Okay, okay I know I'm late but better late than never right? Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

The whole ordeal at the Sun Village definitely had the team spooked, Gray more so than the rest. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd ever come across an Ice Wizard with such raw power. To freeze an entire village – and a Flame Dragon – in a mere instant was unheard of. This wizard could possibly even surpass Ur, and she was on the same calibre as the Wizard Saints. Just who was this Devil Slayer? All these thoughts jumbling around his head was more than enough to bring on a migraine and he hadn't even begun to think about Tartarus.

Speaking of Tartarus, that had been the main topic of discussion on the journey back to the guild. Gray hadn't really been listening for the most part. His joints and bones were still sore from his fight with the demon and he was still trying to fully register what the hell had happened during that fight. Erza and the others would ask him a question about his fight every now and then, to which he'd give a typical shrug of his shoulders and dismiss whatever insane theories they came up with. Memories of his time as a child were still strong in his mind. He'd completely lost it! The second his mind had caught up to his body's change in appearance it had just shut down completely and forced him back into the broken shell that Ur and Lyon had pulled out of the wreckage. He hated that side of him. It reminded him of how weak he had been, so powerless when Deliora threatened to take his life away. He quickly shook himself out of the dark thoughts and forced his mind to think of something more pleasant. Maybe I should visit Lyon? He thought. Okay, it wasn't exactly pleasant, but it couldn't hurt either. The last time he'd seen the fellow Ice Wizard was during the intense fight with the dragon hatchlings and ever since they'd seen that vision... A fresh awkwardness had settled over their relationship. Neither one of them really wanted to address the elephant in the room, especially not after finding out why what they saw hadn't actually become reality. So while the team headed back to their guild to discuss recent events, Gray took a small detour to Lamia Scale.

Lyon wasn't up to anything in particular. He and his team had just returned from a rather tough job and deserved a good few days of relaxation, and with the amount of money they earned, they could afford to take at least a full month off without having to worry about finances. So what better way to spend the day than practicing his moulding techniques outside the back of the guild? This was something he would do at every given opportunity. He spent far too long disregarding Ur's teachings and taking a more rebellious path that now was the perfect time to make up for it. Always use two hands or your moulding will be out of balance, he'd remind himself constantly. Just as Ur taught us. It was never his own voice repeating these words in his mind. No, not after the crap that occurred on Galuna Island. Now no matter how hard he tried, his fellow pupil's voice would always be the one to remind him. Lyon was a very competitive person, no one could deny it. So it was easy to imagine how hearing the annoying voice of his younger brother lecturing him on how to properly use magic pissed him off to no end.

"Lyon," the chirpy voice of his team mate, Chelia, called from the guild doors. "Gray's come to visit."

Well this can't be good was Lyon's initial thought. The two Ice Wizards did talk often, but neither would ever properly visit the other unless something serious was going down. Sighing in both frustration and worry, Lyon pulled himself off the ground and headed back into his guild hall.

Lyon walked through the doors to find his younger brother standing at the entrance to the guild and fiddling with his coat. It was more than obvious that he was trying to restrain himself from stripping. Rolling his eyes, the older Ice Wizard strolled through the guild with a growing dread in the back of his mind.

"Well looked what the cat dragged in," he smirked, hoping to release the tension at least somewhat. "What brings you to my esteemed guild on this fine morning?"

"Oh I was just coming home from a job and thought to myself "Ya know I'm in an unusually good mood. What better way to ruin that than to visit my favourite Ice Wizard?""

"Well aren't you just a delight?" Lyon laughed sarcastically. His smile quickly dropped when he noticed the glimpse of worry flashing through the raven's eyes. "So uhh... There's this new coffee shop that opened a few streets down, wanna go there?

"Sure," Gray replied with a hint of surprise. It was defiantly unusual for Lyon to recommend a hot beverage. Neither one of them had had any of the sorts since their childhood when they would drink hot chocolate after an intense training session in the snow, or at least as far as he knew. Maybe he didn't know as much about Lyon as he thought he did?

"So... You gonna tell me why you're here or are we just gonna sit in silence?" Lyon finally asked. Ever since they had parted from Lamia Scale, neither Ice Wizard barely spoke a word. There was clearly something bothering his younger brother and Lyon had full intention to find out what it was.

"What? Am I not allowed to just drop by for a chat?"

"Not with those bruises you aren't," Lyon had spent the majority of their awkward silence observing Gray in attempt to get a somewhat decent idea of what this surprise visit was about. The one thing he had managed to pick up on we're the faded cuts and bruises darted around the raven's body and a more predominant bruise that had formed around his left eye.

It took a lot of thought, but Gray eventually caved. "We got this job request from one of the Gods of Ishgal to unfre-"

"Wait, what?!" Lyon exclaimed. "One of the Gods of Ishgal requested Fairy Tail for help?"

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" Gray scowled.

"Sorry... Go on."

"He wanted us – myself and Natsu – to unfreeze the ice surrounding the Sun Village. And he wasn't lying when he said surrounding. Everything was completely frozen over, even the Giants occupying the village."

"Why do I get the feeling I know where this is going...?" Concern flared through the silverette's eyes.

"Oh I can guarantee that you don't," Gray smirked. "Anyway, there were some members of a Treasure Hunters guild trying to steal the Eternal Flame protecting the village and they were planning to use a liquidated form of Moon Drip to melt the ice."

A shocked expression took over the older wizard's face. "Well I definitely wasn't expecting things to go in that direction."

"Would you just shut up and let me finish?"

Lyon quickly silenced himself.

"The Moon Drip didn't actually work as they wanted. They only managed to melt a tiny hole in the ice, but they weren't exactly the main issue of the job. A dark guild – Succubus Eye – was guarding the village from trespassers and one member in particular had this ability to turn his opponents into kids and lower their abilities," Gray paused for a moment, debating whether he should continue with his tale. He sighed again. "A side effect of the magic was that it could give the target flashbacks to their past... So you can imagine that..."

"Gray..."

"And then I found out that he was a demon so..."

"Gray, are you okay?" Lyon reached a hand out to his younger brother to ease his ramblings.

The raven took a few shaky breaths before responding. "I don't know..."

Lyon studied his little brother carefully. While it was unusual to see this kind of behaviour now days, the Ice Wizard was more than familiar with this response from Gray. It was something he took pride in, in a way. In Fairy Tail, Gray was known for putting on a brave face and casting his own troubles aside to help his friends. However, back in the days of training with Ur, Lyon would often spend his nights talking to and comforting a teary eyed raven after waking up from another nightmare. Things had changed since then obviously. Gray was a lot more emotionally stable nowadays, but he was happy knowing that if the Fairy Tail Wizard ever had any issues that needed addressing, Lyon was always his first choice.

"Well..." He began. "How did this fight with the demon go?"

"It was tough at first," Gray admitted. "But that's just because all my abilities were weakened and I was freaking out about the whole kid thing. I eventually beat him though."

"So what are you so worried about?" The silverette smiled. "As much as I don't want to admit it, you're a lot stronger now than you used to be, and a lot smarter too. If you're worried about history repeating itself... Well there's no way you or your guild members would let that happen."

Gray smiled slightly. "I know, I know. I don't even know what I'm so worried about. A lot of annoying shit happened that was connected to my past so what better way to complete the jigsaw and stop by Lamia Scale. But enough about my crap, how've you been? Any interesting jobs recently?"

"Oh no you're not getting off so easily," Lyon shook his head. "I'm not an idiot Gray, something's bugging you and you know exactly what that is so spill!"

"Nothing gets passed you does it?" Gray huffed. "It's what that demon said before he died."

"Which was?" Lyon urged, growing impatient.

""You're the ones who open it up. Hell's Gate, it can't be undone.""

"Hell's Gate? Doesn't that mean-"

"Tartarus."

Lyon was lost for words.

"We're guessing that Tartarus was behind the freezing of the Sun Village and they sent Succubus to guard it. We found out that the man behind it all was an Ice Devil Slayer and mistook the Eternal Flame for a demon."

Lyon chuckled slightly. "Is that what you're worried about? An Ice Wizard? C'mon Gray, grow a pair. There's not an Ice Wizard around that you haven't beaten that crap out of."

The raven smirked. "You do realise that you just admitted that I kicked your ass."

"Just you wait for the next Grand Magic Games, my friend. And you don't need to worry about Tartarus either. Our guilds best the Oracion Seis and you guys took out Grimoire Heart. They were supposedly the strongest in the Baram Alliance too, so you've got nothing to worry about."

"It's not the fight I'm worried about really..." Gray hesitated again. "I beat the demon by using the ice coating the Sun Village. I passed it through my body and directed it towards the demon to take it out."

Okay now Lyon really was lost for words. "But that ice was someone else's magic. There's no way you should have been able to control it!"

"Now you can see why I'm worried..."

A tense silence cascaded over the duo. What was Lyon supposed to say? A wizard being able to utilise someone else's magic was unheard of, not to mention incredibly dangerous. Gray had said that he had passed the magic through his own body. Was he crazy?! Being able to control someone else's magic was incredible enough as it was, but to absorb it into his own body was something else entirely! Lyon had to give his little brother credit; he'd definitely underestimated Gray's abilities. He was a strong wizard, there was no doubt there, but this... Lyon was speechless. He'd have to up his game if he wanted to keep up with his younger sibling.

"So uhh..." Lyon began after finally mustering up the courage to speak. "What are you gonna do?"

"Well what can I do?" Gray asked in response. "It's not like I can just run around Fiore trying to find the guy who cast that ice. Plus you know as well as I do that trying to fight Tartarus alone is basically a death wish."

"Why do you insist on doing everything alone?"

"Because when you bring other people into the equation it almost always results in death."

The casual tone his brother used made Lyon want to cry. This hadn't been the first time for Gray to state something of the sorts, but it pained the Ice Wizard each and every time to hear the raven having such thoughts. It was true; life hadn't exactly been kind to him... And Lyon had played a significant role in that mess he called life. There must be something he could do, however small it may be.

"Gray, you know you can't think like that. As much as you hate to admit it there are people around that give a crap about you now and they don't plan on leaving – or getting themselves killed – any time soon. You need to stop pushing people away. It's never worked for you in the past and it sure as hell won't work now. I mean look at me. We tried to push each other away years ago, and now you have come to me for advice."

"I still think trying to take on Tartarus, whether I'm alone or not, is an awful idea. All the dark guilds they have under their belt would certainly retaliate."

"Probably..." Lyon mumbled. "But there have been rumours going around that a bunch of Tartarus affiliated guilds have been disappearing. No one really knows why."

"Well knowing our luck, we'll find out soon enough."

"Yes and please refrain from getting yourself killed when you do."

Gray gave his brother a dry chuckle.

"I'm serious." Lyon warned. "I thought you were dead for the past seven years. Then you reappear only for us to watch you die again and now you're talking about some crazy Devil Slayer working for a dark guild. One of these days you're gonna give me a heart attack."

"Oh?" Gray smirked, raising his eyebrows. "Didn't think you cared so much."

"Oh shut up! You'd practically be bawling if I were to die."

"Wanna test that theory?"

"God no!"

The pair laughed at one another before a calming silence fell over them once again. The raven sipped his coffee with a sad smile. It was just like old times. The nostalgia was almost enough to overwhelm Gray. After the events on Galuna, he'd never thought that their relationship would ever be the same, and he was almost positive that Lyon had the same thought. When they'd met up again to fight off the Oracion Seis, an agonising tension had blocked the two from properly making amends, but a lot had happened since then. And by a lot, he meant a lot. Gray had never realised before just how much Lyon had been affected by his guild's disappearance. He'd played it off as if he didn't have a care in the world when they'd returned, but had he really been that upset? Now that he thought about it, Gray and Lyon really had started getting closer after that seven year gap. Maybe that was the trigger? He had also noticed an odd sense of protectiveness coming from his older brother ever since then, and it had definitely escalated after the incident with the dragon hatchlings. Gray was about to open his mouth to speak when...

"I've missed this."

"What do you mean?" Gray asked, bewildered. "We see each other all the time."

"Not like this," the silverette gave a nostalgic smile. "Remember back when we were little and we used to run off during our sparring matches to go and explore caves on the mountainside?"

"Yeah," the raven laughed. "We'd do something stupid and Ur would always go crazy at us, like when we almost fell head first into that glacier. Or when we tried to take on a group of Wyvern's by ourselves? Jeez no wonder she was always so pissed at us."

Lyon studied Gray curiously, debating on whether to bring it up or not. After a long moment of silence, Gray gave his older brother a puzzled look.

"You're gonna start catching flies with that gaping gob of yours."

The silverette instantly slammed his jaw shut – that of which he hadn't even realised had practically dropped to the table – and they fell back into silence. The older Ice Wizard continued his internal debate until he eventually came to a decision. I'll only regret it if I don't try. "We should go out on a job sometime, just like the good ol' days."

Gray maintained his puzzled look. "You sure we can do that? Wizards from separate guilds don't tend to team up on jobs."

"We teamed up against the Oracion Seis."

"Yeah but that was more of a revolt against dark guilds than an official job request."

"I hear excuses..." Lyon chimed.

"I'm just thinking that we'd never get through one job without trying to kill each other."

"Oh c'mon, we're not that bad."

"Yeah tell that to my scars."

Lyon instantly silenced upon hearing those words, flashes of their fight on Galuna bursting into his mind. He wasn't still caught up on that was he? Lyon's brain went into overdrive as his paranoia flared. Gray must have noticed Lyon's pained expression eventually and groaned.

"Fine, if it'll make you feel better, next time you and your weird friends are in Magnolia, come on a job with my team."

"Oh my friends are weird?"

"You have a half-human half-dog on your team. At least my friends are all human."

"Oh really? Let's rethink that previous statement shall we?" Lyon grinned maniacally. "Now if I'm correct two members of your team are Exceeds... And don't even get me started on Natsu. That thing is a species of its own."

Gray couldn't hold his laughter. "Good point."

Sensing a break in the conversation and Gray's not-so-subtle urge to leave, Lyon thought best to end their little endeavours now before they actually started pissing off one another, also like old times. "You should probably get back to your guild," he concluded. "Sounds like you've got some preparing to do for your next battle... And boy do you need it."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Gray smirked sardonically. "But you're right. I should be getting back." He paused for a moment. "It was nice seeing you."

Lyon was actually surprised at just how genuine that statement was. "We should do this again sometime."

"Don't push it." The raven lightly punched Lyon on the shoulder as he rose from his seat. "Well, see ya Lyon." He shoved his hands into his pocket and leisurely strolled away.

"See ya asshole," the silverette smiled as he returned to drinking his coffee.

Gray traipsed the streets on his way back to the train station with an odd feeling of content. He was definitely more at ease with the whole situation with Tartarus; at least Lyon was good for something. Gray had honestly surprised himself when he'd sought out the older Ice Wizard for comfort. But with all the god forsaken memories of his past cropping up left and right, it was reassuring to see a face from his old life that one: wasn't dead, and two: was something from his past that didn't make him want to scream... Most of the time anyway. It was hard to believe at times, but Gray felt an odd sense of security when he was around his surrogate older brother. It was a feeling he hadn't had in a good ten years. The last time he had actually confided in Lyon was early on in their training with Ur. The two Ice Wizards – being the curious idiots that they were in their childhood – had snuck off after one of their sparring matches against their master and came face to face with a demon. Thankfully not one of Zeref's demons, but a demon nonetheless. It was the first time the raven had ever encountered one since the Deliora incident and he hadn't exactly reacted well... The boys were fortunate enough to have Ur come to their aid, but Lyon had spent the entire afternoon – and well into the night – holding onto Gray whilst he had a seemingly endless panic attack. It was nice knowing that, despite their rough patch a few months ago – or years in Lyon's case –that things hadn't exactly changed between them. Shaking himself out of his nostalgia daze, he set his mind in place for the inevitable battle ahead. Tartarus was bound to retaliate, especially against Fairy Tail and Gray couldn't help but be overly curious about this Ice Devil Slayer. Something strange was arising in Fiore and Gray felt that he was about to be caught right in the middle of it.

This chapter was mainly based off how me and my friend go out to get coffee in between classes to have deep life chats. :p

In other news, I finished college last week and coming September I'm off to University and I can't wait! I'm studying Drama & Creative Writing so I'm hoping to be writing a whole lot more, whether it's fanfics or something else entirely who knows.

So the only reason why this was late is because I've been gradually losing interest in Fairy Tail. Don't get me wrong, I still love the previous arcs and characters... but this one... kinda sucks... and it's the last arc... There's so many things that have been unanswered that there's no way it's going to be touched upon. One of the biggest things that I wanted to know was (and they cut this bit out of the anime for some reason) but way back at the end of the battle of Fairy Tail arc Gajeel tells Makarov that Ivan is after Laxus' dragon slayer lacrima and in addition to that, how did Ivan know about Fairy Heart and why did he want it. Also what's the deal with the rest of Raven Tail? There's like, what six chapters left? I doubt we'll ever find out. Also what's Levy's backstory? I was fine with her not having one when she was more of a background character, but her relation with Gajeel has kinda made her more significant. Also with the sheer amount of times someone has died and come back to life in this arc is unreal. Not even Ichiya was perma-dead! There's just so many things in this arc that have put me off Fairy Tail (Larcade... just why?) which is a real shame 'coz I loved it so much and now it's completely demotivated me to write for.

On the other hand, I'm now insanely obsessed with Once Upon a Time so at least I got that to look forward to! (Despite the fact that my favourite character's are leaving the show! TnT)

Anywho, thanks for reading as always... who knows when I'll update again. :p