It pains me to do this. After years of struggle and worthless procrastination, the story has finally come to an end. Here we are, at the final chapter of Possessed. To my regular followers, and I swear I'm really proud of you all to put up with the likes of me, I salute you for your patience and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support that I have received through your follows, favourites and reviews. Hountou ni arigato!

Hope you enjoy the final installment of my first Fairy Tail multi-chaptered fanfic: Possessed.

Chapter 12

Death

"…tsu snap out of it…"

"… all this time…"

"… can't believe he was one step ahead of us…"

"… we have to reevaluate our…"

"NATSU!"

Natsu gasped and finally focused on Lucy. She had unshed tears in her eyes. "Please, Natsu. Stop spacing out."

"Would I die too?" he asked in a tone so calm it jarred Lucy. He almost sounded glad, something that the stellar spirit mage failed to understand. "Would the final possession kill me too?"

"We don't have time to think of the consequences, Natsu," Mavis said, giving him that piercing stare of a tactician. "All this time Drake knew he had a backup plan. I should have known that, considering how easily he supplied us with methods to activate the spell book, how much at ease he was with us trying to decipher it. I had thought he was doing this because he wanted to die. But instead, he did this because all along, he had a backup plan. We need to act and act fast."

"S-So… is the first master going to kill them?"

"Juvia, I sincerely don't hope that it comes to something like it."

"But…" Levy said, "Even Lyon said to kill… No, you cannot possibly be talking about harming our own nakama to get rid of Drake…"

"Lyon? What did he-"

"Lyon said that only Gray could kill him, as in Drake, or else he can't survive," he looked at Lucy, who gasped, "Oh, that's what he…"

"He was right." Mavis said, "I wonder how he could possibly know that, but he was right."

The first master activated an archive to visually represent her plan. "As we know, calculating the time lapse they went through during their time in the castle, if Freed and Gray caught the first train that leaves for Emzorde, they would safely be able to make it to the runes before the final hour of possession could elapse. If we decide to stick to the fact that only the possessed could kill Drake, it would mean that Natsu has to be present there too."

"Bickslow, how much of the soul do you infer is present in Natsu?"

"Um… about one fourth of it."

"Hmm. That would not be deadly for Natsu, to say the least. However, it still puts Gray in danger of losing his life. He could easily have chosen to possess Natsu but he chose Gray. That could either mean that Natsu posed more of a threat to him, or that Gray was the first choice and he couldn't control the division of his soul.

"This might sound creepy as it is. However, this serves as a better purpose to us. It means that even if he manages to reach the hour of possession, his soul would still remain unstable. In fact, this makes Freed's task easier. We could easily exploit the instability."

"But," Erza said, "How do we do so?"

Mavis thought for a moment and said, "I had asked Freed to fulfill this need, but now that we have you… Natsu?"

"Hai?"

"How compatible are you and Gray in battle?"

"Gray?"

The raven haired mage looked up from his position. He was sitting under one of the trees in the forest, with his arm resting on his knee. "I remember to specifically have told you not to follow me?"

"And pray tell," Freed retorted, "what you wanted to achieve by being left alone?"

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Gray, listen to me-"

Gray glared at the rune mage, "Why don't you understand! I… I killed people. I couldn't help them and all I could do was watch from the sidelines as these hands hurt my nakama, and so many civilians…" he sobbed, "I don't even know if Loke is…"

"He is alive," Gray looked up at him, "H-How do you know? He was trapped in those runes, unable to return to the spirit world."

"I freed him from those runes. Loke is alive and last I checked, Natsu was running around the guild hall," Freed smiled slightly, "and as for Gajeel and Lyon, Wendy and Juvia safely escorted them to the guild."

"But they… even Erza… I could have stopped him. But I-"

"-weren't strong enough? Gray, listen to me," Freed sat down, looking into his eyes, "It wasn't your fault. They know it. I know it. The guild knows it. And not a single soul blames you."

"Levy does."

"What… how could you possibly know that?"

Gray looked at him with confused eyes, "I don't know… I just know that she blamed me for Gajeel's d-death," he said, looking away, "and she was rig-"

Gray felt a palm on his cheek, gently turning his head. Freed didn't have any news from the guild. He hated giving false hopes to Gray but he had to, for the ice mage's sake. He met Gray's eyes, "Gray, Gajeel is alive! I have confirmed it from the guild. Gajeel and Lyon both are alive and kicking and the civilians are safe. They are all under the care of Porlyusica san."

Gray kept quiet, this time not looking away, "Please, I am here to help you, and I won't back off till I do."

"B-but I will hurt… He will hurt you."

"I will put a suppression charm onto you till our ride ends."

Gray gave a confused look, "What ride?"

Freed smiled, "The ride to the village of Emzorde."

Natsu rushed into the guild hall, his bag ready. "Best of luck, Natsu," Mavis smiled sadly, "Save Gray… and Drake."

Natsu nodded and turned away to rush to the station. "Wait!" Happy exclaimed, landing on his shoulder, "I'm going with you."

"Happy, it's dangerous."

"It is dangerous for you too," Happy said with determination, "No matter what happens, I want to stay by your side." Natsu smiled, patting his head.

There it was again, a groan. He rushed towards the infirmary, "Lyon, you should rest."

"I know," The ice mage said, sitting up, "Just… I heard Gray and Drake during our fight, having some sort of internal battle." He looked at him, "I know you can save Gray."

Natsu held his hand, "I will, Lyon. I promise you. I'll bring Gray back."

"Then run off, Salamander," Natsu looked up to see a smirking Gajeel, "He is waiting." Natsu smirked, nodded and walked away.

What he saw at the train station was something he didn't expect.

"We're coming along with you," Lucy declared.

"But-"

"Natsu-san," Wendy said, "It started with us and it would end with us."

"As much as I disapprove Wendy's inclusion," Carla said, "I agree with her."

Erza glared at him, unsheathing her sword, "Do you wish to disagree?"

Natsu gave a nervous laugh, "No, I don't."

Lucy and Wendy cheered and Erza smiled. "Let's go," the knight said, "we have a train to catch."

Gray looked warily at the questionable snack presented to him.

"Eat it, Gray. You haven't eaten anything since ages," Freed's eyes sparkled, as he handed Gray his homemade snacks. "Uhh… actually I'm not…"

At that very moment, a food trolley passed them. Gray could never have been as thankful as he was seeing something edible, as compared to whatever Freed had cooked.

He went off the buy the trolley lady off of everything as Freed shook his head. As long as Gray ate something, he didn't really mind. He gazed out of the window. The sun was overhead, making the landscape sparkle green. A few animals could be seen grazing. He turned back to look at Gray.

It was as if he was in contrast to the bright world outside the window. He looked ghostly pale. He had bags under his eyes. It appeared as if these three days had bled the life out of him. And the worst part was that his left eye had completely turned green. It was as if the outside world was life and the inside the cabin was death.

The green haired mage nearly turned away to look at the outside world again.

"Freed," Gray said and the rune mage looked at him questioningly, "What happens if we fail?"

He almost replied with a 'that won't happen,' but judging by Gray's tone, he realized sugarcoating wouldn't do it. "If we fail, then you would die. And that would force me to kill Drake. Gray nodded, as if expecting the answer, and went back to eating his hamburger.

If Freed didn't know better, he would have thought Gray was not jarred by the truth.

They didn't talk for the rest of the ride.

It's like the city of Emzorde still remained the same even after the longest three days of his life. Gray's previous visit to this place seemed like a distant memory; even though it had been burnt into his mind.

"Are you alright? Did my charm already wear off?"

"No… yeah, I'm okay. I was just wondering how long it has been since we were here the last time, but it hasn't been long at all," Freed hummed in empathy. So much had happened in those three days.

He looked around for a place to rest, an inn of some sort. "It's already evening. It sure takes a long time to travel here."

"Let's go to the runes," Gray walked away, leaving a bemused Freed behind. He considered if bringing Gray here had actually been a good idea. His behavior had turned peculiar the moment he stepped into the village.

Since the train ride, he hadn't been able to figure out how Gray had been feeling. Hours ago, he had been depressed. When he put the suppression charm on him, he appeared to be nonchalant. But throughout the train ride, after one wretched question, he had been unreadable.

Freed felt incapable to understand what Gray was going through and that spiked up a strange sense of fear in the back of his mind.

"We are here," Gray said. The ruins of the Mystique Mansion were basked in sunlight glowing ethereally. The very building was glowing, as if it had already anticipated Gray's upcoming fate.

Gray took a deep breath and entered the gate.

"Umm… Gray? We have to go the other way." He didn't listen. He felt a weird pull towards the front door. The ruins pulled him towards them. Freed sighed. He knew something like this were to happen. The First was right. He started setting up protective runes.

"The possessed arrives."

Freed gasped, nearly dropping his sword in shock. Gray was at the front door, looking dazed. He rushed towards him, reaching out to his shoulder, "Gray-"

Freed stared in shock. A scene played in front of them. There was an old man, taking in a raven haired kid with green eyes, who looking very similar to Gray. Freed guessed he was Drake. Then the scene changed. The green hair mage gasped. The raven haired boy was tied up, unconscious, as some white-coated men roamed around him. One of them injected a suspicious looking substance into the boy and he visibly jolted.

The next scene showed the same old man, in white lab coat, speaking. "The experiment was a failure after all. I was unable to create an immortal body like the almighty Zeref. All I was able to achieve was a method to trap the soul in the body."

"What do you mean, father?"

"Drake, I'm sorry, but you will never die."

Suddenly, the boy's eyes glowed green. Beside him, Gray cringed. Freed look back at the scene, only to find the old man dead and the room around him destroyed. Standing in a glowing circle of green runes was Drake. "From now on, I, Drake Wolcott, am the new Duke of Emzorde." He laughed maniacally.

"Show me something I don't know," Gray whispered beside Freed. He turned to him in surprise. "You knew all this?" Freed whispered.

Gray did not answer. He proceeded towards the center of the ruined room. Freed followed him. He realized, even after the suppression charm, Drake was able to converse with Gray. The fourth day was indeed the day he would gain his strength.

Suddenly, the floor underneath his feet shook. He grabbed Gray and backed away. Magic was thrumming under the floor, rune magic. He could feel the complexity, the power. Freed gulped. This was way beyond his level of mastery in runes. Drake really was a rune master.

The floor suddenly hummed and opened. A dark tunnel led straight to the bottom. "The basement," Gray said, "It is the passageway to the room, the trunk."

"But why go from here?"

"I don't know. It's just… pulling me."

"Are you sure, Gray?" Freed frowned at the tunnel.

Gray thought for a while. "No," he said, and walked towards the tunnel and created ice stairs. "But I'm not sure of many things I'm doing since the past few days."

"Mysteries unraveled, roads untraveled

Reaching to a path long avoided.

Deception and haunting will be what one reaches in the end."

Freed didn't leave Gray's arm throughout the walk down the tunnel. At the end of it, there was a puzzle rune. Freed was wary of it, when Gray said, "Not that way. There's a shortcut."

They went towards the other, darker end of what seemed like a never-ending labyrinth. But sure enough, they reached a crossroad in a matter of minutes. But the only difference was the fact that the tunnel only had one green door. The other one seemed to have been blasted away. The green haired mage sweat-dropped. He knew who all were behind this.

The fourth hour of possession nears by. Only the possessed can enter.

Kill the intruder.

Suddenly, multiple runes activated around Freed. But he was ready this time. He readied his sword and started rewriting the runes trapping him. He was only able to deactivate a few when, "Initiating intruder trap."

"Shit," Freed cursed, as the runes started glowing. He tried to deactivate them, when suddenly, all the runes disappeared. Gray stood in front of him, wide-eyed, his arm outstretched towards where used to be the rune wall.

Freed gave a relieved sigh, while Gray released a shuddering breath. Gray could hear a subdued laughter at the back of his mind. He had done it again. He was able to manipulate the runes again. And even though all he had done was to protect his own, he didn't seem to be able to be content.

Both the mages entered the green tunnel. Instead of blank walls, the tunnel was flashing with multiple visions showing the life of Drake. Gray was able to make out a few faces, namely Will Neville, the mage from Fairy Tail, Leslie, and a few other people who fell victims to Drake's madness.

Freed checked the pocket watch he was carrying and his eyes widened. The seconds hand never moved so fast. It was gonna be midnight in a few minutes. They had reached the end of the tunnel. A trunk was placed at the centre of the wall with ancient runes on it. Freed could translate them in his mind: Offering, Lingering, Deception and Haunting. The trunk's lid was slightly open and whatever that was inside was glowing green.

"Gray, it's time," Gray appeared to freeze on the spot. Freed turned back to look at him. Bangs covered Gray's eyes. "I'll remove the charm. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Fucking trains," Natsu murmured, leaning on the train window. Lucy sighed. It was already evening and they still had a long way to go. It was bad enough that they missed Freed and Gray in the first train. Oh, why did the village have to be so far away?

Suddenly, the train stopped. Natsu jolted at the sudden absence of movement.

"What happened?" Erza stood up, "We aren't in Emzorde yet."

Due to some problems, the train has been stopped. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The passengers of the train collectively groaned. Lucy frowned. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to save Gray in time. She heard Natsu gasp. "That… That was Drake's voice," he said. Erza suddenly unloaded their bags. "Let's move! We have to evacuate the train!"

She rushed towards the driver's coach. And in a few moments, an announcement could be heard, "All the passengers, kindly evacuate in an orderly manner. I repeat, all the passengers, kindly evacuate in an orderly manner."

Natsu could smell what Erza sensed now. "The train was laden with explosives!" How couldn't he sense them before?

The passengers slowly, but surely, evacuated to safety. It had gotten dark outside. Erza gave orders to the passengers and staff. Wendy, Carla and Happy checked for the injured. The explosion still resounded throughout the forest area.

"Natsu," Lucy said hesitantly, "In the guild, when you asked if you would die too, why did you sound… almost glad?"

Natsu looked stunned. He didn't think anyone would have noticed. "I… umm… it's hard to explain."

Lucy glared at him. She was right at the observation. "Go on. I have some time to spare," she said with underlying anger. Natsu frowned and looked away.

"At… at that time I was also with Gray in the green chamber. But instead, Gray was the one left to suffer alone. I… felt guilty. He was practically living the pain that could have been mine. So I," he laughed nervously, "Believe me, I don't want to die. I was just glad for a moment that at least we could have shared the same fate in the end."

Lucy shook her head. The thought was too appalling, coming from Natsu of all people. He was the person she least expected to say something like that. "We are going to save Gray," she finally said, "And we all are gonna come out of it alive."

"Minna!" Erza called out from a carriage. She stopped it in front of them. "Hop on. We have a nakama to save."

"You're gonna use up all your magic, Erza," Lucy said worriedly.

"We don't have time, Lucy. It's nearly midnight," Erza was panting but she refused to slow down her pace.

"I can see the village!" Happy declared from above.

In a matter of minutes, Team Natsu was at the entrance of Mystique ruins. "I-it's alive…" Wendy muttered, terrified. "The ruins are glowing…"

Natsu put a hand on her shoulder and smiled reassuringly, "It will be okay, Wendy." Erza walked ahead, "Let's go in-" she bumped face-first into a wall of runes, right at the entrance. "W-what's this? Did Drake put runes here too?"

"No," Lucy muttered, "These are Freed's runes," she touched the wall, which glowed purple. "It must be forbidding anyone except him and Gray from entering."

Natsu gritted his teeth, "What about Drake?" He walked ahead to touch the runes. As expected, his hand passed through. Suddenly, a stream of green light escaped from the backyard. "Natsu," Happy exclaimed, "That's where the green room is!"

A scream resonated from the source of the light. "Gray!" Natsu exclaimed and raced towards the bar of light, which seemed to increase with time.

Suddenly, he was blinded by pain in his head. He gasped and stopped in his tracks. He had to force himself not to black out. He saw a mass of green escaping from inside him. The pain subsided slowly.

He gasped in relief, but the relief was short-lived. That was because the basement shone blue.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

That was the last thing Gray heard before he was blinded by pain. He screamed, grabbing his head and collapsing. "Gray, you can endure it." Freed said, readying his stance. "You can do it Gray, you can fight it."

Tears streamed down his eyes. All the days, all the pain he suffered these days flashed in front of his eyes. He could hear a mirthful cackle at the back of his head. He was lying on the ground. Freed was screaming something incomprehensible. The pain was killing him.

He couldn't waver from the plan now.

He gasped loudly, gritted his teeth and willed himself to see through the pain. Freed had activated the runes. A bright ball of green escaped from him and the trunk. It recollected on top of him, as if readying itself to possess him forever. The most peculiar part though was when another mass of green entered from the hole on the top.

"Got it!" Freed exclaimed. The pain in Gray's head subsided slowly, residing somewhere in the back of his mind. "I c-can't hold it for long, Gray," Freed panted, immobile in his stance. He had trapped the mass of green in a force field that he maintained. "Do it," he gulped, "Hit it with your best attack."

"You're right," Gray staggered into the forbidden stance. "This has to end once and for all." He crossed his arms in front of him. Freed gasped, "No, you cannot do that, Gray!"

"This is the best option to defeat the greenie eyed bastard," Gray muttered in a monotone, "Even if I fail, he won't get a body to possess. This is easier for me."

"Gray, please," Freed gritted his teeth. He couldn't move. If he did, the force field would dissipate. He screamed desperately, "It might be easier to run but this is not the answer. Gray, anything but iced shell!"

"I'm sorry, Freed," Gray gave a sad smile, "Thank you for everything." Magic swirled around him, the green room shone blue. Then suddenly, he was thrown back with a punch on his face.

"You idiot," Natsu said, "What do you think you are doing?"

Gray would have returned the punch to the dragon slayer if he had been conscious enough to even stand up. Natsu rushed to him held his face with both his hands, "What were you about to do, you bastard?"

"Why are you here, flame brain?"

"You promised me Gray. You promised me you will never use it."

"There's no better choice, Natsu!"

Natsu wanted to punch him again. "Maybe there wasn't if I hadn't been possessed as well." Gray looked into his eyes properly for the first time in days. "What do you mean? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know, okay? Something about unstable souls and-"

"Guys," Freed called from behind, "I c-can't-" he was panting hard.

"C'mon Gray," Natsu offered him a hand and he took it. "You know what to do."

Both the Fairy Tail mages faced the force field. They held hands and got into stance. Freed collapsed from exhaustion and the force field disintegrated. At the same time, Natsu and Gray screamed together:

"Unison Raid!"

Before exhaustion could consume him fully, Freed managed to see something that he would remember forever. Blue and gold clashed with green and he was blinded by the brightest light of collision.

Epilogue

"Levy," Mavis said, "Please return this book to the library," she said, handing her the spell book of multiple secrets.

Levy nodded and grabbed it. Suddenly, the book caught on fire. She shrieked and dropped the book. Juvia rushed and doused the fire before the guild could have been charred. There was no trace left of the book.

"What do we do now?" Levy said. Mavis, who stood shocked, suddenly smiled.

"They have succeeded."

He slowly opened his eyes, blinded by sudden brightness of the sun. He felt a slight breeze on his cheek. A mob of pink hair blocked the sun from his eyes and he opened them fully.

"Looks like the ice princess has finally woken up," the dragon slayer smirked at him.

"Shut up, idiot." He said, blinking away the haziness in his vision. "What happened?"

"Oh, it's a long story-"

"Gray!" A ball of blue collided into him. He couldn't help but chuckle lightly, "Happy."

"Natsu screamed and a green thing escaped him and then the basement became blue! He jumped into the hole and BAM! Bitch slap on your face! And then Freed went all 'goodnight everyone' and then KABOOM! And after tha-"

Lucy giggled, grabbing the over-excited exceed. "The runes outside the ruins dissipated when Freed collapsed, so we went in and rescued you all. Believe me, the building collapsed!"

Suddenly, Loke appeared out of nowhere, "Princess is right! And I became your knight in shining armor, rushing in and picking you up," he adjusted his sunglasses and smirked, "You are really a princess, my dear Gray."

"Please, not you too."

"Don't forget about Natsu-san," Wendy muttered, "Erza-san carried him out of the building. Please stop teasing Gray-san," she muttered shyly. Natsu laughed and ruffled her hair.

"But never forget the one and only," Freed said, comically bowing down to Lucy, "You have saved me, brave lady. I can never repay your kindness."

"Hey," Loke protested, "Only I am allowed to do that."

Erza chuckled, "But really, the building collapsed the moment you guys managed to beat Drake. As soon as the explosion subsided, all the runes in the vicinity deactivated, including the ones responsible for the stability of the building."

"Please, Erza," Lucy said, "We can discuss the technicalities later. But now, party!"

Everyone cheered as Gray cracked a smile. He felt like he hadn't smiled since what seemed like ages.

"Glad you brought up party," Freed sparkled with pride, "I have cooked a special variety of flying fish."

"Uhh…"

"Hey droopy eyes," Natsu frantically shook the ice mage lying on his lap, "Are you acting to be unconscious? You can't escape the Freed-food this way!"

The Emzorde forest lived again with the laughter that resonated throughout.

And for the first time in a long time, Gray was glad to be alive.

THE END

Okay lemme cry in peace. It's over! (Secretly also glad cuz I've so many more stories to share!)

Now time for some fun facts!

Fun Fact 1: This story was inspired from the song, "Easier to Run" by Linkin Park. The song didn't have anything to do with the story(excluding the summary), till I decided to put it in the final chapter.

Fun Fact 2: My writing style has significantly improved through the time when I had first written it. I don't think I would ever rewrite though, considering I corrected 10000 things in just the prologue scene when I copy-pasted it (and that I'm a fucking lazy bitch).

Fun Fact 3: Natsu is gay (JK he isn't. Not this time :3)

Fun Fact 4: All other stories proceeding this would be AUs. This will by my only story in canon universe.

Fun Fact ka baap:

I wanted to do an alternate ending which I had originally planned to do for the story. Yes, the epilogue was gonna be Drake killing Team Natsu and Freed and the Emzorde village being in flames. But it didn't feel right to do so. I felt as if even putting it as an alternate ending would haunt me forever. Plus, i have so many more stories to torture my characters! O:-)

Hence, I leave that part to your own imagination. In other words, consider yourself lucky. ;)

In case someone's really interested in one, feel free to tell me in the reviews! I'll gladly accept it if coaxed properly. XP

Our journey ends here. And I hope you all enjoyed it. Again, thank you for your continued support!

For the final time in this story, please read and review!

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