Hello and welcome back to Heavenly Vengeance! Hope you guys are having a nice day! On with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.

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"Natsu! Gray! Good, we were starting to get worried," Lucy exclaimed. Happy flew down and perched himself on Natsu's head, whining that he had never come home that night and as a result, didn't make Happy a fish to eat. Natsu apologised profusely to the cat and was only forgiven when Happy made him promise to buy him 10 fish tomorrow. Gray laughed. Speaking of food, he should probably eat breakfast. He made his way over to Mira's bar.

"Good morning, Gray! What would you like?" the bartender asked cheerily. Gray smiled in return.

"Just something light today please, Mira-chan." The Take-Over mage nodded as she began to cook. Erza took the seat next to him. Without looking back, Mira called out,

"Strawberry cake for you, Erza?" The redhead hummed in agreement. As Mira was busy preparing the food, Erza turned to Gray.

"How are you feeling today?" she asked. Gray yawned.

"A bit tired, but I'm not in any pain." Erza nodded

"That's good. I'm glad to hear it. Did you have a fight with Natsu?" Gray gulped. Should he say yes or no? He was pretty sure he would get beaten up if he said yes, but chances were that Erza already knew and then he would just get beaten up for saying no. So he took a chance and answered with a hesitant,

"Yes?" To his surprise, Erza nodded.

"Did it make you feel better?" Gray raised an eyebrow, but continued to answer truthfully.

"Yeah, it did. It made me forget that I have this weird circle on me." Erza's smile widened as she pulled him into a hug, which only served to injure his head. Erza only released Gray when Mirajane came back with their food.

"Strawberry cake and tea for Erza and a bowl of ramen and coffee for Gray," she said sweetly. "Enjoy!" Gray grinned and immediately dug in while Erza grabbed her fork and cut a small piece of her cake, intending on savouring each bite. Gray quickly finished his meal and set about taking his medicine, if it could even be called that. The disgusting green liquid flowed viscously into the cup and Gray shuddered as did every Dragon Slayer in the guild.

"What is that shit?" Gajeel demanded as he plugged his nose. Wendy covered hers as well, almost gagging from the awful smell. Natsu rolled around on the floor, making a scene as he complained that the smell was going to burn his nostrils. Gray rolled his eyes but capped the jar and downed his drink. He made a face when he was done and asked Mirajane to give him a glass of water. Luckily, she already had one on hand.

"You looked like you would need it after that," the platinum blonde explained. Gray gave her a grateful smile and eagerly emptied the glass. Erza had finished her cake by this time and was eyeing the potion jar the same way she would eye a beast.

"Is that... edible?" she asked. Gray shrugged. He wasn't sure himself. But it gave him the ability to touch Natsu again without shrieking in agony so he didn't complain. Said Dragon Slayer stopped rolling on the floor only to make his way over to the pair and began sniffing the jar cautiously.

"Is the old hag trying to kill you?" he shouted. Makarov laughed in the background.

"No..." Gray said, although his hesitance betrayed his point. The room suddenly swam and Gray had to place a hand on the countertop to steady himself. "Mira-chan, I'm going to go lie down in the back for a while. This shit is making my head spin." The bartender nodded.

"Ok. Rest up, Gray." Gray slid off his seat and made his way to the infirmary, Natsu following close behind. That raised a couple of eyebrows but no one said anything.

Once in the room, Gray's knees buckled. He would've fallen onto the floor had Natsu not caught him. He laughed mirthlessly.

"Haha, thanks Flame Brain." Natsu snorted.

"Any time, Ice Princess. Isn't that stuff supposed to help you though?" Gray nodded tiredly.

"Who knows. Hey Natsu, can you put me on the bed? I need to take a nap..." he trailed off as his eyelids threatened to fall shut. Natsu picked the ice mage up bridal style laid him on the bed. Expectedly, Gray was fast asleep. Natsu sighed and began to take off the raven's shirt. He wanted to take a look at the progression of the tendrils.

The tendrils had stretched out more, several now on Gray's neck and chest. Natsu let himself collapse in the chair next to the bed and ran a hand through his messy pink hair. He was glad that Gray was resting but he still didn't know how to deal with the main problem. He sighed. He would just sleep on it then.

Gray woke up to blinding light and uncomfortable warmth. He blinked blearily and found himself in familiar surroundings. He looked to his left and found a white curtain emblazoned with his guild's symbol. He was in Fairy Tail's infirmary then. Turning to his right, he was more than surprised to find Natsu sleeping in a chair. Gray raised an eyebrow. Then it all came rushing back; the dizziness, the sudden exhaustion and finally the welcoming darkness. Gray groaned in annoyance which was more than enough to wake Natsu up. One black orb peeked open before both were snapped open and their owner was on his feet next to the pale ice mage.

"Gray, are you ok?" he asked urgently. Natsu wouldn't take the risk. Swallowing his surprise, Gray nodded faintly. Natsu's eyes narrowed. He knew Gray was lying and any other time he would've just let his rival be, but not after what had happened only an hour earlier.

"Cut the crap. We both know that's a lie. You aren't the type of person who just collapses like that. But since you don't want to tell me that, why don't you tell me what happened instead?" he resigned, knowing that Gray knew exactly what he was talking about. A flinch flickered through the raven's form before he raised his head to meet Natsu's accusatory gaze. Taking a deep breath, Gray began to describe what had happened.

"I'm not too sure myself. I just drank the thing that Porlyusica gave me and then suddenly the room is upside down and I was insanely tired. I don't know what's going on anymore, Natsu." The Dragon Slayer sighed. Gray wasn't the only one who didn't know what was going on.

Many minutes passed in silence. Natsu was about to stand up and leave the ice mage to rest when the air around Gray shifted. His head snapped to the side as he saw his friend with his eyes closed, an expression of intense discomfort on his features. Natsu hesitantly placed his hand on Gray's shoulder. When Gray showed no signs of response, Natsu began to shake him. The only thing he got from his efforts was Gray opening his eyes.

Natsu almost wished he hadn't.

Gray's eyes had always been something that other people loved about him. They were such a deep endless blue that you could get yourself lost in them. But now, those endless depths of blue were clouded, tainted almost. They were so empty; devoid of any semblance of life. It scared Natsu. He had seen those eyes too many times already. And he never wanted to see them again. Frantically, his shaking became rougher and rougher. When Gray still did nothing, Natsu panicked. He turned around and screamed for the master.

Makarov was in the room in an instant. After taking a glance at the teen on the bed, he hurriedly ordered Erza not to let anyone in and for Lucy to find Porlyusica. The blonde nodded and was out the door in a flash. The door to the guild closed with a slam at the same time the infirmary door eased closed with a click.

"Gray! Can you hear me? Gray!" the master tried as he gripped the boy's shoulders tightly. Unfortunately, his efforts bore no fruit. The ice mage remained unresponsive. The temperature in the room seemed to skyrocket. Makarov turned back to Natsu, who had been standing next to the bed. One look at the Dragon Slayer's eyes told him that Natsu was beyond furious. Just when Makarov thought that Natsu was going to snap, the fire mage's eyes suddenly dilated. Following Natsu's gaze, Makarov found himself looking at Gray's face. The raven seemed to have adopted a sleepy look, his eyelids threatening to fall shut every few seconds. While Makarov didn't think this was much of a problem, Natsu clearly did. The Dragon Slayer jumped and all but threw himself onto the bed, which Makarov only barely dodged, and pinned Gray down.

"Ice Bastard! Don't you dare close your eyes! I mean it! Gray!" he half pleaded half ordered. Makarov shook his head and began to pry Natsu away from Gray.

"Natsu, let him rest. He needs it," he attempted to reason. Natsu yanked himself out of the master's hold.

"No!" he protested with a shout. "You don't understand! You can't see it! Jii-chan, he's giving up!" he screamed. The tendrils on Gray's neck and chest squirmed again and stretched out, heading towards his left eye and heart. Makarov hesitantly let go. He couldn't argue with the fact that he couldn't see the marks on Gray's body like Natsu could. Was Gray really losing to the spell? At that moment, the wooden door slammed open to reveal a cranky looking healer holding a small bag. She sighed as she made her way to the group. One look was all it took for her cold eyes to narrow. She turned to Makarov.

"You're probably going to want to leave for this." The master of Fairy Tail looked shocked for a minute before steeling himself and nodding. He turned towards the door. Before exiting, he called out, without turning back,

"Take care of him for me Porlyusica." The pink haired healer didn't show any sign of acknowledgement, but Makarov knew that he could count on her.

"Alright human, I'm going to need you to drink this again," Porlyusica ordered as she held out the same red potion. This time, Natsu wasted no time gulping down the whole thing. Porlyusica raised an eyebrow. He didn't even whine about the taste. He must be really desperate. Porlyusica hummed as she was cloaked in red light once again. Dilated red eyes peered down on the ice mage's prone body. The healer clicked her tongue as she grabbed another concoction from her bag. This one was transparent and seemed to exude no odour, even when Porlyusica popped the cork off. She held it out to Natsu who looked at it in curiosity.

"Breathe some of your fire into it," she ordered. Natsu raised an eyebrow but shot a tuft of fire into the flask. Instantly, the colour of the potion changed to bright red, bubbling and fizzing before settling. Porlyusica walked up to the side of the bed.

"Hold him down," was all she said. Natsu scurried over to comply. Once he was sure that he had a secure hold on Gray, he nodded towards the healer. Porlyusica said nothing but tipped Gray's mouth open and began to force him to drink it.

The reaction was immediate. Gray began to thrash about and it caught Natsu by surprise, throwing him off the bed. Porlyusica snarled at him.

"Stupid human! I said to hold him down!" she barked. Natsu shouted out a quick apology and resumed his task, this time making sure that he really did have a hold on Gray. It was still no easy feat. Gray was just as strong as Natsu and he came close to throwing Natsu off again more than a couple of times. Strangled screams of pain echoed through the room and there was no doubt in Natsu's mind that the rest of the guild had heard them too. The flask was drained quickly, thankfully, and the only sound that could be heard in the room was the sound of Gray's quick breathing. Porlyusica wiped sweat off of her brow as she began to pack her supplies into her bag. She noticed the jar of the medicine that she had given Gray last night lying on the floor and she bent down to pick it up.

"Did he drink that medicine today?" she asked. Natsu nodded, before realising that she wasn't looking at him.

"Yes," he said. Porlyusica's brow furrowed as placed the container on the bedside table and muttered under her breath. However, quiet as it was, it wasn't anything that Natsu's enhanced hearing couldn't pick up on. Natsu's eyes widened as Porlyusica picked up her bag and left the room. Natsu calmed himself and sat back down in the seat next to the bed. He briefly grasped Gray's hand in his own and gave it a light squeeze.

"Wake up, Gray," he pleaded. He was pleasantly surprised when he heard a pained grumble come from the inhabitant of the bed. Natsu's heart leapt to his throat. Would he have to stare into those dead eyes again? He didn't think he could handle it if he had to.

Thankfully, he didn't. Bright blue eyes stared back at him in mild confusion. Clearly, Gray had no idea what had happened, but Natsu didn't care. The overwhelming sense of relief that flooded through him was a load off his shoulders. He gave his friend a bright smile.

"You're awake, Gray!"

Hmm... I feel like I torture Gray too much. Ah, well I guess he'll be put out of his misery soon enough. How was it guys? Leave me some reviews! ^^