Woohoo! Double digits! By the way guys, this fic is 17 chapters, in case anyone was wondering. On with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.
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Gray's world was burning. He was surrounded by fire. He watched in fascination as they flickered and danced in front of him. Even after all these years of fighting Natsu and running into other fire mages on jobs, he had never truly taken the time to admire how beautiful fire could be. The purple flames soared in the air, dying the sky above him a deep shade of violet. The embers nicked at his skin, but surprisingly, it didn't hurt. The fire was cold, much like his ice. He relished in the comfort and familiarity it brought. He sighed in contentment as he closed his eyes.
He was harshly brought out of his relaxed state by scorching heat. He opened his eyes and found red fire. The new flames roared as they tried to overwhelm and quench the purple ones. In return, the violet fire soared higher than before, trying to smother the red blaze. The two opposing flames clashed, each fighting to reign over Gray's world. Gray reached out to touch the flames only to bite back a scream as the red flames travelled up his arm, burning him. As if a cue had been given, the other red flames converged to where Gray was, surrounding him tightly in a ring of fire, giving off intense and familiar heat. Gray screamed as the red flames grew in intensity and began to go from burning to scorching. A weak plea left his lips as he begged to be saved from this fiery hell.
"Help... I can't..."
"Wake up, Gray." Gray's head shot up in confusion. Wasn't he already awake? Not to mention, the voice sounded like it was Natsu's. He had never heard the Dragon Slayer sound so desperate before. He let out a sigh as the red inferno around him grew. The pain had lessened now, for whatever reason. He didn't know what had caused that, but whatever it was, he was grateful. Before long, the red flames grew enough that they obscured everything else in sight, including its purple counterpart. Gray closed his eyes and let the flames wash over him, swallowing him in their fury.
The first thing that occurred to him was an incredible sense of déjà vu; the blinding light and uncomfortable temperature. He looked up and found Natsu grinning at him like an idiot.
"You're awake, Gray!" Natsu exclaimed. Gray rubbed his head and sat up.
"What happened?" he asked. Natsu's bright grin dimmed a bit as he recounted the events that had happened just prior to Gray's awakening. When Natsu finished, Gray only nodded in understanding. At this point, he wasn't even surprised anymore. More than anything, he wanted to be free of this stupid spell. But after so long and even Porlyusica not knowing how to cure it, he doubted that it was even possible. Natsu's voice interrupted Gray's thoughts.
"Gray, I need to tell you something." The mage on the bed raised an eyebrow at Natsu's serious tone. Nevertheless, he kept his questions to himself and allowed Natsu to continue.
"She… Matilda Mueller… I know what that spell does," he managed. Gray's eyes widened. The way Natsu said it made him think that the Dragon Slayer had known for some time now. Holding in his anger, he waited for Natsu to continue.
Natsu bit his lip hard, making it bleed. He didn't want to tell Gray, but he felt that the ice mage had a right to know. Even so, he would rather be doing anything else in the world right now. Taking a shuddering breath, Natsu breathed out,
"She's going to use you to kill people, Gray."
Gray felt the air get sucked out of his lungs. He was going to… kill people? No, no! That wasn't right! Fairy Tail mages didn't kill! There was no way he would do that. Then he remembered the words of Porlyusica back at her clinic.
"As far as I know, it seems to be a controlling spell…"
Gray fell back on the bed with a puff. Natsu was instantly on his feet, making sure his friend wasn't relapsing into one of his trances. Thankfully, he wasn't, but the tortured look in Gray's deep blue eyes wasn't much better either. Deciding it was time that he left, Natsu quietly bade Gray farewell and left him to get some rest.
Natsu leaned back on the door to Gray's room. The words that Porlyusica had muttered echoed in his head over and over.
"It's progressed too far. My potions and I can't help him anymore…"
He punched the wall with a roar of rage. He wouldn't give up on Gray damnit! He was going to save that damn Ice Block and when he did, he was going to rub it in Matilda Mueller's face that he was the better Slayer! After kicking her ass, of course. An armoured hand gripped his shoulder and Natsu found himself looking into Erza's concerned brown eyes with her tell-me-everything look. The rest of the guild watched the interaction in curiosity. With a sigh, Natsu led Erza outside with Lucy and Happy trailing after her. The rest of the guild couldn't help but feel a little left out of the loop, but understood that it was a sensitive topic to their team and decided to let them have their privacy. But that didn't mean that they weren't going to ask when the four mages came back inside.
"She WHAT?!" Erza raged. Lucy and Happy covered her ears and a flock of birds nesting in a nearby tree flew off in fear of the great Titania. Erza scowled, a dark look on her beautiful face. "She's dead the next time I see her. If you smell her, Natsu, bring me along so I can punch her lights out." Natsu responded with a grunt but everyone present knew that that was a yes. Natsu was just as pissed as Erza was. Suddenly, Natsu's head perked up and he sniffed the air in confusion. Lucy cocked her head to the side.
"What is it, Natsu?" The Dragon Slayer's expression hardened as he shot off towards the west. Erza was left dumbfounded for a moment before requipping into her Flight Armour and chasing after him. Lucy sighed and began to jog after them, calling feebly for them to slow down or wait.
Natsu came to a stop in front of a deserted alley. Frowning, he sniffed the air once again. He was sure that he had smelled a certain someone. Hesitantly, he stepped into the alley, searching for any signs of her. Erza followed and Lucy joined the pair. Natsu stopped just before the alley came to an end and watched in astonishment as the air in front of him shimmered and none other than the Fire Angel Slayer appeared before him.
Natsu growled as he charged forward with an enflamed fist. Matilda simply closed her eyes and the rest of the people in the alley watched in shock as Natsu passed through Matilda. Natsu turned around and tried time after time to land a hit on his enemy. Matilda threw her head back and laughed.
"You're wasting your time, Dragon Slayer," she taunted with disdain. "You won't hit me." A tick mark appeared on Natsu's forehead. He was so caught up in his rage that he didn't notice that Matilda's smell had faded and a new, stronger smell was present.
"What was that, you bitch?! I'll show you who can't hit who!" he exclaimed as he moved to charge in again, only to be stopped by Erza. Natsu looked back in anger. "Erza! Let go! Why are you stopping me?!" he demanded. Erza stayed silent as she strode forward, meeting the green haired mage. After engaging in a short staring contest, Erza quickly brought out a magic sword and began to slash at the other mage's form. However, like Natsu, none of her attacks hit. Erza took a step back and closed her left eye. Her fake eye narrowed as she sent her weapon back to her pocket of space.
"As I thought..." she began, "You're not really here. You're an illusion." Lucy turned to Erza in shock and Natsu scowled. Matilda laughed.
"Congratulations on finally figuring it out, Titania. Though I never would have guessed you had a fake eye. What happened to your real one?" she asked, seemingly innocent. Erza grit her teeth.
"That is none of your business. Now why don't you tell us why you appeared to us?" Matilda smiled a sweet smile.
"I simply came to run an errand. Is that so wrong, Fairy Tail?" Natsu scoffed.
"Cut the crap. We all know that you aren't here to just run an errand. There's no point in lying; you might as well tell us what you're really here for." Matilda felt her eyebrow twitch but she was determined to remain calm.
"Very well. I came to check up on dear Gray and possibly to get rid of you. After all, Dragon Slayer, you've been getting in my way quite a bit." All three mages cast a dark look in the illusion's direction. Matilda laughed.
"Those are some interesting looks you all have on your faces. If I didn't know any better, I would say that you lot were the dark mages!" That pissed them off. Before Matilda could blink, she had a magic sword at her throat.
"Listen here, you disgusting bitch," Erza spat, "If you come anywhere near Gray or Natsu I will personally send you to the depths of Hell where you belong. Don't you dare come anywhere near my family!" Matilda took a step back, away from the weapon. Even though she wasn't really there, the sheer intensity of Titania's anger was more than intimidating. Matilda cleared her throat.
"In any case, I'm off. You have two days, Fairy Tail. Gray knows all about it. Toodles!" she chirped as she disappeared into thin air. Immediately, Natsu and Erza turned on their heels and began marching back towards the guildhall. Lucy followed nervously.
"Uhh guys? I think you need to calm down..." Neither of them turned back but both answered the Celestial mage in unison.
"We need to talk to Gray."
Well that's it! See you guys on Thursday! Have a nice Civic Holiday and thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed!