Hey guys! Welcome to chapter 8! I just realised that I like to use a lot of rhetorical questions when I write. Huh. That's interesting. But you guys probably don't care about that XD On with the chapter!
Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, not me.
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Matilda smirked as she sent another one of the prison guards to his eternal rest. She reached down for the man's belt and easily unlatched the ring of keys attached to it. She twirled it around her index finger.
"Thank you for your co-operation," she mocked. She walked down the hallway when the air in front of her shimmered and her right hand man appeared.
"Cells 466 to 666," he answered the unspoken question. Matilda grinned.
"Thank you Steven. I know I can always count on you." Steven shot her a grin of his own.
"No problem. It was a smart move to choose this town to set up base. Everyone here is weak." Matilda strutted down the hallway and stopped at the first cell.
"Did you expect anything less of me?" she asked as she inserted the key and unlocked the door. The prisoner inside frowned.
"You sure took your time, Master." Matilda shrugged.
"Had some errands to run. Now are you going help me free the rest of you or do you just want to sit there and rot in jail?"
Gray woke up to gentle shaking. Azure depths opened and saw deep red. Erza then, he mused. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Gray leaned back and stretched. Erza watched him, scrutinizing his every movement.
"Lucy and Natsu are already off the train. Come on, Gray. We need to speak to Master." Gray sighed but stood up and yawned and began to exit the train.
They weren't a step into the guild when Happy flew up and tackled Natsu's face with a hug.
"Natsuuu! I missed you!" the Exceed cried. Natsu smiled and petted Happy softly.
"I missed you too buddy. How was the mission?" he asked.
"It was boring! There were no fish!" Happy pouted. Everyone had to chuckle at that. When the laughter subsided, Erza wasted no time dragging Gray and Natsu towards the back room where Makarov was. Lucy followed as well, leaving the blue cat and the rest of the guild baffled.
"Master!" Titania yelled as she broke through his door again. Makarov sulked. He had just gotten that door fixed! But when he saw Natsu, Gray and Lucy behind her, he immediately became serious.
"What is it?" he asked. All eyes turned to Gray as he looked down, embarrassed and ashamed by what he was about to say. He bit his lip and tried to be brave as he looked up to meet Makarov's gaze.
"I... I'm losing control of my magic, jii-san."
To Makarov, that simple sentence seemed to bring the world around him crashing down. A mage's magic was their life, their everything! How could this happen? But he already knew the answer to that question. It was because of her that Gray had to go through this suffering. When Makarov looked back at Gray, he found the raven looking away, not daring to make eye contact with anyone in the room. He sighed as he hopped down from the desk he had been standing on.
"Don't worry, Gray. You'll get it back. I promise." Gray looked disbelievingly at him but bit his lip and nodded instead. Sighing, he changed the subject. "Have you gone to see Porlyusica yet?" he asked. Gray's eyes widened.
"I thought you were going to bring her here..." Makarov smacked his palm to his forehead.
"No! Ugh..." he groaned. "Forget it! We're going right now! Let's go!" he announced as he exited the room, clearly expecting all of them to follow. They all did although Gray seemed to fall behind a bit.
Not even twenty steps after they exited the guild, Gray stopped suddenly. When Natsu heard Gray's steady footsteps stop, he turned back, a questioning look etched on his face.
"Gray?" he asked. Everyone turned around at that. The ice mage's eyes were dull and his face pale. The purple tendrils that had up until now only been on his neck, grew and extended so that a few were on his face and a few on his chest. Natsu's eyes narrowed and he unknowingly let out a snarl. As if reacting to the growl, Gray turned almost robotically towards the Dragon Slayer. Natsu flinched back a bit, staring into the pools of empty blue. Then, without warning, Gray pitched forward. Letting loose a string of not so nice words, Natsu dove to catch his friend, only to be held back by Makarov and have Erza barely catch him. Natsu almost yelled at the master, only to realise that what he did was probably for Gray's best interest. So instead he bit his lip and cursed his uselessness.
Erza cradled her childhood friend's head on her lap, which thankfully, was not covered in armour. Brushing the locks out of his face, Erza bit back a gasp when she looked into his empty gaze. She turned away quickly before any tears could make themselves known. She couldn't bear the thought of her little brother looking so dead. Steeling herself, she turned back to the unresponsive figure in her lap. Gently, she shook him, attempting to rouse him from whatever trance he was in. What she got, however, was only a series of unintelligible murmurs. Behind her, she sensed Natsu stiffen, obviously having heard what Gray had said. Concern growing, she shook Gray a little harder, only to have nothing happen. Just when she was about to resort to slapping the ice mage awake, she heard an ear splitting roar resound from behind her, followed by a desperate,
"Gray wake up! Please!"
Natsu stiffened in Makarov's hold as he heard exactly what Gray mumbled in his trance, none of it sounding like anything Gray would ever say on his own.
"Yeah... I will..."
"They will die..."
"A bloodbath in the name of the Angels..."
Realizing with startling clarity what that meant, Natsu let loose a ferocious roar that had Lucy covering her ears and Makarov flinching back. How dare that vile woman try to use Gray! How dare she even mark Gray to begin with! And now...
…she was going to use Gray to kill. Who, he didn't know, but the idea that Gray was going to kill just sickened him. He had to stop her. So that Gray wouldn't dirty his hands. Because Natsu knew that if Gray ever killed someone, he would be wracked with guilt for the rest of his life. He already knew what Gray was like during Ur's death anniversary. Gray couldn't go through that again; it would tear him apart. Besides, he had a feeling that if he let Gray go now, he wouldn't get him back. Choking on a sob for his friend, Natsu screamed out a desperate plea.
"Gray wake up! Please!"
Gray was floating. He smiled in content as he closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of being weightless. In this space he couldn't feel anything around him; his senses relaxed to the point that something could explode in his face and he wouldn't care. A soft voice whispered in his mind to fall asleep and let the feeling of peace consume him. He hummed in agreement.
"Yeah... I will..."he consented as he felt himself fall deeper. He opened his eyes and let them survey the space around him. Strewn bodies of his guild mates lay on the floor, tainting it with blood. Gray drew a horrified gasp as he stared at the corpses of his friends and family. Natsu. Lucy. Erza. Happy. Cana. Mirajane. Even Makarov. He looked up and glared at the people responsible with unfathomable hate. Even when the people responsible were revealed to be none other than the guild themselves, Gray continued to glare.
"Don't you want them dead? The ones who hurt your family?"the voice asked.
"They will die..."he promised, barely concealed rage seeping into his tone. The voice sounded pleased when it spoke again.
"And who will this be for? Who will this glorious destruction be in the name of?"
Gray hesitated before giving his answer, the magic circle on his neck pulsing brightly.
"It will be a bloodbath... in the name of the Angels."The voice hummed in satisfaction. Gray closed his eyes again and let himself be enveloped by the calming feeling that was spreading through him. Before he could fall asleep, a pleading scream assaulted his eardrums.
"Gray wake up! Please!"He knew that voice. He knew it well. Azure depths slowly opened and the light returned to them.
"Natsu..."A searing pain in his neck caused him to cry out and the space around him faded away to nothing.
Natsu nearly had a heart attack when Gray had turned his gaze towards him and breathed his name out. He had almost missed it, but he was so thankful that he hadn't. Just then, the light returned to Gray's eyes and he curled in on himself in Erza's lap and began to cough. The redhead was surprised but quickly recovered and began to run her hand soothingly up and down Gray's back. Lucy sobbed in relief that her friend was back to normal. She couldn't do anything while Gray was unresponsive but she was just glad that he was back with them. Makarov let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Thank Mavis, he thought. Natsu pried himself out of the master's grasp gently and made his way over to where Gray and Erza were. The raven had calmed down by now and was sitting up with some help from Erza. Natsu came to a stop in front of the two. Gray looked up and met his eyes. Even though they were harsh, Gray could see the hidden emotion behind them.
"I heard your voice. Thank you, Natsu," he said. Natsu couldn't pretend to be angry any longer. He dropped to his knees and let a tear slip by.
"Y-You idiot!" he scolded, his voice hitching. "If you ever do that again, I'm going to kick your ass! Don't you dare die on me!" he shouted. Gray smiled knowingly.
"Yeah, I know. I'm an idiot. Sorry."
It was well into the evening when the group arrived at Porlyusica's house. When she first opened up and saw the group of people outside her doorstep, she slammed the door shut immediately. The group stood in shocked silence before knocking again politely, in fear of the old lady's wrath. Loud grumbling and complaining could be heard on the other side of the door but it opened nonetheless.
"What do you want?" she barked. Makarov coughed into his fist but gestured to Gray.
"There's ah... something amiss with him. Could you take a look at him?" Porlyusica's eyes scanned the group as she crossed her arms.
"Be that as it may, I don't see any reason for you all to be here." Makarov turned to Lucy and Erza. The two nodded before turning back the way they came.
"See you guys later then!" Lucy called.
"Gray, I expect a full update on your condition when you return," Erza demanded. Gray gulped and nodded, waving goodbye meekly. When the girls were out of sight, Porlyusica turned to Natsu.
"And? Why is he still here?" she asked. Natsu felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation. Before he could open his mouth to tell her off, Makarov intervened.
"He's the only one who can see the magic circle."
"Circle?"
"An Angel Slayer you say? I see," Porlyusica said as she held her chin in her hand. Gray sat on a patient's bed, his shirt discarded long ago, which actually served to help them in this case, while Natsu and Makarov stood off to the side. The pink haired woman turned to Natsu.
"Human, let me borrow your eyesight for a minute." Natsu tilted his head to the side.
"What?" he asked. Porlyusica sighed and handed him a red potion.
"This is why I hate humans... Just drink that. I've already casted the necessary magic on it." Slowly, Natsu downed the potion before making a face of disgust.
"Ugh what are you trying to do, corrode my taste buds?!" he complained. Makarov laughed. Then he turned to Porlyusica. The woman was now bathed in red light, her pupils slitted reptilian like how Natsu's were sometimes.
"Hmm... I've never seen anything like this before," she said as she traced the tendrils growing out of the circle from the one reaching towards Gray's heart to the one just peeking around his cheek. Makarov's eyes widened. The spell had progressed that far already? Natsu, on the other hand, stayed silent. He already knew just how bad Gray's condition had gotten. Porlyusica turned and grabbed a book from one of her bookshelves and began to read, flipping through pages every so often. The other three occupants of the room watched in silence. After a few minutes, Porlyusica closed the book and put it back. She then turned to her shelf full of herbs and mixtures and began taking some off the shelf. Gray's heart leaped with joy. Could she cure him? She seemed to sense what Gray was thinking about because without turning around, she said, "This doesn't cure you. I don't know how to cure you. And I can't help with your trances or loss of control over your magic." At this, Gray's face fell. "The only thing this will do is relieve you of a little of your pain for when that idiot Dragon Slayer touches you." Natsu protested a little in the background but that small bit of good news was good enough for Gray. It felt so long since one of their brawls and Gray was itching to fight Natsu. Makarov stepped forward.
"Do you know what kind of spell was casted on Gray?" he asked. Porlyusica shook her head.
"As far as I know, it seems to be a controlling spell, but how it works, I don't know. If it were a normal one, he would've long been under the control of that Angel Slayer you spoke of," she answered. Natsu ground his teeth together. So he was right. That bitch wanted to use Gray to kill people. In some deep part of his subconscious, Natsu had probably always known that. He just didn't want to believe it. Quietly, he excused himself from the room, knowing that Gray was staring at his retreating figure in confusion.
Gray quickly drank the repulsive concoction that Porlyusica had made. While it tasted like what could've very well been something out of a trash can, if it did what she claimed it would, he would gladly drink a thousand of them, just to have some small sense of normalcy back. Porlyusica turned back and handed the rest of the potion in a jar to him.
"Drink one cup of that daily after your breakfast. It should relieve the pain for the entire day." Gray got off the bed and thanked the healer profusely. Porlyusica almost smiled, but then adapted her cold demeanor again.
"If you want to thank me, then get out of my house! Lousy humans!"
Natsu was waiting for the two outside. As they began to head towards the guild, Natsu began a conversation.
"So what did the old hag say?" Makarov chuckled while Gray grimaced.
"You better not let her hear you call her that. But she gave me some stuff so that I wouldn't be in pain. She couldn't help with anything else though." Natsu nodded. Then, Gray punched him in the face. Natsu reeled back from the impact but grinned when he heard no gasp of pain from his rival. Charging forward, he returned the favour with a punch to the cheek. Gray smirked and continued the brawl with equal fervour. Makarov sweat dropped as he watched the two boys fight.
"Well, it's probably better to get it out of their system. They'll be fine," he said as he began to walk away.
When the master returned to his guild alone, it was immediately concerning. Lucy and Erza rushed towards him.
"Master! Where are Natsu and Gray?" Lucy asked. Makarov laughed.
"Don't worry. They're just fighting. It's been too long since they've had a brawl." Erza's eyes narrowed.
"But Natsu's touch causes Gray pain..." she began.
"Porlyusica gave him something for the pain. She couldn't do anything about his other problems though," the master explained. The two girls nodded in understanding. While it wasn't much, their friend was slowly getting better. Mirajane called out to them from behind the bar.
"Master, Erza, Lucy! The guild is going to close soon. You should head home." Erza nodded.
"Thanks, Mirajane. I'll be off then. Good night," she said as she left the building. Lucy followed soon after. Makarov left soon after that. Mirajane sighed as she locked up the guild doors.
"I sure hope Gray is alright..."
The sun was up before either Natsu or Gray knew it. The two had spent the entire night fighting each other, a much needed vent for both after so long of going without it. The two lay on their backs across from each other and watched the clouds go by as the breeze whistled through the cold autumn air. Natsu rolled over and sat up.
"It's been too long since we've done that," he grinned. Gray smirked and pushed himself up as well.
"Yeah. I've kind of missed it to be honest."
"Oh? You've missed getting your ass kicked by me?"
"What was that you cocky bastard?"
"You heard me ice princess!" The two glared at one another before laughing. Their usual banter felt so relieving now that things between them had eased somewhat. But Matilda's words still echoed in Gray's mind.
"They have roughly three days left. You have roughly three days left."
It had already been one day. He had two left. But two left until what?
"Gray? You ok?" Natsu asked. Gray shook himself out of his thoughts as he turned back to the pink haired mage.
"Yeah, I'm ok. C'mon, let's go back to the guild."
Hmm seems like Gray is blacking out more often. Wonder if that potion that Porlyusica gave him is going to help. Find out next time! Leave me some reviews if you have time! ^^ Thanks for the reviews/favourites/follows! You guys are the best!
SPOILERS
Wow today's chapter was great! Demon Slayer Gray! Woohoo~ The teamwork between Gray and Lucy was great too. Not to mention that Gray looked gorgeous ;) Haha our team has grown so much in the past year! Gotta love em