5. Ice-Make: Second Chance

"There was nothing he could do about it now, no matter how many potential alternate outcomes he could come up with."

Gray stood still, his gaze focused on Lyon's retreating form as it started on its way back to Lamia Scale. He walked as if he had complete faith in his supposed theory that everything would soon return to normal, but Gray was still doubtful.

Should he call him back? He had a strange feeling that something bigger was going on, something that they weren't aware of. Should they do something about it instead of just leaving it to manifest itself? Would they regret it if they just left it alone?

Gray opened his mouth to shout Lyon's name, but then hesitated. What if Lyon was right? Maybe he was just overreacting, as he'd been prone to do before. It couldn't hurt to just give it a few days. Nothing too bad could happen if they waited it out until then.

Feeling a bit more convinced of Lyon's prediction, yet still somewhat uncertain, Gray began to head back to the guildhall. He groaned as the sun began to beat him with its army of sweltering rays as he walked back down the path, his sweat raining down faster than his ice would take to melt in this oven of a city. The summer season was always a challenge for him, and Gray almost felt that the sun was just messing with him, making it harder for him then it really should. After all, no one else seemed to struggle as much as he did. Or maybe he was just ticked off by the fact that it could melt his ice in an instant, kind of like the reason for his resentment towards Natsu's magic.

Whatever the reason, he knew that he'd never adapt to this kind of weather, and in a way he was kind of happy about that. He would never understand how most people could prefer the scorching heat of the sun over that cold, icy breeze that just passed him by.

"Wait a second," Gray said to himself as he stopped walking. "that was cold air I just felt. Don't tell me it's happening again."

Gray prepared himself for the sight of another magic outburst and quickly turned around. The ground was still bare, the grass still green. He looked up at the trees, their leaves still hanging from the branches, glimmering in the sunlight filtering through them. There was not a single trace of ice in sight.

"Maybe I just imagined it."

Gray sighed and turned back around, resuming his trek back to the guildhall. He kept his eyes open for anything irregular, but everything seemed to fit with the summer season. He was about to conclude that it had just been his imagination after all, but then another cold gust of air blew by.

"That is not my imagination."

A snowflake then landed on his arm, followed by another and then another until Gray found himself standing amidst an apparent blizzard surrounded by snow covered trees and grass that had been perfectly green and bare just a few seconds prior. He could no longer feel the burning jabs of the sun, as the air was now cold with freezing winds brushing his skin.

He would've rejoiced at the sudden change of season, but he knew that this wasn't normal. Though he could sense some ice magic, he was certain it wasn't coming from him. It was an unfamiliar type of magic, and it bothered him that he couldn't identify it.

Gray looked around again at the early winter arriving upon Magnolia and figuring that the rest of the guild should probably know about the slight temperature change, Gray hurried in the direction of the guildhall.

"So it's snowing in Clover too." Erza repeated to herself after Makarov had returned from there and recollected what he saw. She still found it hard to believe, but she had little to doubt after hearing it now from two dependable sources.

"That's right." Makarov said. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was only after everyone else reacted to it too that I was sure I wasn't really going crazy."

The guildhall had erupted into an uproar after Levy and Makarov's claims of snowstorms in Hargeon and then Clover. Everyone was trying to come up with their own theories as to what had caused the rapid transition of season, and Erza was finding it hard to concentrate on her own logical solutions amidst everyone else's nonsensical speculations.

"Hey, look at this, Erza." Lucy said, an open newspaper in her hand. "According to this, there have been snowstorms in Oshibana and Era too."

Erza walked over to the bench Lucy was seated at and peered over the blonde's shoulder to read the headline sprawled across the front page. To her surprise, Lucy was right and the number of sudden blizzards around Fiore was increasing.

"This is preposterous!" Erza shouted as she tore the newspaper from Lucy's hands, only to glare at it. "Why is someone trying to get rid of summer and who could even have this kind of power to do this?"

"I think Gray's doing it." Natsu said as he unloaded a near three course meal onto the table as he and Happy began to dig in. "That ice popsical is always complaining about the heat and whatever, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to bring on an early winter."

Lucy rolled her eyes as she watched the fire dragonslayer and talking cat messily eat. "Gray wouldn't do that. And how could you eat so calmly at a time like this?!"

"Who's eating calmly?" Natsu asked innocently as he wolfed down a chicken leg.

Lucy turned pleadingly to Happy for some sort of explanation.

Happy smiled. "It's just a coping mechanism. Natsu can't stand to even think of the coming winter months, let alone see them come now."

Erza had been reading the news headlines, her eyes skimming the page numerous times as if it would somehow reveal to her the cause behind it all. She hadn't really been paying attention to the conversation going on between Lucy, Natsu, and Happy, but she had caught some of it.

"This isn't Gray's doing." Erza stated as she slammed down the newspaper, causing even Natsu to pause his panicked eating. "First of all, he wouldn't do something that would effect us like this for his own selfish reasons, and second, Gray doesn't even have this kind of power."

I know it's not him, Erza thought, confirming to herself again of his innocence. but I can't stay away from this urging assumption that somehow he indirectly has something to do with it. Lyon said he had sensed ice magic, and Gray's has been a little out of control lately. I just have this strange suspicion that they're linked.

"What are you thinking of, Erza?" Lucy asked, interrupting her conflicted thoughts. "Do you have an idea of what's happening?"

Before Erza could even think of answering, the doors to the guildhall were violently thrown open by a distraught looking ice mage who then hurried inside.

"Gray, you're back." Erza greeted him as she noticed the distressed look on his usually calm face. "Is something wrong?"

Gray hurried over to the table they were seated around. "I don't know, you tell me. Does it usually snow in the summer in Magnolia?"

"You're joking." Erza said, hoping beyond all hope that he was just messing with her.

Gray crossed his arms as he gestured towards the open doors. "No, I'm totally serious..."

His voice trailed as Erza and practically the entire guild stampeded outside to verify his claim, though he was still caught on trying to understand why Erza had sounded like she already had an idea of what was happening.

"You may want to read this." Lucy said before thrusting a newspaper into his hands and following the rest of the guild outside.

Gray looked down at the newspaper and scanned the words boldly written across the front page. His eyes widened as he read about the numerous snowstorms springing up across the country.

How is this even happening? Gray thought to himself as he glanced out the window and watched the myriad of snowflakes pouring from the sky. I didn't even know snowstorms of this magnitude were possible with magic.

After a few minutes of everyone revelling at the snow, the guild returned back inside the guildhall, the mages still talking amongst themselves of the unexplainable phenomenon that they were witnessing.

Gray placed the newspaper back onto the table as Erza and the rest of their team arrived. "So this is what you all wanted to tell me about?"

Erza nodded. "Yeah, while you were gone earlier, Levy and then even the master came in saying how they had gotten caught in snowstorms in other towns. Then we saw this." She pointed to the newspaper.

"We were actually going to go to Hargeon to check it out for ourselves but," Lucy said as she turned towards the window. "then this happened."

"I see." Gray said. "Any ideas of how it happened?"

"Well, we were thinking-" Lucy clapped her hand over Natsu's mouth before he could finish.

Erza, noticing his confused expression, decided to intervene before the impulsive dragonslayer could say anything else. "We don't really know. The only clue we have is from Lyon who apparently got caught in the blizzard in Hargeon on his way here and told us that he could sense ice magic, but he wasn't familiar with it."

"Strange," Gray said thoughtfully. "I sensed ice magic too, but I couldn't either tell what it was."

"So we're still at square one." Lucy said as she plopped down on the bench in defeat.

"Now don't give up just yet." Erza said as she gestured towards the window. "We still have this nature phenomenon to investigate."

"You're not making me go out there." Natsu said, crossing his arms over his chest. Erza instantly changed his mind, however, with just one glare in his direction. "Alright, I'm going! Come on, Happy!"

The two raced out of the guild without a second thought as Erza, Lucy, and Gray trailed after them.

"I should have brought a coat." Lucy said, shivering as they stepped out into the cold. "It's freezing out here."

Gray smirked at her. "I don't feel anything."

Lucy just glared back at him. "Shut it, ice mage. Not everyone here has the luxury of immunity to the cold."

"Enough, you two." Erza snapped. "Seeing as Natsu already abandoned us, I say we split up so we can cover more ground quicker."

"Sounds like a plan," Gray said as his eyes scanned the plain, white snow around them. "but what exactly are we looking for?"

"Yeah," Lucy agreed as she too was trying to find anything that stuck out in their now white featureless surroundings. "what are we supposed to be searching for?"

Erza hesitated, as she hadn't quite thought that far ahead yet. She stared back at their questioning glances and then shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, I don't really know. Just look around for anything that seems abnormal, strange objects, suspicious people, anything. Okay?"

Gray and Lucy glanced at each other with uncertainty, as Erza's plan made little sense, but it couldn't hurt them to try.

"Okay."

"Alright."

The three of them then split up, each setting off in a different direction of Magnolia. Gray still wasn't sure what he was supposed to looking for as all there was was snow and more snow. It was just a big endless blanket of plain, white snow. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing abnormal. Gray passed through many streets, but all he saw was the same white snow covering the ground, trees, and buildings. The only possible thing that could be considered as out of place was the very snow itself, but they had already determined that it didn't give them any significant clues to work with.

After a good hour of roaming the streets and trudging through the snow, Gray finally gave in to his exhaustion and utter boredom and sat down on a park bench, coincidentally the same park bench he had been sitting on with Erza a few days earlier. The only difference now was the park's appearance. It was strange to think how in just a mere few hours a whole park of blooming flowers and trees full of colorful leaves glistening in the sunlight was now just covered by a thick coating of mysterious snow.

It was ironic how this was ultimately what he had been wishing for, but now that he actually had it, he wasn't satisfied. It just didn't feel right, snow in summer. And aside from that, there was just something off about it all. The air, the cold, the snow, none of it seemed natural to him. He had a bad feeling about it all, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was somehow linked to his current problems with his magic. He was starting to regret not calling Lyon back, but he quickly stopped himself, as it had already past and the mistake had already been made. There was nothing he could do about it now, no matter how many potential alternate outcomes he could come up with.

It was getting late and the others had probably given up already as well, so Gray figured he might as well start heading back. As he began to stand up, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and made him stop. Gray looked down at the bench he had been sitting on. There, sitting in the perfectly white snow was a snowflake, but not just any snowflake.

Gray recognized it immediately, for it was the same exact snowflake he had seen a few days earlier after his conversation with Erza. He had no doubt about it, as it was the same exact shape, same size, same design.

He had to bring it back to the guild and tell the others about it. He carefully picked it up, but then had a different idea as he noticed it was already beginning to melt. Using his ice-make, Gray quickly created an exact replica of the mysterious snowflake and then hurried with it back to the guildhall, just as the original melted away.

I know it's been like forever since I last updated, and for that I apologize. The reason for the delay is that I decided to take the story in a slightly different direction then what I had originally planned and as such had to make some changes. If you also noticed, I changed the layout of the chapter titles, and if they don't make sense now, they will at the end.

Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait and I'd appreciate hearing what you all think of this so far and if I should continue it.

I also want to express my gratitude to you guys because this story already has 24 followers! Thank you all so much for following this because it means people actually are enjoying this and that just makes this more enjoyable for me to write, so thank you.

Thanks for reading!

-britishsconesahoy