12. Ice-Make: War

No, he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. This was his war and he was going to fight it.

Lucy enjoyed many things, however, some were just meant to be enjoyed from a distance.

Winter was one of them.

Lucy felt content by just watching the perfectly crafted snowflakes fall from the sky. She didn't need to feel them melt into her clothes and hair. The celestial spirit mage was just fine with looking through the window as the frost began to form and clouded her view. She didn't need to feel the cold air wisp past her and freeze her exposed skin. Lucy was quite mesmerized by just gazing at the glimmering icicles hanging from the snow covered gutters. She didn't need to physically touch their icy exteriors.

Admiring the snowy season from afar was a lot easier said than done though, which was why Lucy was extremely grateful that the torturous weather masked by that beautiful disguise only appeared once a year and just for a few months at the most. This year, however, seemed to be different and Lucy wasn't in any way happy about it.

Someone wanted winter to have more screen time even if it meant throwing the rest of the seasons into extinction.

"Master," Erza said, concluding her relay of everything that had happened. "we're leaving the decision of our next move up to you."

"The Magic Council is already aware of the Eliftis Spell." Makarov began, though the information didn't come as much of a surprise for Lucy. Their knowledge of different spells ranged far and wide and this one was no exception. "From what I've heard, the council already has a plan for reversing the spell and they have asked for the guilds to stay out of it and let them handle it on their own."

Gray narrowed his eyes. "What are they going to do about it? The Koppa Stone is useless now and their only other option is for the caster himself to reverse the spell. He already went through the trouble to cast this damn thing, so I don't see him being all that enthusiastic about lifting it."

"I don't know." The Master admitted. "They said it would be more effective if they kept everything quiet."

"I don't buy it. Why should they have to hide it, anyway?" Gray muttered, turning his gaze towards the window. Lucy followed, her eyes falling upon the ongoing blizzard outside that had somehow dumped a week's worth of snow onto Magnolia in just two days.

"Who cares about what the council says." Natsu said. "I say we fight those cold loving bastards."

Erza shook her head. "If the council doesn't want us involved then we should just leave it to them. We did what we could, but this is obviously not something we can handle ourselves."

Lucy's eyes were still glued to the window, as were Gray's. He looked like he wanted to protest against Erza's judgement, but for some reason kept quiet.

"I think Erza is right, Natsu." Makarov said, agreeing with requip mage. "We should leave this up to the Magic Council."

Lucy would have laughed at the comical pout on Natsu's face, but she was a little preoccupied worrying about the ice mage glaring out the window. She knew this whole Eliftis spell was bothering him more than anyone and she wished there was something she could do to help. She hated him right now for being so stubbornly reserved about everything. She just wanted to help her friend, but he was making it really hard by bottling up his feelings like that. Couldn't he just unscrew the cap already?

"I'm leaving." Gray said suddenly, stepping away from the window.

The Master frowned. "Gray?"

Lucy held her breath as Gray stopped in his tracks. He didn't say anything or turn around, so Makarov continued.

"Just let the Magic Council handle this."

The ice mage didn't respond. Lucy stared after him worryingly as he left the guildhall. She knew Gray wasn't one to jump into a battle he couldn't win, yet she was worried about him. She just hoped he would listen to the Master's words this time, for his own sake.

Gray just ran. He didn't know where and he didn't know why, but he just ran. He had to get away from all of it, yet everywhere he turned he was reminded of his unfavourable predicament.

Trudging through piles of thick snow had never bothered him before, but now it was just another obstacle blocking his escape. The perfectly white backdrop he had been wanting all summer now just revolted him. Ironic how he was now hoping, praying for the trees and the grass to turn green again. For the flowers to bloom and dot the landscape with their vibrant colors. For the sky to clear and return to its bright blue. He even prayed for the sun to beat back down on him again.

He never thought he'd think this, but the cold was really starting to bother him.

Just a bit, though.

How could they just leave this mess to the Magic Council? How could he just leave it and ignore the fact that he had any connection to it. He was half responsible for it, wasn't he? He was the one who had froze the Koppa Stone. He destroyed their only weapon! He had been careless and reckless. Why hadn't he checked first? How could he have just believed what Alvaro had said?

Because Erza had been in trouble.

Caring about one's comrades was a trait to be admired, but right now Gray was blind to that perspective. Alvaro must have known that something else needed to be at stake for Gray to immediately believe his lie without a second thought. Erza had been on the verge of death. That was more than enough for Gray to just take the easier route and trust in Alvaro's claim so he could save his teammate.

I screwed everything up, didn't I? Gray thought, panting as he halted his mindless running.

He had wound up at the outskirts of Magnolia, just at the entrace to the forest. Calling it a forest though felt a bit off and Gray had to turn around towards the snow covered buildings rising from the town to remind himself that he wasn't in some frozen wasteland.

It almost reminded him of his childhood spent in Isvan. He didn't want to remember it, but the resemblance to his native landscape was difficult to overlook. The memories just started coming on their own. He could see them so clearly, as if they were happening right in front of him.

He could see his past self, so ignorant and reckless, just trying to learn enough to take down a demon. How stupid he was back then. He would give anything to go back and change all that.

Well, almost anything.

He could see Lyon too. He wondered how he was handling all this. Had he remembered what Ur had told them about the Eliftis Spell? If he did, Gray was sure he had put two and two together. He would never say it to his face, or to anyone's face for that matter, but his former peer wasn't entirely stupid. If they were to team up on this case, Gray had no doubt they could take down whoever had casted the spell.

But even during these dire times, Gray was still too stubborn to ask Ur's other student for help.

Gray sighed as he leaned against a snow covered tree at the edge of the forest. The memories were beginning to fade, but one still stood out. His master's voice was so clear in his mind that when he closed his eyes, he could have sworn she was right next to him, saying those very words.

"There's a reason it's forbidden," He could hear her say. "and if you ever catch anyone trying to cast it, you must stop them."

He had disobeyed Ur many times with one even costing her life. He remembered what he had told her when he begged for her not to leave him. He had said he would listen to her, do everything she told him to. Now that she was dead he didn't have that many opportunities to prove that to her, so he couldn't just let this one go.

He had the chance now to make it up to her, to obey her orders. She had warned them about the Eliftis Spell because she wanted them to be able to stop it. How could he then go and leave it to the Magic Council?

No, he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. This was his war and he was going to fight it.

For his master.

"Gray?"

Gray jumped at the sudden voice, its presence cutting through his inner monologue with one swipe of a knife. It was hard to make out anything in the blur of white clouding his view, but that black coat was hard to misidentify.

"You, again." He said, silently accusing her of being one of the causes for his endless troubling thoughts. "What do you want?"

Lena slowly began to approach him, her boots trudging through the heavy snow. "I want to help you, Gray."

He caught a hint of helplessness in her voice, but he chose to ignore it. She was still a mystery to him and thus couldn't be automatically trusted. He was still kind of creeped out by her knowing his name. It couldn't hurt to be cautious.

"Help me with what?" He asked, gritting his teeth. For all he knew, she could have been the sweetest girl in all of Earthland, but right now, he had far too many unanswered questions about her to even consider that. "And how do you know who I am?"

Lena was standing next to him now, those intriguing blue eyes of hers staring into his once again. They were like oceans full of all the answers he seeked, but they were so vast he didn't even know where to start looking.

"I need to show you something." She said, gesturing for him to follow her into the forest. "I promise everything will be explained."

"You never answered my first question, or the second."

"Please, Gray." Lena said, her voice pleading. "I told you, all will be explained soon."

He stared at her, just looked into her eyes real hard. Here he was with some unknown girl who seemed to somehow know him begging for him to go with her. He didn't even know whether she was an enemy or an ally. Was he dreaming? He hoped he was dreaming. If only he would wake up already.

"Give me one good reason for why I should go with you."

"You want to reverse the Eliftis Spell, don't you?" He didn't say anything, but he figured she already knew the answer anyway. "I want to help you do that."

She didn't seem dangerous, and in all honestly her desire to help him sounded quite genuine. He hadn't seen how strong she was magic-wise, but she couldn't be that much more powerful than him. Even if she did turn out to be a threat, which he highly doubted, Gray wasn't too worried about not being able to fight her off. Call him stuck up, but he had confidence in his skills.

"Fine." He said, stepping away from the tree he had been leaning against. "Lead the way."

Lena nodded and quickly turned towards the forest. Gray followed though he kept his distance a few steps behind her. The walk through the snowy forest was quiet and Gray debated if he should try interrogating her then. Perhaps she would give him some answers.

"So, now that you have me going with you, maybe you can enlighten me on how you know who I am?"

Lena stopped and turned to face him. "I told you, Gray. I'll answer everything soon. I want to help you."

You're saying that a lot, Gray thought as Lena turned back around and continued the trek to their unknown destination. but you don't seem to be doing anything.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Every so often, Gray would try to get some piece of information out of her, but she refused on each attempt. She was either hiding something, or she just got a kick out of keeping him in the dark for no reason. As much as he hated the idea of it being the latter, it was the more favorable situation of the two.

They were already deep into the forest when Lena suddenly stopped. She didn't turn around, but Gray figured they had reached their destination. Looking around, he could only see a bunch of snow covered trees and some more snow covered trees. There was nothing there that stood out, so what was here that she needed to show him?

"So, is this the place?"

"Yes." Her back was still towards him.

"Okay, then what am I supposed to be looking at?"

He could sense her hesitate. "I'm sorry, Gray."

"Sorry for what?"

Lena then turned around and Gray was shocked to see tears falling from her sharp blue eyes. "I want to help you. I really do."

He wanted to ask her what she was talking about, but before he could even open his mouth someone attacked him from behind, knocking him out. He could feel his eyes closing as they caught one more look of Lena, tears streaming down her face. Their white surroundings started to disappear as darkness overcame him until all he could see was black.

"I want to help you, but I can't."

Sorry this is so late in the day, but it's still a half hour until midnight (at least by my time) so I think it'll fly.

Thank you Viperhat and NinjagymnasgirlK for your reviews last chapter, they were very much appreciated!

Just a quick announcement, I am going out of town next week so I can't promise an update for next Thursday. I will try my hardest to get one up, but if not then don't fret. It will just either be late or you'll just have to wait two weeks. Sorry! Thanks for understanding, though.

Have a great weekend!

-britishsconesahoy