait til she was ready to tell him. If she would ever tell him.