I didn't plan anything for this chapter, so I honestly have no idea about what's going to happen here.
Let's hope it's good x)
Alright, once again I'd like to thank everyone for the support and reviews, I like receiving them, so I might as well thank you guys for them, right?
Oh! Just one more thing... one day at the celestial realm is equal three months on earth, so yeah, the fic's name doesn't make much sense if you think like this. For Natsu team, it was still a normal day though.
Chapter 6: Saturday
Gray woke up in the middle of the night with some noises on his living room. He saw Lucy walking slowly to window before climbing and jumping out of it. The blonde had a beautiful white aura coming out of her body.
Before he could do anything, Gray felt his eyes too heavy to keep them open, and fell asleep once again. Three hours passed in a blink of an eye, and the sun was already waking up the lazy boy laying on his couch.
Gray opened his eyes to realize Lucy was nowhere to be found. In the ice mage's head, it made enough sense, since Lucy has been avoiding him, but what about that strange behavior he witnessed. Gray shook his head deciding it was nothing but a dream.
"Where could she go?" Gray sat on his couch and scratched the back of his head. After his morning routine, he left his house heading to the guild, Lucy would probably be there. Thoughts flooded the ice maker's mind about what might have happened with her.
Entering the guild, Gray quickly scanned the whole place. Juvia came running towards the boy who just walked past her. "Gray-sama?" The water mage muttered holding her hands together as her crush made his way to Mirajane.
"Mira... have you seen Lucy? She left in the middle of the night and haven't come back yet." Asked the concerned mage while taking a seat on a bench.
"I haven't seen team Natsu for three months, and that includes you and her." Mira answered reluctantly. "What were you guys doing all this time?"
"Nothing... Let me know if you see Lucy, ok?" Gray stood from his bench and moved to sit at a table. His head hurt with so much thinking, for the ice mage, something wasn't right about this. Mira just nodded with a puzzled look. Three months and nothing?
"Looks like someone finally decided to come to the guild." Levy's voice came from Gray's side. He just turned to look at the girl.
"Hey, Levy... How is it going?" Asked Gray in a very low tone, almost inaudible. "Doing fine, I see you can't say the same." Levy replied.
"I'll be fine." Gray had both hands running through his hair. "Come on Gray, don't lie to yourself." Levy put a comforting hand over Gray's shoulder. "Tell me, what's bothering you." She said with sympathetic smile.
"It's about Lucy. She just... went missing." The ice maker confessed. "Say what? She went missing?" Levy startled.
"She is probably cooling down somewhere. There's no need to be alarmed." Gray said covering the girl's mouth. From another table Juvia watched carefully as a new rival began to rise.
"We can't just stay here, let's go after her!" Levy commanded already standing. "I'll tell the others." Levy finished much to Gray's dismay, if the rest of the guild heard what she had to say, they'd get worried about Lucy, and probably blame him for the blonde's current situation.
"Everyone!" Levy shouted calling for attention. After having her presence acknowledged by her guild mates, Levy continued. "Lucy is missing, let's go after her." Natsu instantly glared at Gray, and started to walk his way.
"Where did she go droopy-eyes?" Asked an enraged fire mage.
"How should I know? She left when I was still asleep, I thought she was here." Gray retorted.
"You better figure out fast!" Natsu started the usual forehead clashing just to earn a deadly glare from Erza.
"You two! You should be looking for our friend, not wasting time with useless fighting!" Erza shouted making the whole guild go quiet. After one minute of pure silence, someone decided to talk.
"Don't you think we're overdoing it? Maybe she wanted to be alone for today." Cana pondered with her barrel between her legs.
"I don't think so. Lucy wouldn't just avoid the guild like this, something serious is going on." Erza replied. "Let's form teams and start looking for her."
"We don't have time for teams... I'm going first! Let's go Happy!" Exclaimed the dragon slayer before rushing outside.
"Aye sir!" Happy answered already flying besides his friend.
"Natsu, wait!" Mira tried to hold the salamander by the arm, but it was already too late.
"I'm going too!" Levy left in a hurry being followed by Jet and Droy. "Jet, you should hurry up ahead, you'll cover a larger area like this." Levy suggested. "But Levy, I want to-" Jet was cut off by Gajeel's sudden interference. "I'll go with the shortie, you do as she said." The dragon slayer said with a serious look.
"This isn't right." Jet dashed away with a frown.
Gray looked around to notice he was one of the few mages still standing in the guild not knowing what to do. He left the building in a hurry trying to figure where Lucy could be.
Everyone kept looking all over Magnolia. Mira, Wendy and Natsu searched from above having a better chance to find the blonde. Evergreen could fly too, but she didn't bother wasting her time to look for any missing mage, she agreed with Cana about Lucy taking her time to cool off a bit.
Jet kept running around the city. Juvia tried every place that had water nearby, rivers, waterfalls, lakes and even the docks.
Elfman smashed everything in his way as he marched through a dense forest trying to find the celestial spirit mage.
And finally there was Gray standing still, still thinking about where he'd look first. The ice mage had grown closer to Lucy, making it easier to realize where the girl could go if she was sad, or feeling anything else, so taking turns in every corner wasn't exactly what Gray considered the best plan.
It was then that realization hit the ice maker. "Found you!" Gray rushed straight ahead, he ran like he never did in his life. Some of the mages around the town could see the shirtless boy and for a moment joined him in his marathon, but none of them could keep up with the speed Gray kept in his pace.
"She has to be here!" Gray stood in front of the hill where he and Lucy went on their date. He began to go up with the same speed he had been running a while ago. Avoiding some trees, the ice alchemist made his way to the top with a wide smile in his face. Gray was confident that Lucy would be on the flower field.
"What? She is not here either..." The boy stopped to recover his breath disappointed at himself. He decided to take a look from the other side of the flower field, where he could see Magnolia from above. One step after the other, Gray carefully made his way through the flowers. From the middle of the field, he could see something bright on the edge of the gorge.
Gray quietly approached trying not to be noisy. As he made his way closer, his eyes could distinguish light from flesh and the ice maker suddenly stopped in his tracks.
This can't be... I must be seeing things.
It was Lucy, that was obvious by now, but something was seriously wrong with the girls anatomy. The blonde had huge white wings coming out from her back and covering her body as if trying to protect her. Her body was surrounded by light giving her an angelical look.
"Lucy..." Gray called his friend in a very low tone. Lucy turned to face him immediately revealing a grim smile on her face.
"Gray? Are you Gray Fullbuster? We've been waiting for you." The blonde asked as she dashed towards the ice mage.
Lucy jumped high in the air spreading her wings wide open. "You're the one making her suffer... I won't forgive you. You die here!" Lucy dove in full speed heading towards Gray.
"What the hell are you doing Lucy?" Gray could barely speak as he dodge several kicks. Lucy alternated between low and high kicks, making the ice maker focus on defending his legs and head, when she launched a spinning kick straight to his chest. Gray fell to the floor landing a few meters away from the girl.
"Have you lost your mind? Don't you recognize me?" The boy desperately tried to stand up as Lucy landed roughly stomping on his chest. Gray let out a loud cry of pain. "Enough!" The ice mage kicked the blonde's back making her fall, he took this chance to stand again, and plan a counter attack, but no matter how hard he tried, he could still see his friend in front of him, even if she was totally twisted.
"We won't tolerate resistance." Lucy said as she prepared another attack, but the girl's body seemed to hesitate, she knelt holding her head with both hands. "I don't wanna do this... no!" After a few seconds, she stood up once again and ran after her target.
"Cut it out! What do you mean with we?" Gray walked backwards trying to avoid the girl's combos consisting of kicks and knee strikes. It didn't take long for the ice mage to be cornered, behind him, the view of Magnolia from above indicating he stood in the edge of the gorge.
"I won't let you make her suffer anymore!" Lucy kicked the ice alchemist with full force sending him off of the gorge straight to certain death. Gray felt like falling in slow motion, as the distance between him and the floor started decrease, the ice mage tried to understand what was happening.
"Lucy... you should have known better..." Gray calmly closed his eyes before shooting his icy grappling hooks and pulling his body back up with such force, that he was able to jump over Lucy in the process.
Gray landed behind the blonde and turned to face her. "You should know free falling won't kill me. Have you forgotten? Three days ago... when we fell from that plane!" Gray shouted angrily. "After all we've been through in just one week, you dare to attack me. You're not Lucy! Who are you?" The ice maker had dark features in his face, Gray had never been so serious.
"I'm a different type of vulcan. I can maintain the human form." The monster finally revealed. "The exceeds believed there was nothing but magic inside that relic your friends retrieved, but I was sealed inside it, waiting for someone to read those words so that I could take their body."
"Leave Lucy alone." Gray started walking closer to the girl's body. "I'm protecting her from you. I have access to all her thoughts and feelings while I'm inside her body, and guess what..." Lucy's mouth stopped moving. "She is divided between you and this Natsu." Gray's face changed, the ice maker lost his will to fight, no matter how dangerous being still in front of the enemy could be, he just couldn't find any strength to move.
"Looks like I spilled some private information here. What if I tell you she kissed him twice while she was living with you? She tried her hardest to avoid him. I guess you weren't man enough for her." Gray was losing his mind with all those accusations. The ice alchemist held his head with both hands shaking it frantically.
"You're lying... liar! Shut up already!" Lucy's body moved on its own once again throwing a hard kick on the ice mage's chin making Gray fall in the middle of the flower field.
This can't be true... so all that happened between us, here in the flower field, were those moments all lies?
The vulcan lifted Gray, severely punishing the boy's body. In the other hand, the ice maker didn't seem to react as he accepted all the strikes directed at him, the last one making him fall facing the floor.
"That's why she prefers Natsu. You're weak! Even if she stays with you, she won't stop seeing him." Lucy's face was vicious as a sinister laughter left her lips before kneeling once again and shaking her head from side to side. "Don't listen to me... I'm lying." Lucy let out in utter confusion.
Gray agonized in pain listening to all those provocations, without knowing the vulcan was making the boy's blood boil with anger. Gray barely managed to stand up before shooting a death glare towards his possessed friend.
"So, you want more? That's fine with me!" Lucy started throwing kicks once again making Gray fall back with the force and agility the girl was kicking. When it seemed the blonde had the upper hand, a frown formed on Gray's face. I'm sorry Lucy, this will hurt a little.
Gray's arm started to let out an ice cold aura. The boy rolled on the floor dodging another kick, and appearing behind Lucy in the process. "Begone, monster!" Gray's palm went straight to Lucy's belly freezing the girl exactly where she stood.
Seeing Lucy like that was something the ice alchemist never wished for, but he didn't know what could happen if he released her from the cold prison she found herself into.
"I can't stand seeing you like this Lucy, but I can't let you go just yet." He confessed to no one as he was sure Lucy couldn't hear him.
"Why not?" The girl surprisingly replied, but it was not enough to make Gray release her. "I won't fall for that, vulcan, I know it's you." The boy madly retorted.
"What are you talking about Gray? Why did you do this to me? I'm cold." Lucy's lips were the only part of her body still moving.
Gray paused to think if he should believe those words or not. "How do I know if it's really you?" The ice mage asked scratching his chin.
"You just need to look at that fleeing vulcan over there." The blonde had to point with her eyes at the sneaky figure trying to escape. Gray broke the ice immediately, but unlike Lucy expected from him, the ice maker didn't chase the creature, instead, he caught her body before she could fall.
"Are you ok, Lucy?" Gray held the back of the celestial spirit mage's head with his right hand, and her waist with his left one. The blonde didn't have her wings anymore.
"My head was such a mess, that thing was implanting lies in memories, making me believe I did things I didn't." Lucy let out still a bit confused about what had happened with her.
"It's alright now." Gray held his friend in a loving embrace. Lucy's face was buried in the ice maker's neck. The girl felt her thoughts going back into their places, and new ones starting to emerge.
Lucy's mind wandered freely. The girl had her eyes closed feeling the warmth of her friends body against her cold skin.
"You found me where no one else was looking." The blonde finally spoke crossing her arms around Gray's neck. "How did you know just where I would be?" She asked with a soft voice.
"Does anybody else know you as much as I do?" Gray answered with a smile.
Lucy blushed and decided to change the course of their conversation. "It wasn't your attack that freed me, it was your voice... you broke through all of my confusion, you didn't leave me, you fought for me until the end." Lucy confessed with her eyes still closed.
"I wasn't the only looking for you. Fairy Tail's mages are all around Magnolia looking for you." Gray admitted he wasn't the only worried about her.
"But you were the one to find me. I guess that you saw what nobody could see." Lucy opened her eyes to look into Gray's concerned ones. "You found me." The girl smiled sweetly caressing his face with her hands.
"I was hiding... until you came along, and showed me where I belong." With that, Lucy reached for her friend's lips with her eyes half closed claiming his mouth with hers in a breathtaking kiss.
The blonde rolled over Gray's body making him fall on his back. They laid on the floor never breaking the kiss. As they kept the close contact, the ice maker ran his hand along Lucy's back making the girl shiver. His eyes went wide when he saw wings appearing on her back once again. Lucy broke the kiss with a lovely smile.
"Looks like I still can't control it." She sat on top of her friend who was dumbstruck staring at her wings.
"So, you've got wings?" The boy asked with a puzzled look. "I guess so." Lucy answered flapping her new wings. "How cool is that?" Gray replied while sitting, making Lucy's legs entangle on his waist in the process. The blonde crossed her legs around his waist still sitting on his lap and closing her wings around the ice alchemist's body.
"This feels so nice." Gray let out holding his friend by the waist. Lucy smiled seductively before leaning for another kiss. Gray closed his eyes expecting the touch that never happened.
Lucy stopped inches from his face. "Having me sit on your lap feels that nice?"
"That's not what I'm talking about. I feel like a pervert now." Gray made a face and continued. "I meant your wings around us."
"Riiiiiiight. Let's pretend you meant that." The blonde laughed full heartedly. "It's time we got back to the guild, they must be worried." She stood and offered a hand to her friend. Gray took her helping hand and rose to his feet.
Lucy started heading to the gorge leaving a wondering Gray behind. "What are you going to do?" Gray shouted making his way to the girl.
"What do you think? I'm gonna jump." Lucy replied bluntly before turning her back to the ice maker. "Where is that vulcan? I think it took control over your body again." The boy held Lucy by the arm.
"So you wanna come too, huh?" Lucy hugged the ice mage from behind and jumped from the gorge. "Are you trying to get us killed?" Gray's voice was desperate. "We'll be alright!" The blonde answered.
It didn't take long for the celestial spirit mage to start flying through the clouds with the soft breeze caressing her skin. She seemed to be having trouble with establishing the right balance, which made Gray fear for their lives, it took the boy a while to get used to the height.
"How does it feel?" Lucy asked in a cheerful way. "Frightening." Gray replied making the blonde frown.
"Really? How about this then?" Lucy went higher to the point they could see the clouds from above. "L-Lucy! Get us back to the floor." Gray struggled to finish his sentence.
"Alright then, but remember, you were the one who asked for it." The blonde stopped her wings making their body free fall.
"This isn't funny, Lucy!" Gray closed his eyes and prayed that everything would end up just fine. The boy felt the wind rushing against his face becoming stronger indicating their speed was increasing.
They went straight to the floor and Lucy waited for the last minute to flap her wings strong enough to hold their body in air for less than a second, and then landed softly on the roof of their guild.
"You can open your eyes now." Lucy teased. Gray did as she said, but wasn't satisfied to know where he was.
"What are we doing here?" The ice mage asked. "We're back to the guild, like I promised we would." Lucy replied. "Can you let go of me? It's hard to walk like this." She teased once again making Gray realize he was still holding the blonde in a strong grip. Gray let go of his friend and started making his way to the floor.
"Firm land, finally!" The boy exclaimed as he touched the ground. Lucy giggled looking at her terrified companion.
"Now we just need to find Warren, and use his telepathy to communicate with the others." Lucy suggested. The blonde canceled her new magic, Aera, and went after the mage.
They found Warren still inside the guild, and asked for his help. Warren was relieved to know Lucy was fine. He used his telepathy to inform the other mages that Lucy was in the guild.
"Thanks Warren. We owe you one."Gray said smiling at his guild mate. They waited for everyone to arrive at the guild, being Natsu the first to get back.
"Lucy!" The dragon slayer threw himself over his friend holding the blonde in a tight grip. "Natsu... this hurts." Lucy tried to remove her body from the fire mage's grip. "You're alive." Happy collided against the girl's chest after Natsu let go of her.
Lucy looked around to realize Gray wasn't there anymore. She stood up and started wandering through the guild looking for him. Lucy went through a lot that day, waking up against her own will, having her body captive by a monster, and attacking one of her dearest friends, but nothing bothered her more than not knowing where this friend was right now. In the blonde's mind, a lot of possibilities appeared.
One by one all her guild mates started to show up displaying all the kinds of affection towards the girl. Lucy kept rising her head to look over the crowd trying to find her rescuer, but the celebration for her return increased significantly making it nearly impossible to find someone in that place.
Outside, Gray rested his back against one of the guild walls. He stared into nothing in particular when he heard steps becoming louder. Not really minding the intruder's presence, the ice maker kept gazing distantly. He seemed distracted, without any reaction, not even a blink of an eye.
"Gray..." A feminine voice came from behind the boy. Gray turned around to see Juvia standing with a worried face.
"What is it Juvia?" He asked nonchalantly. "Juvia is worried about her friend." The water mage sat besides the thoughtful person in front of her. "Gray-kun left all of a sudden." The girl spoke alarming her companion. For the first time since he met Juvia, she called him Gray-kun.
"I felt a little uncomfortable there... that's all." Juvia caught the hesitation in the boy's voice. "By the way, when did you start calling me Gray-kun?" Asked a confused Gray.
"Ah! This..." Juvia turned red and looked down. "Juvia can't call Gray-kun like that anymore." The water mage confessed. "Juvia is in love with someone else." The ice maker's eyes went wide with the shock. He never paid as much attention to the girl as he did now. "Who is it?" Gray asked instantly.
"His name is Lyon, Juvia isn't sure of her feelings for him yet, but Lyon-sama was very loving to Juvia. Juvia met him on the docks while she was looking for Lucy-san." The water mage confessed.
"Lyon? I know the guy, who would have thought, you and him." Gray smiled genuinely. He couldn't love Juvia back, so he was happy she found someone who can. "I still can't believe you're into that guy though." This time the ice alchemist laughed.
"Don't laugh!" Juvia nervously exclaimed. "W-What about Gray-kun and Lucy-san?" The water said hoping to change the subject.
"I'm not sure about anything anymore. I thought I knew what I wanted, but after today..." Gray laid his back on the floor staring at the stars. "I don't know what to do about her." He concluded.
"Is Gray-kun really talking about Lucy-san?" Juvia asked in disbelief leaning closer to the ice mage. "Yeah..." The boy simply replied with a sigh.
"Being afraid of failing before even trying isn't Gray-kun's style. Juvia knows because she saw Gray-kun risking his life to save Lucy-san without any hesitation." The girl rested her head on the ice alchemist's chest. "Gray-kun loves Lucy-san... Juvia knows he does."
"I'm not sure if I should keep trying, I've done everything I could to show her how much I care about her, and even then, she refused me... because." Gray lost his speech, anger traces forming on his face. "... Because of him."
Lucy left the guild looking for her missing friend. She felt her insides getting cold with concern as she searched on the corners of the guild. When the blonde was ready to give up, she heard a conversation coming from the last corner. She decided to check its source following the sound until she could distinguish the voices perfectly.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the ice mage laying with Juvia resting her head on his chest, but this fact alone wasn't the reason for the blonde's despair, Gray's next words were the main cause to Lucy's breakdown.
"You win! I give up, I... give up." Gray said still laying on the floor. "Juvia isn't saying you have to, but it'll be for the best." Lucy couldn't stand hearing those cruel words anymore, she forced her tears back, and ran away from there.
The girl tried to believe it was a misunderstanding, but deep inside she knew what she heard was true. She ran as fast as she could trying to get those thoughts out of her mind. Gray and Juvia? Did the water mage finally conquer his heart, but what about the time they spent together? Were those moments on his couch all for fun? Didn't they mean anything for him?
Lucy felt used and broken, her tears could no longer be held, her head hurt and so did her feet from all the running.
"I won't fall in love again... never! I won't allow anyone to play with my heart like this." Lucy said to herself in between her sobs. She went to Gray's house despite all she heard, and locked herself in his room.
It was getting late, and the guild was empty by now. Gray decided it was time to head home. "Thank you Juvia, you were really nice to me." Gray said offering a smile to the water mage.
"Juvia is happy she could make Gray-sa- Gray-kun feel better." The girl returned the smile with a slight hint of pink surging on her cheeks. "Just make sure Gray-kun don't give up on Lucy like Juvia said."
"I already said you won. I know I should talk to her about it. I'll make it somehow." Gray offered a smile. I'll be on my way now. Bye." The ice mage stood up going back to his house. Juvia just waved her hand.
Gray visited a small store before going home, he looked nervous before entering the building. A quick glance at both directions, and he was inside the shop. The ice alchemist bought something that seemed to be small since he could close his hand around it. The boy left the place with a shy smile on his face, and went home in a faster pace.
Arriving home, Gray noticed his bedroom door was locked once again, he let out a long sigh, and moved to his couch. "I guess it'll have to wait." He muttered before laying on his couch with his hands on the back of his head.
Inside the bedroom, Lucy felt her sanity trying to abandon her. She met for the first time the symptoms of having a broken heart, giving up hope, saying she would never be able to love ever again, accusing love to never have existed in the first place. Her tears reflected all her pain as she blamed that tricky organ called heart for all the emotions she felt mixing inside her.
The blonde heard knocks on her door, but didn't dare to open it, she didn't want to face him right now. What could he possibly want to tell her? After she saw the ice maker with Juvia laying comfortably on the ground, enjoying each other like she used to do in Gray's couch. She felt deceived, like she made a fool of herself.
Gray headed back to his room door, breathed in and out, but then sighed. The boy seemed to get angry, and put on the table the item he previously held in his right hand. He stared into the small piece of silver laying over the wooden table with a softer expression, before tightly closing his eyes and turning his back to the bright object he once held like a treasure.
"You were wrong Juvia." He mumbled to himself with anger consuming his insides. The ice mage headed straight to his couch, laying with an uncontrollable urge to break into his own room.
Gray felt like a toy in Lucy's palm, like she could play with him as much as she pleased, and then simply throw him away, and lock herself in his room. It was tiring, he was sick of chasing her and receiving closed doors as answer.
In an instant, the person they wanted to spend the whole day with, turned out to be the one they've been avoiding for the past five minutes.
Love has many stages, joy, care, promises, smiles, plans and the list goes on, but right now, Lucy and Gray faced the worst of them, one that they forgot to consider when they allowed themselves to fall in love.
Deception.
That's it for now. My chapters are becoming shorter T-T
Only one more to go.
There's another song hidden on this chapter. I didn't write its lyrics completely, but if someone knows it, I'm sure it gets pretty obvious x)
I'll write the names of the song and artist in the next chapter in case no one figures where the song is :)
I hope to see you all in the last chapter. Bye!