Wow, so many people seem to like this, thank you everyone for your support! Sorry this chapter is more about Gray and Natsu, with emphasis on Natsu. I know you want to see some Juvia and Gray action but I feel an explanation of what is going on with the imprisoned team Natsu is important.

I am up to the grand magic games arc, I don't know anything that happens past that. I've been catching up with my boyfriend, he loves the show too lol! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Please Read and Review. As well as enjoy the second chapter of Iced Malice!

In the still forest a half-naked man walked through without a thought. He didn't even mentally complain or groan about the freezing weather. He didn't feel the cold. With a sigh he kicked over some rocks and looked up at the sky. Seeing the glittering night stars memories finally flashed through his previously blank mind.

He thought of a familiar stellar mage who could summon those stars, one who was cute, vain, and probably in chains at the moment. He ran his hand through his messy black hair, the other gently tracing the scar on his side.

He thought of how cold it would be, and instantly thought of the opposite of his ice magic: Natsu, his best friend and rival. Who was no doubt fighting to escape and failing from the strength of Hellfire Imp. He would probably try to break out instantly, and the man grudgingly admitted that since it was Natsu then it might actually succeed, but not get far.

The scar reminded him of Erza, who he had seen trying to fight the leader and catch up to him, only to be shocked back down each time. She wouldn't give up, but they would break her. The woman who had been through so much and had even been a captive slave as a child, would have to repeat such a past.

Even a small blue cat flashed upon his eyes, Happy who might have escaped under the chaos. But chances are that he wouldn't have gotten far, Hellfire Imp always enjoyed beating animals. Animal abuse was one of their things.

A splashing sound alerted him to the puddle he just stepped in. The man froze and stared at it. J…J… Juvia… I left you behind too. The water mage who was so clearly dedicated to him, just as guilt washed over him thankfulness fought it back. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if Juvia had known about his plans and decided to help him with them. Not that he could really forgive himself right now anyway.

No doubt once the guild found out then he would be marked as a criminal and a traitor, he would never be able to step foot in the guild hall he had loved since he was a small boy. Not ever again… But HE said that by doing this Fairy Tail would get stronger… More prepared... After all, he was helping Fairy Tail in a way.

And even though the ice-make mage's heart shouldn't be so shatterable, ditching his friends made his heart turn to ice then drop to the ground. It broke into frigid fragments that hurt with every movement. Is this what betrayal is like? Being stabbed in the heart with every breath… Every motion…

He had never felt as cold as he did then, when the full realization of what had just transpired hit him. He fell to his knees and stared in horror at the ground. Then clenched his fists and just as quickly got back up. He would deal with it and continue doing what he had to. It wasn't as if he had any more of a choice.

He hadn't even wanted to leave, or to see them suffer since between Fairy Tail's strength and Hellfire Imp's strategies and abilities that made both the sides evenly matched. But the dark guild had a few trump cards that undoubtingly turned the advantage to Hellfire Imp. Though Gray himself still didn't understand it.

He began walking again, each step taking him farther from his friends. He knew he had to not just chill his heart, but freeze it. He had to make sure that he was the bad guy… For their sake…

His name was Gray… Formerly of Fairy Tail…

Natsu sat in a cell. He was beaten and bloody from the rough treatment of the dark wizards and now just sat on his cot in deep thought. What the hell Gray? What was that right there? He was tied up in chains. They had his hands and feet chained to the three walls of the room, with plenty of chain available to move around his 'new home'.

Natsu thought for a moment about Gray being controlled or something but then he recalled what Gray was wearing… Or rather wasn't wearing. He had no clothes; he was himself and is fully serious. What's going on? He punched the wall behind him in anger. Natsu yelled his rage and pain aloud through the bars of the cell.

"Natsu! Are you alright?" called Erza, who from the sounds of it was a couple cells down.

"Yea Erza I'm fine, are you?" Natsu responded.

"Yea…"

"Where's Happy?" Natsu hoped desperately that Happy was in another one of these cells. But his hot blood chilled when she answered.

"No, I can't see him and I am sure you can't smell him."

Natsu scented the air and confirmed her words. Happy wasn't in here at all. Good thing Lucy escaped. Luce! I hope she made it, I would kill these guys and send them to hell if they hurt her! For a while now Natsu had been feeling… Differently… About his blond friend. But no matter how hard he thought about it he couldn't tell what the feeling was. Natsu cared about Lucy greatly, but then again he cared for all of his comrades. So what was so different about the caring feelings he felt for Lucy?

Natsu groaned and pulled against his chains, hissing in pain as they didn't break free and just hurt his wrists even more. He had to get out of here; he was going to make them pay! He had too!

What had gone wrong back there at the warehouse? Those were average wizards fighting against the strongest mage team in Fiore but they were still captured. He… He… Natsu's head was cloudy and hurt like hell. It had since he first stepped foot in the warehouse. He couldn't even think straight!

"Roar of the fire dragon!" the dragon mage breathed fire at the gate, only to have it disperse before even nearing the gates. He growled with frustration and charged it, only to be forced back by the impact. Natsu felt the familiar drain of energy from the attack, except it drained even more than it usually did.

"Natsu! Control yourself!" commanded Erza.

"Shut up."

"No Natsu, you need to save your strength… There's no way to get out of here I already tried a little bit ago, deal with it."

Natsu just growled again and turned away from the door and towards the back wall, he could swear that one of these dark mages were watching him and laughing somewhere. But he didn't care, all he could think about was his friends back at the guild. At least if Lucy made it then she would have warned them, then he could guarantee that they would try and save them. Defeat weighed down slightly upon Natsu and he let out a sigh, closing his fists softly.

But even after they were freed Natsu still had one more thing he needed to do, and it had to do with that certain ice-make mage that had left them. He would find Gray and ask him about what was going on. Gray, even though he betrayed them, must have had a reason to do so.

His memories flickered to when him and Gray were just kids, they fought and fought while Erza scolded them, only to have Erza attack Mirajane a second later and they would brawl as well. Which would inevitably lead to a full scale fight amongst the guild, but they would all be satisfied by the end.

Natsu and Gray would compete over everything, but no matter how stupid it was the young dragon slayer would not regret or brush off any competition with him as insignificant. That's it, he wasn't just going to sit here and rot away, he was going to break out of here and knock some sense into that stripper's mind.

"Hey, Erza."

"Yea?" came the reply, it sounded a bit off, and Natsu was sure that the red-haired woman was depressed.

"We ARE going to get out of here, I am sure of it," Natsu laughed, it sounded ridiculous… Probably was in their current situation. But his laughing cheered up both him and Erza, and strengthened their resolve.

"Of course Natsu, after all, who's going to tell the guild about this new dark guild?" Erza responded confidently. They are Fairy Tail wizards, nothing will break them.

"I wonder if Happy is alright," Natsu thought aloud sadly.

"Happy? Yea, I hope he is too," Erza let out a sigh that floated through the otherwise silent, empty air. "I want cake…"

"Ummm why?"

"Because I want my damn strawberry cake!" Erza yelled. Yea, I'm starving, I wish there was some fire around here to eat. Erza must be starving too.

A mumbling could be heard and the rustling of chains sounded across from Natsu's cell. It sounded like an old man, there was a couple curses tossed into the air as the man got up from his bed. Amber eyes stared at Natsu and more grumbling ensured.

"Youngsters these days… Don't have the sense to be quiet when an elder is sleeping. But then again, who has the sense to lock people up in the first place?" the man groaned. Natsu's black eyes focused on the man curiously. Who is this guy? Whoever he is he's seen better days.

The man was old, extremely old. He had a long white beard and long white hair that reached down to his shoulders. His neck, hands and legs were chained to the wall like Natsu's. He wore a green tattered woven tunic and pants that looked like they were neatly homemade, before they became torn.

"You, boy, why are you and that pretty lady a few cells down in a place like this?" he asked gruffly.

"Excuse me and sorry for waking you sir, we were just captured by this guild." It wasn't Natsu who answered but Erza, who didn't want to make the man even angrier by letting Natsu reply.

"Really? Well I suppose the girl has some manners, but it was you who yelled in the first place correct?"

"Yes sir, sorry." Erza sounded apologetic, but Natsu knew that she would still want her cake. The man just chuckled roughly and spat on the ground.

"What are your names?" The old man scrutinized the both of them carefully, his old hawk eyes taking in every detail. It wasn't as if he probably had anything better to do, he is in a cell. Natsu thought.

"Well old man, my name is Natsu, the girl down there who is rudely leaving me out of this conversation is Erza." Natsu could hear the old man snickering and Erza's sigh of exasperation.

"Whatever, I think I like the girl better. My name is Bartemius. I'm a slave wizard," Bartemius muttered. His gaze had turned dark and lacked hope, Natsu felt sorry for the old man. A slave wizard? So the whole purpose of his life and magic was to be used however these Hellfire-whatever mages wished.

"It is good to meet you Bartemius, how did you end up here?" Erza tried to continue as if Natsu hadn't made his comment but he was sure that the red-haired demon would scold him later.

"Ha, I've been here since my nephew, Apollion, locked me up here." At Natsu's confused look Bartemius continued. "Apollion is the leader of this guild. I raised him after his parents died of a bad case of magical overflow, they died after two years of contracting it and I had to look after him, he was only two at the time." Bartemius had a couple tears flowing down his face, and Natsu thought about his foster parent, Igneel.

Natsu would never harm Igneel, unlike this Apollion guy. But Apollion's parents dying at age two, then locking up the only person who took care of him? Natsu shook his head in anger and let out a growl. Bartemius's attention turned from his rambling to Natsu, his gaze weary as if he expected the boy to charge him at any moment, then he went back to the story.

"But after Apollion reached eighteen years old he left for two years, he convinced me to follow him when he came back since he said he would take care of me in my later years. But what he really meant I guess was throwing me in jail to help his dark guild." Bartemius laughed dryly and humorlessly before going on. "I've been here ever since."

"I am very sorry sir, what a horrible thing to have your own family betray you. Sadly we have just went through the same thing with our friend." Natsu flinched at Erza's comment, the stinging feeling lingering.

"Yea, sorry about the luck, both yours and ours," Natsu said, surprising both Erza and Bartemius. The white haired slave nodded and just looked down at the ground sullenly. "But we are going to get you out!"

Bartemius instantly looked up at Natsu with a surprised expression. "Thank you boy… Natsu." Natsu gave one of his reassuring toothy smiles and watched the man's frowning face smile for once, only increasing Natsu's smile.

"So Bartemius sir, do you know what they are planning?" Erza questioned Bartemius, the mission had been to stop the bandits, this was just a little more complicated.

"Yeah, though I'm sure that they are just some idiots out to go and conquer things right?" Natsu said loudly. Bartemius lost his smile and instead continued his frown.

"No, they seek to bring forth the apocalypse of prophecy," He stated solemnly.

"Ehh?" the two other mages exclaimed.