"Fairy Law?" Gray exclaimed in shock.
"Would that really work without hurting Natsu?" Juvia asked, now propped up against Gray.
Makarov's brow furrowed as he reevaluated his plan. "I can't say for sure." He admitted, sighing as he turned to look at Natsu. The water slid down his hair in a rapid pitter patter. He had the most serene face Makarov had ever seen, spiking his curiosity a little as to what he was thinking in his state of limbo. "But I cannot allow any more of my children to be hurt. And I certainly cannot give up on Natsu."
Gray looked at Makarov for a second longer before nodding in agreement.
"You owe us one, you fire eating pyro." He muttered to himself, shaking his head.
Gray suddenly felt a presence that could not be ignored. He whirled his head around only to meet Aquarius's fierce gaze.
He was taken aback and Aquarius sneered at his reaction. Anger shot through him. "What's your problem?" He demanded, knowing full well from Lucy how much of a pain Aquarius could be.
Aquarius didn't respond and he grit his teeth. He muttered under his breath and Aquarius quickly lifted her hands above her head, ready to release her torrent of fury as she yelled, "What did you say?!"
"None your business." Gray responded curtley, giving her a smug smirk.
"This is why you don't have a boyfriend!" Aquarius yelled out of habit, bringing back her hands.
"What?!" Gray's face fell as he was at a loss of what to say. What kind of insult was that?
Juvia started to protest and Aquarius glanced at her.
"Gray-sama is a good man." She began, pushing herself off of Gray to meet Aquarius's eyes full on. "And Juvia loves him." She stated simply, completely unaffected while Gray hid his face in embarrassment, his cheeks burning red.
Aquarius's face softened, bringing down her vase to her hip as she stated, "You're one of the element four, correct?"
"I was." Juvia corrected.
"Water?" She inquired, staring Juvia up and down, taking note of her body's affinity for water. Juvia's eyes sparkled at Aquarius's change in demeanor and keen eye and she excitedly nodded her head.
The Ice Mage crossed his arms and huffed, causing Aquarius to glare daggers at him and begin to let loose her water bearing magic, careful to avoid Juvia.
"Woah! Woah!" A voice came out of nowhere and Scorpio appeared in front of Aquarius, holding back her vase.
"Relax. Why's my baby so upset?" Scorpio asked, wrapping his arm around her. She did a complete 360. "My love!" She exclaimed happily, her face brightening.
Scorpio kissed her cheek and a loud gasp was heard. Aquarius and Scorpio both turned their attention to a flushed Juvia who practically seemed to have hearts in her eyes.
"Wow!" She exclaimed in awe. "You're so lovey dovey with each other!" She placed both her palms on either side of her face as she shaked her head back and forth. "I wish Gray-sama and Juvia could be that way!"She stopped short and wrapped herself around Gray's arm, looking up at him expectantly.
Gray turned his head away from Juvia's gaze, absolutely mortified, as Scorpio took the chance to slide to Gray's side, wrapping his shoulders with one arm. "Hey man, no shame in showing your girl some lovin'." He chimed in, pointing to Aquarius and winking at her.
Hearts fluttered around Aquarius at Scorpio's words.
"Plus, better off not getting the ladies ticked off." He whispered so only Gray could hear him. With that, Scorpio released Gray, pushed Juvia and Grah together as he planted Gray's arm on her shoulders.
Gray tensed up and stopped short for a minute and looked at Scorpio who was nodding his head happily. He took a quick peek at Juvia who had the most dumbfounded, happy face.
He sighed with a small smile and turned toward Makarov, keeping his arm around Juvia.
"Ah, young love." Makarov sighed fondly, reminiscing in old memories.
A voice cut through the happy atmosphere. "I don't mean to rush you master, but I don't know how much time we have to execute this plan." Loke interrupted, grabbing everyone's attention.
Makarov nodded. "Aquarius, please release Natsu."
She nodded her head in affirmation and released her spell, ceasing the torrent of water. The air was thick with anticipation as to which Natsu they would face.
"Natsu," Makarov called out, "Wake up, my boy."
Natsu fluttered his eyes open. "Huh? Gramps?" He muttered in confusion. "Where am I? And why am I wet?" He assessed himself, as he ran a hand through his hair, using his flames to style it back into its usual form.
"You're in the Celestial world."
Natsu completely zoned out Makarov's words and stared past him, happily yelling, "Hey! You're Lucy's celestial spirit! Aquarius, right?"
"Unfortunately." She mumbled bitterly, crossing her arms.
Natsu frowned a little at her response but started to check out the place. "Speaking of Lucy, where is she?" He inquired, drying himself off.
"She's currently recovering." Loke stepped forward cautiously, taking in Natsu's state of mind.
Natsu didn't say anything; the memories coming back. Memories he'd rather forget.
He heard a shuffling to his left and a certain mage caught the corner of his eye.
"Gray? What the heck are ya doing here?" His face scrunched up, taking note of Gray's position with Juvia.
Gray reddened and yelled,"Hey! It's rude to look at someone's face and do that!" He gritted his teeth at the nerve of him. "I'm here to save your butt!"
Natsu looked back at Makarov who nodded his head in affirmation. "I've got a plan, but you have to trust me."
"Okay." Natsu replied without a second thought. He trusted Gramps with his life.
Everyone shaded their eyes as they stepped through the gate Loke had created.
Natsu looked around the now barren wasteland and hung his head, showing remorse for what he did.
"I'm sorry." He muttered, clenching and unclenching his hands.
Makarov walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Go ahead, Gray." Makarov nodded towards Natsu and stepped back, letting the plan begin.
Everyone stepped to the side as Gray faced Natsu, cracking his knuckles as his face hardened.
"I still have a bone to pick with you." Gray said clearly, his voice threatening.
Natsu glanced at him before saying, "I don't want to fight you."
An audible gasp was heard from the group at Natsu's words.
"What are you muttering about, flames for brains?" Gray asked, a little irritated. Now was not the time for him to act all pathetic. "You owe me one." He challenged. "Especially for what you did to Lucy. No doubt she hates you now. Well, I guess she's fair game now, right?"
Gray saw Juvia in the corner of his eye start to stomp towards him, her cheeks huffed out as her choice words for him were accumulating. However, Loke was quicker than her as he looped an arm around her waist and held her in place. He glared at them for a second before returning his attention to Natsu.
Gray smirked as he saw that his comment hit a nerve and Natsu's hand twitched, immediately bursting into flames. "What did you say?" He growled.
"You heard me." Gray responded. "I can make her mine now."
Natsu's head shot up, and dragon scales started to appear on his face. "Don't you even try." He seethed through clenched teeth.
"Then why don't you do something about it!" Gray egged on, dropping an ice hammer on top of Natsu.
Steam arose around the hammer, the middle of it melting away and Natsu stepped through, his body aflame. "Fire Dragon's claw!" He yelled as he charged towards Gray, faster than ever.
Gray barely dodged it, doing a backwards cartwheel away from the attack. "Ice make Lance!" Streams of ice shot out, one of them grazing Natsu's arm.
Blood trickled down his arm, but Natsu didn't even seem to notice. Hr set his body ablaze and set out for Gray, his speed increasing with each step. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" He lunged at Gray and headbutted him right in the gut. They both went flying, eventually skidding to a stop a few yards down.
"Battle Axe!" Gray's muffled voice came through raspy breaths as he tried regaining the wind that got knocked out of him. He formed the axe, swinging it around, managing to fling Natsu away from him.
The two of them continued their battle, Natsu getting angrier by the second as Gray made sly remarks about Lucy.
Natsu eventually snapped. "Leave her our of this!" He demanded, as he brought his hands up in a tunnel formation to release a Fire Dragon's Roar.
"If Loke hadn't been there to save her, I wouldn't be able to make them." Gray jabbed, wincing a little as he knew he had taken it too far.
The heat emitting off of Natsu intensified tenfold which coupled with an evil aura.
Makarov's eyes widened as he felt the presence, and the group was on their toes, ready for action.
"My oh my..." A voice tisked, coming from Natsu who's face had become blank.
Gray's stomach did backflips at the sight of "Natsu".
"Such hostility among friends." The demon pointed out, "and I love it." The wicked grin on his face widened.
"I could use some unwinding since Lord Zeref has been making me run around like a dog." He cracked his knuckles. "Let's have a round two, Gray."
Gray's face paled a little but he stood his ground, his fist laid on top of his open palm. "Bring it."
The demon rushed towards Gray, and grabbed him tight, using Natsu's Brilliant Flame spell to create a massive explosion. Gray braced himself as the flames engulfed him and he cried out, gritting his teeth against the pain.
The demon let out a small chuckle but soon was groaning in pain as Gray unleashed his Seven Slice Dance, crystal ice blades forming from his elbows as he rapidly spun around, dealing deep gashes. On the seventh spin, he jumped into the air above the demon, his palms facing downwards. "Ice Make Prison!" He shouted, surrounding the demon with sleek ice bars, creating an intricate cage around him. He landed with a thud, admiring his work.
"Well done!" Makarov yelled, reaching them, the rest following suit.
The demon's attention was quickly brought to him. "Ah... you're Makarov." He said in a silky voice, with a Cheshire grin.
"Yes. And who may you be?"
The demon raised an eyebrow, and placed his hands around the frigid bars.
"Not talking eh?" Makarov straightened himself, his face void of all emotion. "I'll give you to the count of three to tell me who you are."
"Never." The demon spat.
"One." Makarov started to gather the magic energy needed for Fairy Law.
The demon stared on with its steely gaze.
"Two." Makarov paused, giving the demon a fraction of a second longer to respond. The demon knew that it had lost, in more ways than he hoped Makarov knew.
"Three!" As the last letter rolled off of Makarov's tongue, he brought his hands together, gritting his teeth as he let loose all the magic energy he could, a bright light emitted from him, blinding everyone around him. Within seconds, the ordeal was over and everyone blinked to get rid of the dots that intruded their vision.
"Natsu!" Gray yelled, shattering his ice prison and rushing towards him.
Natsu laid passed out on the ground, black fumes radiating out of him.
Gray let out a sigh of relief as he saw Natsu's chest rise. At least he was alive. "Get up, yah pyro!" He said as he took Natsu by the shoulders and started shaking him.
Makarov clasped his hands behind his back and debated what to do next. Loke walked up next to him as he continued to take in the situation.
Juvia was now leaning over Natsu, taking note of his injuries. She shook her head in frustration and glanced at Gray. "Gray-sama couldn't have restrained himself?!" She yelled, ripping part of her dress to tie it above a gushing slash.
"W-what?" Gray was taken aback by her outburst.
Juvia didn't say anything as she tried patching up Natsu as best as she could.
A shadow passed over Juvia and she looked up towards the obstacle blocking the sun.
"Here, I'll take him." Loke said as he bent down to pick up Natsu. "I'm going ahead to the guild to take care of matters regarding Natsu." With that being said, he opened a gate to the spirit world and disappeared.
"Hey Gramps!" Gray called out, whirling around to look at Makarov. "What the heck's going on?"
"Loke and I believe Natsu will be alright. Loke is taking him to the guild to have his wounds taken care of. However, I believe I found a way to get the upper hand over Zeref." Makarov responded, a hand on his chin as he got deeper in thought.
I apologize for the long wait for the update. School and work has been taking over my life. So, here is the new chapter and I hope you enjoy! Vote/comments are what bring smiles to my face.