Gray POV


We meander in the direction that Flame had pointed us in with Sting, Mirajane, and Laxus looking around in awe at all of the various kinds of plant life.

"This doesn't make any sense," Sting speaks up. "How are all these trees growing in the same place? That shouldn't be possible, right?"

"In the real world, maybe, but this is the dream world," Erza answers. "Anything should be possible here."

"Anything, huh~?"

"I know what you're thinking, Mira; and no, you can't make all of your ships come true," Lisanna looks at her sister.

"Aww..." the demoness seems disappointed. "Why not?"

"Because we don't have power here," Lisanna told her. "We can't create things and we can't manipulate anything either."

"Damn it..."

We keep going, until we find ourselves underneath a beautiful night sky. Sequin-silver stars like the scattered embers of a dying fire wink down at me, illuminating the stygian curtain of sky. I also take note that the ground is now beginning to steep upwards as well.

"We must getting closer."

"Here we come, Lu-chan," Levy mutters to herself.

It takes some time before we reach the top of the hill. I glimpse over the side and see that the hill has turned into a pernicious cliff, with the only way down being to jump.

"That's a long way down," I comment.

"We'll be alright," Erza glances over the edge. "We've fallen from much greater heights before."

"Are you sure about that, Erza?" Wendy sounds skeptical. "This doesn't look like something that you could survive."

"We fell from the goddamn sky when we arrived, and we were completely fine. We could easily survive something like this," Natsu scoffs. "Trust us."

"Okay..."

"On three, we jump," Erza states. "One...two...thr-"

"HALT!"

An invisible force roughly shoves us away from the cliff. We stumble backwards, some of us even falling down.

"What the hell was that?!" Gajeel demands once he regains his balance.

A person appears at the edge of the cliff, and to my surprise, it is a duplicate of myself. He mirrors me in every detail, the only exception being that he wears pajamas. His sleepwear consists of blue and gray checkered pants, and a plain white t-shirt. He has his arms crossed over his chest as he glares at us in distaste. I take notice that he doesn't have a demon slayer tattoo on his arm like I do, so he most likely doesn't have my slayer magic.

"Just what do you all think you're doing? This area is strictly off limits. No one is allowed in or out."

"But you're outside of the area," Lisanna points out.

"I may be, but Master isn't gonna care. Especially when I left to keep you all away," he responds. "Besides, she's too tired to dish out any punishments right now."

"Those mannequins must have done a number on her if that's the case," Laxus grumbles.

"Can we please go inside the area?" Mirajane asks politely, smiling sweetly at my duplicate.

"Do you not understand what 'off limits' means?"

"Worth a shot..."

"No, it really wasn't. But all of you better listen up when I say that none of you are gonna make it in so long as I'm here."

"Then I guess we're just gonna have to move ya' by force," Gajeel grind, cracking his knuckles.

"I'd like to see you try," my doppelgänger threatens. "I may be outnumbered, but I'll sure as hell destroy all o-"

He cuts himself off, his gaze freezing on Juvia. His eyes widen, a number of emotions passing over his face in the span of seconds.

"What...the...fuck..."

"U-umm..." Juvia appears unnerved by his stare.

The other me stares at the water mage for quite some time, before his eyes shift into a indignant glare.

"Aqua!" he snaps. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Huh...? Juvia does not know what you're talking about," Juvia protests, sounding just as confused as I felt.

"Don't play dumb with me! You've done a lot of strange things in the past, but siding with the enemy? I thought you were better than that. I thought you were loyal to Master, you bitch!"

Without another word, he darts towards us and seizes Juvia's wrist. He dashes towards the edge, pulling her with him, but only gets as far as where he had been standing originally when Juvia starts thrashing in his grasp.

"What are you doing?! Let go of Juvia this instant!"

"No! I refuse to let you throw your life away! If Master finds out about this, you're as good as dead!"

Whatever stupor I was in, whatever spell had been cast over me, broke as I unfreeze from my standstill.

"Hey! Let her go!" I race forwards, only for Juvia's captor to knock me back with a hard kick to the stomach. "Argh!"

"Gray-sama!" Juvia calls out, her azure eyes shining with worry.

"You're coming with me, Aqua!" he sweeps her over his shoulder effortlessly. "Whether you want to or not!"

My double jumps off the cliff, with Juvia held tightly in his grasp.

"JUVIA!" I roar, ignoring the pain from the hit.

I didn't wait for the others as I sprint towards the edge.

"H-hey! Gray, wait!"

"What are yo-?!"

"GRAY!"

Ignoring their calls, I leap without hesitation, the world around me quickly changing to black. I find myself descending in the darkness, hurling towards an invisible floor; a floor that will most likely kill me if I continue to fall at this speed. As the air pushs against my face, I close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable. To my surprise, the landing doesn't hurt. It is as if some unseen force has slowed me down before I collide with the ground. However, I'm not concerned about my well-being. Looking around hastily, I can see that I am in a rather dark forest.

Bare branches spike into the sky, and there is no sign of life to be found anywhere. It is so aphotic that I am barely able to see where I am at all. There is no noise; not the small sounds of rustling bushes nor the howl of the wind. It is eerily silent. I don't know what lays in this dark forest; all I know is that it isn't going to be a peaceful journey.

Not missing a beat, I stand up, searching around to see where they went. But the other me didn't leave a single trace in his wake. There is no sound of running, no marks in the grass to indicate his path.

Nothing.

"No...no...dammit!" I yell, my fist hitting the trunk of a nearby tree. The bark cracks, and ice materializes where my hand has touched. My control over my magic is slipping slightly, frost forming over the grass around my feet and the air growing colder. I can feel my markings begin to creep up my arm, taking advantage of my consternation. Once again, like madness, the black shapes of doubt and anger swing through my brain.

"GRAAAAAAAAAY!"

Flinching, I glance back to where the voice is originating from. It's none other than Natsu, who has followed me down it seems. I let my hand drop to my side, sighing.

"Oi ice princess! The hell do you think you're doing, just chasing after that bastard on your own?"

"Look who's talking..."

The dragon slayer ignores my reply. "Anyways, I jumped off the cliff after you, but the others hit a barrier that appeared. They'll be here soon after they break through it, though."

Natsu's olive eyes drift down to my arm, which is exposed due to my shirt having fallen off(no surprise there). It's clear to see that the sinister black marks from my devil slayer magic have inched up to my forearm.

"You alright, frosty?"

Natsu asks, his tone casual. Yet his eyes betray his words, brewing with concern. I sigh in annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm fine, idiot."

"You have your slayer magic under control, right?"

I blink, caught off guard by his question.

"What? Of course I do."

"Really? Because I can see your markings all over your arm."

"I was just preparing to fight my double, squinty eyes," I lie, the fabrication of truth coming easily from my lips.

My rival frowns at my answer, but seems to believe me for the moment. Not even seconds later, the rest of our group comes toppling down, landing on the ground as we did.

"Hey, Gray! Did you find your twin?" Lisanna asks upon seeing me.

"No..." I say resentfully.

Natsu smirks at me, his expression now smug. "Well, lucky for us I'm a great tracker. I've already got his scent now," he boasts, and I shoot a glare in his direction.

"Really? Wow, Natsu, I wish I had as good of a nose as you!" Wendy says, admiring him.

"What are we waiting for then? Lead the way, Natsu," Erza states, gesturing for the dragon slayer to proceed.

I look up, watching into the trees. Except for a few shreds of moonlight, the woods are as dark as a shut closet. Seems we need that idiot's nose after all. And so, we begin to transverse through the forest, following Natsu's lead.

Stupid pyromaniac, showing off...stupid other me, kidnapping Juvia...stupid, stupid, stupid...

I think bitterly, my nails digging into my palms as I clench my fists. The others have shuffled a bit away from me, due to the fact that the air has grown chillier around me. Rogue seems fine, though, as his shadows most likely protect him from the temperature to some extent. Mirajane is smiling as she trails behind the twin dragon slayers, her happy expression because of their linked hands.

The forest around us is shadowed and twisted, the curved trees looming creepily. There is no light, no animals, no wind. It is all silent and dark and hiemal. Bushes of thorns catch our clothes, snaring and tearing at them ever so slightly.

We continue our pace for a while, until I glimpse a figure in the distance.

There he is...

I dash forward, not bothering to observe any further.

"Gray, what are you doing?! That isn't-!"

The fire mage doesn't get to finish what he's saying as I jump, tackling the person to the ground.

"I've got you now, you son of a bitch!" I growl.

"What in the hell are you doing?!" A feminine voice demands. "Get off of me!"

I have a clearer view of what they look like now that I'm up close. And to my embarrassment, I see that it is in fact Juvia whom I've tackled.

"Oh shit...I...uh...um..." I can feel my face heating up upon realizing my mistake.

Scrambling off her quickly, I stand up. Still feeling embarrassed, I extend a hand out to her. She grasps it, pulling herself onto her feet just as the others catch up with me.

"Hasn't anybody ever told you to look before you leap?" she asks, frowning at me.

"I'm really sorry about that...I thought you were the other me..."

"I tried to tell you that it wasn't him, ice freak," Natsu scolds. "But did you stop and listen to me? Nooo..."

That only adds more to my humiliation.

"It's nice to see that you're alright, Juvia," Mirajane says with a smile.

"Juvia?" A look of confusion flashs in her eyes.

"Yes, that's your name," she responds, before seeming concerned. "What's the matter? Did you hit your head?"

"And how did you get away to begin with?"

"Oh! I got him to lose his grip on me and once I was free, I fought him," she tells us. "I think that I must have hit my head during the fight. I do feel rather dizzy, after all."

"I'm just glad to see you're alright," I say, internally relieved.

"And I'm glad to see that you're all alright as well," she smiles. "But could someone please remind me what we're doing? I'm afraid I've forgotten."

"Wow...you must have hit your head pretty hard if that's the case..." Wendy states, frowning. "Sit down and let me take a look at you, you could have a head injury."

"No, no," Juvia protests. "I assure you that I'm alright, so there's no need for that. Just tell me what we're doing again."

"Well, we saved the other victims from Paw, and now we're gonna save Lucy then get out of here," Lisanna explains.

"Actually, the other Fullbuster dude might know where bunny girl is," Gajeel suggests. "How bout we go track him down and interrogate the bastard? It would make things a lot easier."

I notice that Juvia tenses up out of the corner of my eye at the mention of my doppelgänger, but I brush it off as nothing.

"Yes, but we could just be wasting our time looking for him in this darkness," Levy reasons. "We'd just be wandering around blindly after all."

"That's what we're gonna be doing either way," Laxus points out, before looking at the water mage. "Did you see what direction he ran off in when you beat him?"

"Uhhh...yeah...it shouldn't be very hard to catch him. I'll pair up with him," she points at me, "and track down his other self while the rest of you search for Lucy."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I look at her. "It might not be smart for just us to go."

"Of course I'm sure," she sounds confident. "If we don't find him after a while then we'll give up and come to the rest of the group."

"Alright, but if you can't beat him then don't be ashamed to run away," Mirajane consoles us.

"Got it."

Juvia makes a motion to me before walking away. I'm about to follow her when I feel a strong hand grab my arm, stopping me. Glancing back, I see that it's Natsu.

"What are you doing?"

"Something's wrong with Juvia," he says, his eyes gleaming with an emotion I can't identify.

"What do you mean?"

"She's been speaking in the first person instead of the third person like she usually does, she looked confused when we called her Juvia, and she tensed up when we mentioned that other you. Doesn't that raise any red flags for you?"

"She said that she hurt her head, and I trust her when she says that," I respond firmly. "She's probably just a disoriented or something."

"Listen, just be ready for a fight in case she tries to kill you, alright?" he says in a rather serious tone. "Don't wind up dead."

"I'm gonna be fine, flamebrain. I don't know what you're so worked up about."

"Gray! Where are you?" Juvia's voice calls out to me. "I'm not going to wait for you forever, so hurry up please!"

Natsu makes a 'see what I mean?!' gesture in the direction her voice is coming from.

"Whatever," I roll my eyes. "You're being paranoid. Now let go."

"Alright, fine," he shakes his head. "Just don't come crying to me when she suddenly turns on you."

Natsu releases my arm and runs to catch up with the others, while I go in the other direction after Juvia.


PawPrint-Writer(author): Review plz?

RevlisCharm(beta): Yay, Gray-centered things! And a bit of Natsu and Gray brOTP in there, I love it!