Didn't expect this, I hope? NEW CHAPTER OHEMGEE. Lol stahp. This was supposed to be longer, but I cut the chapter in half before it looked extremely hasty. The next chapter will be up soon! But not that soon. I'm a procrastinator.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Fuck you.

Warning: Damn my own story trying to make me cry. Not kidding. It's very sad, at least to me. Angst as fuck.

Chapter - 10

Senpai and Kouhai

"Wendy," Natsu said, with a twitching eyebrow, "Why the hell am I in the guild's infirmary?"

Wendy had the best poker face one could ever muster. "You have had two concussions in the past 10 minutes. I doubt you could even move."

"BUT-"

"Natsu-san," Wendy said in a low tone. Was Natsu hallucinating or did she just sound like Erza? "You collapsed as soon as you tried to stand up, so we had to transport you to the infirmary, with Lucy-san talking to herself about how she had been insensitive and how you should rest and how she would be the worst mother ever." Wendy's eye twitched, "It was creepy."

Natsu growled in frustration, but the throbbing pain in his head told him that he was in no condition to even stand without experiencing nausea. Drake's spell really put a toll on him. But that didn't change the fact that he was stubborn. Wendy sighed, knowing what was going through the dragon slayer's head, "Erza-san and Juvia-san went after Gray-san. Believe in them. I am sure they would bring Gray-san back."

"And if this could help your mood," Lucy said, as she entered the infirmary with Laxus, Bickslow, Freed and Levy. Master took a seat near the bed and said, "we have a plan to defeat Drake."

Lyon and Gajeel stood by the riverside. Lyon started towards the raven haired mage. "You idiot!" Gajeel said, grabbing Lyon's collar and effectively stopping the ice mage. "What do you think you are doing?"

Lyon stripped out of his coat, and snapped at Gajeel, "I am going to my brother's aid!"

"You… What did I tell you about the possession hour?" Lyon looked at him blankly. "So… so you mean-"

"Yes! For fuck's sake Gray is poss-"

A sudden voice from the dark alley nearly startled both the mages. "Lyon?" Lyon looked towards the voice, wide-eyed. It sounded so weak and defeated. "Lyon, is that you?" The ice mage approached the dark alley cautiously, followed by Gajeel.

"Gray?" A dark figure approached the duo, emerging from the shadows. The moonlight illuminated the figure, distinctly showing the dark hair and pale skin. He appeared to be limping. "L-Lyon…" Gray said in a broken voice, "T-That dumbass Natsu… attacked me randomly without checking who it wa- nngh!" Gray groaned in pain and collapsed to his knees, clutching his abdomen. Lyon gasped and ran to his aid, ignoring Gajeel's protests. "Gray! What happened?"

"L-Lyon, the cathedral… I was t-there with N-Natsu and-" suddenly Lyon was dragged away from Gray making the raven lean on to the wall to stop himself from falling. Lyon wasn't lucky enough and fell onto his ass. "What the-?"

"Are you really Gray?" Gajeel asked suspiciously, "You smell quite different today, ice-head,"

"S-Shut up! I am the r-real Gray! What do I do to prove it to you? Help me, senpai-" Gray's eyes rolled back as he collapsed. "Gray!" Lyon stumbled forward and caught him in time. "You idiot-" Suddenly he felt a chill going down his back. A low voice chuckled in his ear, "Ice make: lance."

"NO!" Gajeel screamed as Drake impaled the lances into Lyon. "Tit for Tat, big brother," Drake said, eyes glowing green. Gajeel gritted his teeth, preparing to attack, "Why you…"

"Ice make eagle!" Lyon said from behind Gajeel. Ice eagles launched themselves at Drake as the Ice dummy of Lyon dissolved into thin air.

Drake chuckled, effectively dodging the eagles. "What gave me away this time?"

"Think before addressing me as senpai. It is so not Gray, and also," Lyon shuddered, "extremely creepy. Gray, if you are in there, please don't call me that."

Drake chuckled, "Shouldn't you be having bigger problems than deciding your names?"

"You're right, Drake. Your acting skills suck. At least learn to act…"

"…from Gray himself." Drake grumbled, pouting, "I've heard that one before. Treating that filthy piece of scum like a famous actor, aren't you?" Drake smirked as Lyon glared at the raven, "It's no use addressing Gray. After all, he's in a deep sleep, which will soon become permanent."

"Why you… Ice make: Ice geyser!" Lyon attacked. Drake sidestepped easily and ran further down the alley, making Gajeel and Lyon follow him. "Where did he go?" Gajeel asked when they stopped at a crossroad. "There!" Lyon exclaimed. At the end of the alley, the silhouette grinned, green eyes glowing with menace.

"How gullible of you mages to fall into a trap like this," He mocked. Suddenly, green runes appeared around the two mages. "Shit!" Lyon exclaimed. "I didn't want to use such an uninteresting spell," Drake said with a bored voice, "but you mages are seriously naïve." He smirked, "Allow me to elaborate. Anyone inside the runes would blow up in an instant."

The dragon slayer and the ice mage stood there frozen. "Uninteresting, isn't it? But you were stupid enough to fall for it so…" Suddenly, the runes started to glow, activating the magic. "… you deserve it." Suddenly, bright light surrounded both the mages, increasing in intensity. "Goodbye, senpai," Those were the last words they heard before the area exploded.

"Oh look Gray-kun. Your surrogate brother is here."

Gray groaned, opening his eyes. The blurriness obstructed his vision. "Lyon, was it?" Drake said. That caught Gray's attention. "W-What about Lyon?" Gray asked Drake in a daze, "W-What did you… ugh… do to him?"

"Oh, nothing has happened yet, Gray-kun. I was waiting for my Chief Guest to wake up, you see." Drake laughed, "Looks like that little stunt took a heavy toll on you, Gray-kun." Gray sat up shakily. He was trapped inside a rune barrier, surrounded by the trees of the dark forest. Green light filtered through the leaves from the moon. The voice of his captor boomed. His magic had been stolen again.

"Now, someone has to pay for your misbehavior. Let's greet senpai and the other slayer, Gray-kun," Drake smirked deviously, materializing in front of Gray and leaning against the rune barrier that trapped the ice mage inside. A screen popped in front of them, showing the scenes of what Drake's eyes were seeing. "Look, Gray-kun," Drake said in delight, "they are approaching you."

"Why are you doing this?" Gray whispered.

"I seek revenge, dear Gray."

"What do you gain by doing this?" Gray glared up at the dark-haired rune mage. "They didn't do you any harm. You say that you seek revenge. What form of revenge do you seek from the absolute innocents?!"

"Oh, Gray-kun, there's no gain or loss for me. After all, they balance out each other."

"What do you mean?"

Drake laughed, "My gain is to seek my revenge. My way to have revenge is by having you in my grasp. And you won't listen until I do this." Blood splashed onto the screen.

"NO!" Gray screamed, "STOP! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU-"

"QUIET." Drake said, as Gray-of-the-screen's hand pointed the ice shard at its victim. "One wrong word and your nakama is dead." Drake then turned to him and all Gray could do was to stare. But what shocked him weren't his actions, but his expression. Of all the times he had faced this person, Gray had never seen Drake look this distraught.

"Do you know what my loss will be, Gray-kun?" Drake said in a low voice, "A chance to move on." Gray looked at him with wide eyes. "For years I have been trapped in my rotten body, in hope of finding someone worthy enough to free me from my despair. But no one comes. No one cares. Humans are impulsive creatures, after all."

"And the most impulsive, downright repulsive ones were the people of Emzorde."

Drake's victim on the screen fell into unconsciousness. "N-No…" Gray stared wide-eyed. It was bad enough that Loke was injured because of his inability. Heck, he didn't even know if Loke was alive! And now, the struggling forms of his nakama jarred him. He just hoped no one else confronted him till the hour ended.

Gray's bangs covered his eyes, "Stop this. Or I swear I'll kill you."

Drake bellowed in laughter. "You? Kill me? Oh Gray I'm already DEAD," Drake shouted, with eyes wide like that of a maniac. Gray gaped, horrified. "I lived among some rotten people in the past. My life's biggest mistake was to get adopted by the Emzorde family." His eyes changed expressions from anger to fear to loathing, "Duke of Emzorde… He needed test subjects. That's why he would go around, searching for orphans and use them for his sick experiments. And the village was the base of scientists."

Gray looked at him, horrified. The runes around him slowly deteriorated, unnoticed by both Gray and Drake. "It was a living hell, people surrounding me every day, muttering unintelligible curses and injecting me with unknown medicines. Later I got to know that he was trying to create an immortal body. And do you know when I came across that little detail?" Drake turned towards Gray and looked at him in the eyes.

"He summoned me one day into his white-walled lab and told me that the experiment failed. He kept on ranting about how I would be trapped forever in myself and how he'd discard me and get a new body because apparently I was useless and weak. But I stopped listening after that. My mind went blank. I heard a weird ringing sound and distant screams. And when I came to, I realized that I had killed the Duke of Emzorde."

Then Drake's maniacal grin returned, "The best part, Gray-kun, was that I had awakened my magic, and that I was the new Duke of Emzorde."

The Book of Emzorde rested on Natsu's bedside table. "The book is the key to find out about Drake and to save Gray," Levy said, "Freed has discovered that the book contains multiple layers of spells, each protecting a set of information. The first two sets are meant to baffle the readers into thinking that it is a normal spell book."

Freed took hold of the book, "The third layer reveals the complexity of the spells used to enable a soul to possess a body other than himself. If I assume correctly, that was the research work done by Drake in order to achieve the life he is living today." Freed sighed, "The fourth layer is a sort of a journal. Apparently, Drake didn't expect anyone to go beyond the third layer. But fortunately, I was able to do so, with the name provided my Gray-"

"Ano… It was Drake who wrote that note," Wendy said.

"Freed looked at her and then realized, "Hmm… then that must prove that the information provided was correct."

"What do you mean?"

"For the longest time, Drake tried to search for anything that could help him to die." When the others looked at him confused, he sighed, "Let me tell you how it all started." Freed told them the story of the Duke of Emzorde and the tortures young Drake went through in his childhood under the farce of being the Duke's son.

"That's unbelievable," Wendy whispered, "But then… Why would Drake-san try to possess Gray-san if he wanted to die?"

"He probably gave up hope on that," Freed said, "After all, Levy and I have consulted the First. And she assured this fact. After all, she was the one who told me that the first two layers of the book were forged."

"He's right," Mavis confirmed, appearing inside the room. She looked around and continued, "The fateful encounter of that wayward spirit with one of my own was enough for me to gather enough information about him," she said, "He started having doubts in his plan right after the first case failed. He realized the flaw in his plan. The vessels did not remain strong enough till the end of the ceremony to even stop the possession, let alone help him escape his fate."

"You don't have any idea what I've been through," Drake agonized, "My plan to undo my father's doings failed miserably. I was locked inside my body, Even after it would shrivel and die, I would remain there, undead, trapped. And I couldn't do anything to get me out of the situation. So I thought up another way to get out of this," His face became stoic, "I planned to find a way to use another body to kill myself. I started researching on human possession."

Gray sat there, staring at the blank screen, hearing the terrible tale of the green-eyed mage. He suddenly realized that the runes around him had dissipated. But he didn't do anything as he still lacked magic powers.

Drake continued his horrid story, "It did not take me long to realize that the plan was terribly flawed as well. Instead of being able to kill myself, all I could do was possess the person. It seemed that I carried the curse along with me, because I was being able to heal myself no matter how gravely I injured myself. I tried killing the vessel during multiple instances before and after possession but none of it worked."

"But that wasn't the only problems I faced after all."

"What do you mean?" Gray asked, trying to distract him from the screen as two other figures appeared. It did not work.

"The villagers," he said, "They were my worst enemies. Not only were the responsible for luring me into this shit, but they were also responsible for the aftermath." Drake said darkly, "Soon after I had completed my research and possessed my first body, I was informed that the mansion was in fire. The villagers were after the infamous Emzorde Treasure. They tried to kill me in order to achieve it."

Drake gritted his teeth, slicing at one of his next victims on the screen but failing miserably. "It took all my effort and energy left to create an underground labyrinth to save my research and my real body. Soon after, with my weak vessel and my precious research, I stayed there underneath the ruins of my first home till my next victim appeared.

"By then, I had lost all hope of dying. But I had realized the power I had: the power of possession."

Mavis continued, "At first, I believed he wasn't capable of dying. But I was wrong." Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, "He had lost all hope, but I hadn't. I had to save my nakama after all." She sighed sadly, "I went through all his research work and was also present at the last moments of Leslie. And I can assure you he can be killed," she stated.

"I know exactly how to kill him and we have an 87% chance of getting Gray back if we follow my plans. So listen carefully."

"I can live eternally after all," Drake smirked, "As long as I have the perfect vessel," Drake turned towards Gray, "I have no problem in livin-" Drake was suddenly interrupted by a punch on his face.

"You are sick," Gray spat, "Using human lives as mere vessels… who do you think you are?" Drake stumbled backwards, regained his footing and glared at Gray, "Boy, my own life was played with by a-"

"And that gives you the right to do the same to the others? You practically used your first vessel as a fucking lab rat! What did that guy ever do to you?" Gray shook in rage.

"You don't know, Gray. That mere villager deserved it. You don't know how much it hurt to be deceived by someone you thought of as your savior. You don't know how good revenge feels like," Drake retorted.

"I know, Drake," Gray replied, "I know that the thought of revenge is sweet. I have felt it firsthand. But it is not the right path," Gray added, "after all, my own vengeful, selfish actions led to my master's death."

Drake's eyes widened for a second, bit then reverted back to a bone-chilling glare, "I have nothing to lose, Gray," his eyes gleamed with menace, "My feelings for revenge on the villagers are absolute. Nothing can change that." He smirked at the ice mage, "Revenge is best served sweet, after all. And you are like a dessert for me, Gray-kun."

"Then you also keep this in mind," Gray felt the familiar chill around him as he willed his powers to return, "I won't let anyone hurt my nakama."

"Tch," Drake said as he charged at the ice mage. Two battles took place simultaneously, one inside Gray's head and one outside, blaring on the screen.

Freed ran through the maze of buildings of Magnolia searching for the ice mage. Wendy led the trail, trying to navigate with her sense of smell. They headed towards the right of the cathedral, where Drake was blown away by Natsu from the top of the cathedral.

"I can't pinpoint his smell," Wendy said.

"Didn't Natsu say that his smell had changed?"

"No, you don't get it. I don't sense any smell which might belong to either Gray or Drake."

Suddenly, a huge explosion took place at a distance. "Damn," Freed cursed, "I hope the rest of them evacuate the citizens in time." He turned to Wendy, "follow the explosions then."

The smoke cleared slowly as the explosion subsided. Drake sat on the nearest pile of crates, anticipating the condition of his opponents. After all, it was important to confirm for both him and Gray. But what he saw after the smoke cleared wasn't something he expected.

"Gajeel…" Lyon whispered in horror. The dragon slayer had turned completely into metal, shielding both of them from the explosion with an iron shield. The shield was badly dented and smoking. And unfortunately, he wasn't lucky enough to be shielded completely. His left hand was completely charred. He looked like just standing took more effort than anyone could imagine. "Tch," Gajeel said, panting.

"I didn't expect both of you to survive," Drake said in mock disbelief. "But that wouldn't have been interesting, ne senpai?"

"You will pay for this," Lyon growled. Suddenly, they were both attacked by multiple ice lances. "That won't be necessary. After all, you won't be alive enough to do that, senpai," Drake stated, materializing an ice sword out of thin air. Then he suddenly disappeared from his position and appeared beside Gajeel. "Shit-" He sliced at Gajeel, piercing right through his armor, across his abdomen.

"Gajeel!" Lyon screamed. The dragon slayer fell down to his knees, clutching his abdomen. "You are in no shape to fight, dragon boy," Drake mocked, as Gajeel glared at him, "You need to rest," Drake deadpanned, swinging the sword. But it was stopped by a shield of ice.

"That's so rude, senpai," Drake pouted. Lyon gritted his teeth and charged at him, slicing down with his own sword. Drake defended with his sword. "It's no use, Lyon," Drake said, as runes started to appear around the three of them, "I am way stronger than you are," he said.

Their swords clashed multiple times. None of them was ready to back down. "You might be right," Lyon said at last, deflecting Drake's attack. With the amount of force, Drake's sword snapped in two. Drake stared at it wide-eyed.

"You might be stronger but your ice is way weaker than mine," Lyon said, forming a stance to launch another attack, "Your pathetic one-handed ice make magic can never be compared to Gray's!"

Drake scowled at Lyon, "Is that so?" He said in a low tone, "You just wait and watch. I will slowly torture and crumple your dear brother and turn him into a mere vessel. I will break his mind and take over his body and you won't be able to do anything!"

Lyon stared at him horrified. Just what had Gray been through? "Why you…" Lyon deadpanned, "I won't let you touch my brother."

"Well, too bad he's already caged," Drake retorted, "And you won't be able to free him anymore." The runes started appearing from behind Lyon, slowly, creeping towards Drake and Gajeel to trap them all. "I'll blow you both up." Drake grinned menacingly, "and I'll watch Gray-kun's pained expressions as he sees you two die right in front of him."

"W-what… you mean Gray can…" Lyon gasped, standing there frozen. He noticed that the runes were starting to enclose them slowly, including Drake as well. Drake started to back up slowly into the safe area when he was suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Where do you think you are going?" Gajeel growled, trapping Drake in a head lock.

"What are you doing?" Drake said in utter panic, "Let me go!"

"Gihihi. If we are gonna blow up, so are you," Gajeel said.

"No, stop! You don't know what you are doing! If I get hurt, Gray's body will be mangled forever!" Lyon's eyes widened. He couldn't think anymore. The runes started to glow with energy. It was now or never. With a huge ice blow, he managed to pushed both Gajeel and Drake out of the runes. "The things I do for you, kouhai," A bright light surrounded him as everything went dark.

"Lyon!" Gajeel exclaimed as the light died down. There he could see the silhouette of the ice mage, lying down, and unconscious. "Looks like senpai could muster up a shield after all," Drake said conversationally, checking out his charred arm which was caught in the explosion. "It's a pity he isn't dead yet."

Gajeel swung a punch at him but miserably failed and fell down in exhaustion. He glared up at the smirking devil. Drake pointed an ice shard at him. "You… you lied about getting injured, didn't you? You can't get injured," Gajeel said, looking at the charred arm as it slowly healed.

Drake laughed, "Remarkable acting skills, right? Think before mocking me, dragon boy," His glowing irises made Gajeel look away. The face of his nakama marred with such a devilish expression was unbearable to look at.

"Sleep well, dragon boy," Drake said, landing his final blow. Blood splattered on the walls of the ruined alleyway.

Juvia stood there horrified. She could not believe what she had just witnessed. It was impossible! He couldn't be capable of doing this…

But there he was, at the middle of the source of destruction, responsible for taking multiple lives around him with the explosions.

She absolutely refused to believe it.

But then suddenly, a flash caught her eyes, a flash of green. Her Gray-sama's eyes… they were glowing green, so unlike him. She realized with relief and pain that the person wasn't Gray-sama. Suddenly, she heard a distant scream, "Juvia!"

She looked up to realize that multiple lances were fired towards her. They went right through her. The attacker 'tch'-ed in annoyance. How odd, this was exactly how Gray-sama greeted her the first time he saw her.

"You idiot!" Erza shouted at her. "Where is your attention? I'm talking to you, Juvia!" But then, looking closely, Erza realized that Juvia was crying. She held her by her shoulders and shook her. "Juvia," Erza said. "Huh?" Juvia uttered. "Are you alright?" Erza asked in worry. It started to drizzle. "G-Gray-sama," Juvia said in between her sobs.

Erza turned towards the cause of her distress, and gasped in horror. There, she could see faint silhouettes of bodies. One had silver hair, charred and covered in ash. Other was covered in blood, with the pool increasing at an alarming rate.

The last one was Gray, covered in foreign blood, smirking at her and Juvia, with his green eyes revealing his real identity.

WOW. Yeah.

Reviews are appreciated!

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