Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No silly! It's a new chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Me no own!


The doors to the guild hall swung open as Fairy Tail's strongest team marched straight though the guild doors and headed to their usual table. Mira wasted no time in bounding over to the group to greet them with a cheery smile.

"Welcome back, guys. How did you job go?"

"Too easy as usual," Natsu grinned towards the barmaid. "Missions have become much easier this past year."

"Well, we have all greatly improved since the guild disbanded," Mira pointed out.

"It's weird to think that the guild was gone for a year," Lucy leaned her chin on her hand. "Everything's gone back to normal so quickly, kinda like we never left.

"And it should stay that way. You guys want anything?"

"The usual please Mira," Natsu grinned.

"Just a juice box would be nice, Mira-san," Wendy smiled, politely.

"FISH!" Happy wailed his arms around like no tomorrow.

"Just some water for me, please," Carla added.

"Make that two," Gray smirked.

"Nothing for me thanks," Erza finished.

"Are you sure you don't want your usual strawberry cake?"

"No thanks, Mira."

"Okay. Coming right up."


Eventually the team split ways in order to talk with their fellow comrades. Lucy had rushed over to Levy to discuss a new novel the two had been reading, Wendy and Carla occupied themselves with polite chit chat with Romeo, Natsu had - somehow - ended up in a fight with Gajeel while Happy and Pantherlily cheered them on, and Gray was sat drinking with Cana (despite it being only noon) whilst Juvia constantly told him of how great he was. This left Erza in her seat at the bar pondering the events of the previous night. She glanced over at her childhood friend. He seemed to be enjoying his usual banter with Cana; nothing about the way he acted appeared out of the ordinary, and that's what worried her. Gray believed that the turmoil he goes through every other night is ordinary. Erza always hated seeing her little brothers get hurt on a job, but knowing one of them was suffering outside of missions was even worse. Finally deciding to take action, the red-head rose from her seat and marched right up to the raven. "Can we talk?"

Gray sighed. He knew all too well what was coming. "Yeah," he muttered before following Erza out the guild's main entrance.

"So, are you going to talk about what happened last night?"

"Erza, I told you already. I'm fine, stuff like that is completely normal."

"No it's not!" She raised her voice. "Nightmares to that extent are far from normal, Gray. It's obvious you're still suffering from the impact Deliora had on your life. If you don't talk to us about what you're going through, things will never get better."

"I know. Deliora's dead so this shouldn't even be an issue anymore. I guess I'm still a bit shaken up from the whole Tartaros incident last year."

"You mean about your father?"

Gray's expression saddened. "Yeah... Look if things start getting worse, I'll talk to someone, alright?"

"Very well. As long as we don't have to witness you go through another episode like that again. We were all worried."


As the two wizards walked back into the guild hall, Natsu, Lucy and Wendy were already huddled around the request board, eager to take another job.

"Gray, Erza, come help us pick a job request!" Lucy called, waving her arm at them.

The two in question were quick to join their friends in scanning the board. After a few quick glances, the noises around Gray became more muffled and he could barely make out what his team mates were saying. The raven felt his eyes grow heavy as his mind began to fog over. He could feel his legs beginning to shake and his eyes fell even more, despite the effort he put in keeping them open. Gray's muscles started to feel like lead and he swayed slightly on his feet. He quickly lost his footing and the last thing he remember hearing before he toppled over was an unfamiliar voice.

Sleep

The group heard a loud thud behind them and rapidly shot their heads round to search for where the noise came from. However, they we're met with their black-haired friend lying face down on the wooden floor, completely unconscious.

"Gray?!" Their voices sported a very worried tone as other guild members gathered around to see what the fuss was.

"What happened?" Cana was the first to run over and knelt by her best friend's side, quickly followed by Juvia.

"We're not sure," Wendy replied. "We turned around and he was just lying there."

"Something must be wrong with him," Mira wondered. "I'll go get master."

Natsu rolled Gray onto his back to get a look at his rival's condition. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with him... In fact, it just looked as if he was sleeping. His breaths came out at a steady pace and a calm expression covered his features. So what the hell was wrong with him? "Dammit, Ice bastard. What's going on with you?"

The bartender soon returned with Makarov at her side. By this, point a crowd had surrounded Gray and his comrades, all concerned about his sudden collapse. Makarov had to yell in order to get the guild members to disperse and return to their tables, leaving the strongest team all kneeling by the ice wizard's side. Makarov inspected the boy over before coming to a conclusion. "Natsu, carry Gray into the infirmary. Erza, could you go into the forest to find Porlyusica. She might be able to get a better analogy of his condition."

Titania ran out of the guild hall, no questions asked, while Natsu slung his friend over his back and brought him into the infirmary. Lucy and Wendy helped prepare a bed and Natsu set Gray down. They all shared worried glances as they watched Gray's chest rise and fall to a slow beat, but were soon snapped out of their thoughts by their master.

"Don't worry, brats," he grinned. "Gray's a stubborn one, he'll pull through. We shouldn't let this phase us."

"Natsu-san, Lucy-san, do you think this has anything to do with what happened last night?" Wendy pondered.

"What happened last night," Makarov asked with a forceful tone.

"Gray was having a nightmare," Happy stated. "But no matter how hard we tried, he wouldn't wake up."

"He was saying something about Deliora," Carla added.

"I see... It's probably just post-trauma. People tend to get nightmares after a traumatic experience, even worse in children. Considering how young Gray was at the time, it's not surprise that he's still feeling the effects of the demon."

Around ten minutes later, Erza had returned with Porlyusica. Despite her wanting the team to leave, they - along with Makarov - sat at the far side of the room staring intently as the healer began the examination. From what Erza had told her on the way to the guild, the boy and just collapsed out of the blue. He had been completely fine before hand, yet he was now unconscious. Any tests Porlyusica tried came out negative of any issues, in other words, there was nothing wrong with the lad. The healer decided to do the tests a second time just to be certain. There had to be something wrong with him or Makarov wouldn't have felt the need to call upon her for help. The tests once again came up negative, so Porlyusica decided to call it a day. She walked back over the the wizards who still staring wide-eyed, waiting to know Gray's condition.

"I'll be honest," she began. "I have no idea what's wrong with him."

"What?!" Was their immediate response.

"It's exactly as I said. Every test I carried out came back negative. The boy's in perfect health. It's almost as if his mind just forced him to sleep. You mentioned he was having nightmares?"

"So it has something to do with that?" Carla asked.

"I wouldn't say so. From what you told me he is getting the sleep he requires, but it's worth keeping an eye on him. There must be something we're missing. Now, if you'd excuse me, I would like to return home." The healer wasted no time in taking her leave.

"So, what now? We just wait for him to wake up?" Natsu folded his arms.

"I guess so..." Lucy murmured.

"I'll go and inform the guild of his condition," Makarov rose from his seat and walked out, leaving the team in peace. They returned to Gray's bedside and continued to watch the limp form.


The young boy was running in what appeared to be a black void. What he was running from, the child had no clue. His only thought was that he should be running from whatever creature lingered in the darkness. The boy had never felt so alone before in his life. There seemed to be no escape from this strange abyss. He wanted out... Now! Suddenly, his panicked mind was telling him to stop and face whatever he was running from. "No!" He cried as his pace sped up, but the urge to come to a halt only got stronger with ever step he took. He sprint turning into a jog, he jog turned into power walking, and soon he feet came to a stop. The child felt his body twist around - despite his mind screaming at him not to - and he came face to face with a pain of demonic looking eyes. Red irises were surrounded by a deep black sclera. His panic in the rise, the boy turned around and continued running. A booming voice rang through his head, a voice very unfamiliar to him.

"Why fight it child? Running is futile."

The boy's pace quickened.

"You can feel it can't you? Your strength being sapped out every second."

The boy felt his muscles grow weaker and weaker.

"I am going to claim that body and soul for myself."

The boy froze.

"And there's nothing you or you friends can do but watch."

The boy felt the darkness consume him and he felt as if he was choking on the atmosphere itself. No longer having control over his body, the child closed his eyes and awaited his fate. That was until a brilliant white light obscured everything from view.


Gray's eyes slowly flickered open and he was met with six pairs of concerned eyes. He looked around and realised that he was lying in the guild's infirmary. Wait, why was he here? Weren't they just looking at job requests and then... Well, everything was kind of fuzzy from there. He pulled himself into a sitting position before addressing his team. "What happened? Why am I in the infirmary?"

"You tell us," Natsu seemed almost angry at the raven. "You just straight up collapsed while we were trying pick a job."

"Huh?"

"How do you feel Gray-san?" Wendy asked.

"Just a little tired, but other than that, I feel normal."

"Tired? You've been asleep for the past hour and a half."

"Natsu, you're not helping!" Lucy scolded.

"Porlyusica said there isn't anything wrong with you," Erza informed. "You have any idea why you collapsed?"

"N-no, I've been feeling fine all day. Maybe I'm just not hydrated enough, I don't know."

Erza nodded before guiding the rest of her team back into the main hall, away from the gloomy atmosphere of the infirmary. Deciding going on a job now would be pointless, so they all went their separate ways. Lucy went back over to Levy's table to talk more about the novel, Wendy and Carla started talking to Lisanna about what the guild was like when she was young. Gray returned to Cana, who began to question if the idiot had gotten drunk from only one mug of booze. Before Erza, Natsu and Happy split off, they all shared the same worried glance, each knew exactly what the other's were thinking. There's something happening to Gray.


Yay! Chapter two is done!

Manga Theory Time!

Sooooo... You know the ice wizard Makarov mentioned is one of the 12 Shields... Well, this theory is a little out there (and I have next to no evidence) but what if that Shield guy is Ur's husband/Ultear's father? How cool would that be?! More ways to torture Gray! MWUHAHAHAHA!

Don't forget to revieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!

Buh-Bye!