Author's Note: Things are getting heated and although given the genre types, there's gonna be some drama going on as well. Aside from that, there's not much to say on my end, so let's get this chapter underway! Hope you all enjoy it!


Chapter 21

Last time...

Gray looked at him with curious eyes as Loke came closer, wondering what the strawberry blonde had to say. By the way he was acting it sounded pretty important, but then again it was always a gamble with how Loke would present something either serious or not. Loke was now no more than two feet away and he stared into Gray's eyes with determination, making the ice mage actually cautious about what he was going to say next.

"Gray Fullbuster, I love and and I want you." He said aloud with a charming grin as he looked into Gray's dark blue eyes.

"What the actual FUCK!"


Now...

"Loke, what in Mavis' name are you saying!?" Gray couldn't believe what he had just said, it was one thing that his childhood friends were confessing to him, along with Natsu, but to have Loke doing so as well was just becoming too much to bear.

"I know it's sudden, but I needed to get it off my chest." Loke replied coolly as a breeze swept past them, although Gray was confused beyond what he thought was possible.

"Damn right that it's sudden! You were into chicks the last time I saw you and have been ever since I've met you!" The ice mage couldn't help but yell as this was just becoming too wrong for his daily life and that in itself couldn't necessarily be called normal.

"Please Gray, I just couldn't hold back this feeling anymo-" Loke couldn't finish his sentence as he slowly began to giggle to himself until it turned into a bout of laughter. He held his sides as he found the situation too hilarious all the while Gray looked at him as if he had gone insane.

"What is wrong with you man!? First, you tell me you love me and now you laugh like a maniac?" Gray was trying to make sense of the situation until it clicked in his mind as to what the lion spirit had done. "Damn you Loke, you're just asking for my boot up your ass!"

"What boot?" The strawberry blonde asked as Gray looked down to find out that not only was he missing his shirt, but he was also standing in his socks. With little effort, he put his clothing back on and glared harshly towards the spirit.

"You better have a good reason to pull something like that on me you bastard, I'm already dealing with enough as it is to have you trigger me any further." Gray crossed his arms in annoyance, trying to ease up on the strain he was putting on himself and lean right back on the railing.

"Geez, I was just yanking your chain a bit for a few laughs, but I didn't think you'd be a big baby about it." Loke replied to the ice mage, but he opted to answer him for real as said mage growled at him for giving him that answer. "If you really want to know, I did it to shake off the tension that was building up."

"What tension? Everything was fine until you pulled that joke on me." Gray didn't see anything that was really wrong as they walked, so he wondered what was going on that he wasn't seeing.

"There wasn't any between us, it was mainly on me." The ice mage looked at him with a puzzled expression as Loke straightened out his tie and once again put on a serious face. "Look Gray, what you're gonna hear is probably gonna be one of the hardest things to accept."

"Loke just get on with it, not telling me is just grinding on my nerves as it is." Gray still remained leaning against the railing, however, Loke could tell that the ice mage had taken heed of his words and seemed to be prepared for whatever he was going to hear.

Gray waited for Loke to say something, instead a flash of shimmering gold began to form beside the lion spirit and the fluffy dressed Aries had appeared. The ice mage was confused at this new development as he hadn't expected for the pink haired spirit to emerge without Lucy around, but what caught his interest even more was the sad gaze she wore and how Loke was trying to hide away behind her. Gray raised a questioning eyebrow at her as he noticed that she was trying to steel herself for something, exactly what that was he had a bad feeling of finding it out pretty soon.

"Gray I'm so sorry to say this, but there is something you must know." Gray nodded to her as a way of telling her to continue as the fluffy spirit fidgeted with her fingers nervously. "T-The people w-who are infatuated with you, really aren't! Loke discovered that not one of them may have feelings for you aside from our Lucy!" Aries blurted out in one nervous breath as she was completely unsure of how to approach him, especially if he received Scorpio's approval for his feats in combat.

Both spirits watched as he went rigid at her claim, his eyes widening in surprise to discover the truth as his face was quickly darkened by the shadow of his hair. From how nervous Loke was being to Scorpio's claims, Aries had prepared herself to create a wool wall for her protection just in case something were to happen as she truly had no idea what the ice mage was capable of. Another breeze swept by as Gray hadn't said a word and Loke was becoming slightly more anxious with each passing second without the raven haired mage reacting in any way.

"Way to lay it on him in a calmly manner." Loke sarcastically whispered at Aries as he would've thought that she'd break it to him much more gently.

"I'm so sorry, but I couldn't do it under his gaze. I was so nervous as soon as I looked at him that I couldn't calm myself down to say it in a better way." She replied in her usual apologetic matter, but they both faced Gray as he suddenly turned to look out at river as his hands gripped tightly to the railing.

"Thanks for notifying me about this Aries, you can go back to the Spirit World now." Gray said in a restrained voice as she could tell that the ice mage was hurt. She personally wanted to bombard him in wool to make him feel a bit better, since she's heard that it has that affect but she knew her job was done.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, I've been asked to accompany Loke on informing you." She replied although she too felt something prick at her as she noticed his left hand quickly swipe across his face, full knowing that he might have been wiping away his tears.

"If the rest of Lucy's spirits voted on that, then I'll let you stay but if this is a favor asked by Loke then go back." He still hadn't faced them and his words sounded absolute which made Aries turn to Loke for guidance. "No offense to you, but I rather speak with him about this alone."

With a solemn nod from the lion spirit, the pink haired ram spirit bowed her head and apologising once more, left in a shimmering gold light. Now it was just Gray and Loke left in the park as many people began to leave back for their homes and children scampering off to play in a new location. The strawberry blonde still kept his distance as he knew that Gray would be more than willing to slug him if he were in range, yet he had the feeling of guilt wash over him knowing that he was responsible. That, added with the ice mage's unresponsiveness was an eternity of torturing silence for Loke who just wanted some sort of reaction.

"How?" Was all Gray said in a low tone, Loke just barely catching it before he repeated himself. "How do you know this is true?"

"It...It happened when I was asked to find Gajeel and Juvia the other day, she was explaining the situation of the number of people involved to him and the things I've noticed was proof enough that she was telling him the truth." Loke replied as he noticed the ice forming around Gray's grip, literally seeing as the metal underneath start to crack.

"Nothing more than an accident, is that it?" To Loke, Gray had sounded detached though he knew better than that. The spirit's own intuition understood that Gray's emotions were swirling inside of him.

"You had no idea what was going on and finding it out myself was no easy pill to swallow either." The lion spirit believed that if Gray was still willing to talk instead of throw punches, then he's better off talking to him as much as he could. "I couldn't keep something like that to myself and let it continue."

"So everything that I've gone through was a lie?" Gray remembered the past days he spent with some of the others and what happened during that time, only to feel even more anger and pain sweep through him. "What Erza told me wasn't the truth!? Cana had never regained that spark we had all those years ago!? Mira didn't see me in a different light at all?"

The part about Erza wasn't news to Loke, but hearing what happened with Cana and Mira led him to think how much emotional damage he casted on his best friend. Loke merely nodded in conformation to his claims, although the others he saw at that meeting might've done something else with him that he wasn't aware of and these three simply made the largest impact on him. The ice mage was a bit of a lonely soul in Loke's eyes, as he simply used whatever he taught him without really being invested to the girl he was with and yet he seemed a bit livelier when he was juggling Erza's interest in him along with his like for Lucy.

"I'm afraid it was all thanks to an accident with a potion that caused them to act that way, those feelings are not really their own." The spirit began to feel terrible as he was breaking his friend's heart with the truth that needed to be said, but he jumped a bit when he heard the distinct sound of crushing metal and ice.

"So I was played then, no one felt that way about me and I can just assume that it was the same with Lucy too!" He turned for the first time in a while to face Loke, the strawberry blonde could easily see the look of hurt on his face mixed with an anger he foresaw happening, but the spirit had to stop him from thinking the same way about Lucy.

"That's not it at all Gray, Lucy genuinely likes you! Way before this accident ever happened." Reasoning with Gray was a tall order and he hoped it wouldn't escalate any further than this.

"How could I even know for certain? You are her spirit after all so you could be covering for her as far as I could tell. I trust the people I care about but how could I know if they are under that potion's effect after learning this?!" The ice mage still held his look as his tone was growing even louder and Loke was glad that hardly anyone was around them to see what was happening.

The ice mage was lost in his own sea of anger and bitterness as the thought of regaining a lost happiness was nothing more than a mirage. Somewhere inside him, he felt like all the events were too good to be true and oh how much he wished he listened to that feeling. Then again, hindsight is 20/20. Either way, the ice mage just couldn't stop the confessions from replaying in his head only to have them mentally labeled as lies all the way from Erza to Lucy, but he was brought back when he heard Loke speak up again.

"She may be my master, but you are my best friend and I'm trying to do what I know is right for you" Loke replied as even his ties with Lucy wouldn't be something that would affect the way Gray has his trust in him, however, the ice mage was cautious of allowing someone in again after learning the truth.

"I've stayed on the edge of actually doing anything because I didn't know how she felt, but I gained hope when you told me what happened." Gray was weary of confronting his feelings as he believed them to be all one sided, all the while thinking that she was into Natsu. "Telling me something like this and crushing what hope I had sure is a nice way of thinking what's best for me, Loke."

"I can't necessarily take the blame for you not growing a pair and finding out for yourself!" Loke could never understand why the mage in front of him make the first move? He knew that Lucy's relationship with Natsu wouldn't go anywhere aside from close friends, that much was obvious, so why didn't Gray just take the chance?

"If I took that damn leap and found out that she didn't share my feelings then it would only put a strain on our friendship along with our team dynamic!" Gray always thought ahead of the more cautious things he had to encounter, that's why he always kept his mouth shut and trusted that things could work in his favor with time. "Besides, she kept putting it out there that there couldn't be anything between us so it was only pushing the argument further that I shouldn't ask."

"Gray you're killing me here! And I'm a freaking spirit!" He hoped that Lucy's claims wouldn't drive him off, but he had to admit that she at times made it pretty convincing enough that it would be the truth. "She said all those things because a crazy water mage would scare her out of her wits and she was trying to make peace with her!"

Gray remained silent as he looked back at the times she would outwardly express that there wasn't anything between them and noticed that Juvia was always around her. The ice mage had realized that he hardly paid any attention to what the water mage would say to the blonde, but he had always managed to her those same lines as her reply. Gray merely clicked his tongue in response to what the spirit said although his anger and doubts still were present and Loke knew that Gray had finally seen what was going on.

"Why wimp out now when you've taken a leap of faith before with Cana?" The strawberry blonde had let that slip out on accident, full knowing that it was a touchy subject with and enraged Gray so he had to prepare himself for whatever came next.

"Because I don't want that fucking feeling of emptiness to creep back into me when it won't work out!" Gray growled out as friendships held meaning to him, but they didn't go as deep as connecting with someone on a romantic level like he had with Cana.

"So you had a falling out with one person in the past big deal, I'm sure you'll do okay with Lucy." Arguing about this topic was like trying to climb a mountain with buttered hands, the spirit knew he could get some footing in, but Gray would make him slip up as this subject had a pretty big effect on him.

"I had a chance at finding someone that could change who I was all those years ago Loke! You are one of the very few people who know how much pain I want through as I've lost the people I cared about, how lonely I was and how heartbroken I became when I was left alone again." It was true, Gray was different ever since that incident with Cana and sealing his heart was how he coped with it. "That's why I don't want to take another leap and put all my faith in it. It's also why I didn't let anyone in, why I became so cold and avoided any form of commitment!"

"You may have continued to grow up that way again after what happened with her, but you still managed to melt away that ice a second time." Loke knew that Lucy had truly become a new beacon of hope for the ice mage. The lion spirit had witnessed change in Gray that he hadn't seen in so long thanks to her and he had a good feeling that she was someone that would help mend the troubled soul he called a best friend.

Gray thought back at how Cana had showed him a brighter path sometime after he had joined Fairy Tail and a new joy was settling in ever since that night on the rock, but it hurt just as bad when she called it off. He was understanding and allowed it to happen, but on the inside he wanted to shout at how much he hated the idea. How he wanted her to forget ever coming to that conclusion and saying that they could overcome anything together, instead he chose to remain silent for her sake, allowing his heart to break and mend it with his ice as he soon limited how close someone got to be with him. He chose that path, so who could he blame about his own troubles even if they go beyond what someone may think possible.

"Even with you knowing about what's going on, don't let it stop you from obtaining your happiness Gray. You of all people deserve it." Loke soon added as Gray had yet to say anything beforehand.

"Easy for you to say, but do you understand how much this weighs on me Loke? How much I learned about myself just because of this "accident"?" Gray questioned with hurt and confusion evident in his voice, the like of which Loke has only heard once when it was the anniversary of his master's death.

"No...I don't have a clue." As far as the spirit knew when it came to Gray was that he, at most, would have trouble dealing with these emotions. He hadn't dealt with them before that they were practically new to him. Although now it didn't seem to be the case anymore.

"Exactly, you don't know how hard it is to learn that you've been in love with your childhood friend without even knowing it, discovering that you still had feelings towards someone who broke your heart so many years ago or how none of it matters since it's all one-sided anyways." For once in all the conversations he's had with Gray, Loke was speechless as the ice mage's new found emotions were only building up problems the spirit hadn't paid attention to while helping Lucy and her team.

Gray was never one to have difficulty with things he came across, be it a tough opponent or the odds stacked against him and that much was Loke certain of, but this was different. In truth, Loke held his friendships to heart like any Fairy Tail mage would, but a situation like this was something he never imagined nor has ever been in before. For all the flirting he does with random girls and Lucy, only one truly captured his heart and he embarrassingly hid behind her earlier so he couldn't really judge Gray for not knowing what to do. The strawberry blonde was only digging deeper into Gray's confusion and despair without really helping him try to overcome it, but he was about to change that before it got any worse.

"Damn, I had no idea what you were going through." If only he had known, then Loke would've decided to find a different way of telling him this instead of so suddenly.

"No you didn't, no one did..." The tension was still very thick in the air and it was slowly suffocating Loke who was trying to find a way to change the situation so Gray could learn how to change the mistake.

"This whole thing is pretty messed up as it is, but you've got to trust me when I say that there's a way to change this." Loke hoped that the ice mage would listen to him on this as his plan was the only way to break them free of the spell they're under.

"Even if you managed to reverse the effects and turn them back to normal, where would that leave me?!" Gray questioned as it dawned on Loke that even if they managed to stop the potion, the raven haired mage was still left with his newly discovered feelings.

"I...I hadn't thought of that." He blindly offered his knowledge of putting everything back to normal that for a split second he forgot about the plight his friend was going through. "But you've got to trust me when I say that even though you've learned all this, Lucy's feelings are only stronger thanks to the potion."

"And that helps my situation how?"

"For the love of the stars above! Do I have to spell it out for you!?" Loke let his personal frustration of how everything turned out slip and hadn't held back his displeasure of the whole thing when he replied to him. "What I meant to say was that Lucy cares a lot about you and that this potion only built up her drive to be with you more than ever."

Gray pondered over what he had just said and through his anger and the lingering feeling of sadness, a part of him felt that if Loke was right then there was hope. Although amongst all that he had discovered, would it really be worth being with Lucy if he still had these other feelings lingering about? She deserved someone who was willing to give it their all to be with her and think only of her, but he just couldn't think of himself being in that position in fear that he would still think of what could've been if he went with Erza or tried again with Cana.

"Even so, it makes it all the more complicated as now I'd become the unloyal one." Gray just couldn't do that to someone like Lucy, he knew being with her was a long shot and there's probably plenty of people who would agree, but he thought it was possible so it was good enough for him. Now though, he just couldn't get the other two out of his mind as much as he tried.

"What are you talking about Gray? I understand how you must be feeling about this whole dilemma, but you just can't beat yourself down about it." Loke had never heard such defeated talk from the cocky ice mage before, so this become troubling to him as things were starting to fall apart fast.

"Then explain to me how could I be with her if I'm thinking about someone else, huh!? How could I devote myself to only her if I have feelings for another person!?" Gray raged at him as this was the true problem he faced, not knowing how he'd be if he did get together with Lucy with his emotions all over the place. "If you know how to change everything to the way it was then do it, you don't need my permission!" Gray's frustration was getting to him and his temper was something he had yet mastered, but had managed to take control of over the years.

The two stood facing each other, Gray adorning a scowl as he no longer saw a point in talking with Loke any further. As for the mentioned spirit, he was troubled at how much Gray no longer wanted to be apart of what was going on. He could tell just by the way he replied to him that this matter was something he didn't want any part and feared what may loom in the ice mage's future. With an irritated sigh Gray turned his back to Loke and decided that he's had enough, but the Zodiac leader didn't want him to leave just yet.

"Gray where are you going!? Gray!?" Loke called out to him as he continued to walk away from him until the ice mage stopped in his tracks to give him a side glance.

"I'm tired Loke, do what you need to do and leave me alone." Was all he said before he continued off, leaving the spirit completely drained of the events that took place.

"Just promise me you'll act like your usual self!" Loke yelled out as the ice mage's possible differing moods would make for suspicious ideas about what they talked about. "Please..." He whispered the last bit to himself as he hoped to Mavis he'd do at least that.

The leader of the Zodiac keys stood in his spot for a few more minutes, reflecting on what had happened next to the destroyed railing Gray had been leaning against. He knew that the news would be a little much for him, but he hadn't expected all the other problems to build up on top of it which only made matters worse. Even if he knew the ice mage for so long, Loke had yet to learn how to read his character as it was so difficult to decipher just what exactly he's thinking about if he wasn't yelling it into your face already. He only wished to help clear this matter up so that it doesn't spiral out of control, but the spirit had the greatest notion that it was far from that point by now.

Loke would find another time to speak with Gray about this matter in more detail, but he had to be careful else the ice mage may explode in anger again. For now he had to find a way to administer the anti-potion elixir, he didn't get a chance to tell Gray about, to everyone so the spell would break, but he needed to be extremely careful. There was only this bottle as an antidote left in existence, that's why he was determined for this to work because he knew Gray wouldn't appreciate the second option at all. The strawberry blonde sighed as he had only imagined good things coming out of this situation for Gray, however, he would've never imagined all the bad that was springing up because of it.

Straightening out his clothing once more, Loke shimmered in a golden light one last time before he disappeared back into the Celestial Spirit World, but he had made a critical error. As he and Aries spoke to Gray to the point of which the ice mage had left him there, Loke hadn't realized the white furred and blue eyed cat nestled a top a tree branch not far from them. If he had taken into account the presence of the white cat he would've realized it not as some ordinary cat, but a certain demon's little sister as the guild mark stamped on it's body gave it away.

Lisanna was tasked to follow them by her older sister to find out what exactly was going between the two and so she followed them, but in order to do so she chose something inconspicuous. Either way, the discovery she made was beyond what she had ever expected to hear and paid close attention to the details that were being said. She had discovered a number of things about Gray and how he feels, but what she deemed very important was the fact that Loke had something that would cancel all the feelings everyone has for Gray. The young Strauss knew she had to report back to her sister, but she felt sympathy for the ice mage she was having a budding friendship with.

She wanted to help the ice mage out, but it seemed that it was neither the time nor place for her to interfere so she headed back for the guild. She had to report back to her sister and let her know what was going on, yet there was still a part of her that wanted to go after the ice mage and at least try to make him feel better. There was only so much she could do to help, but then again helping others to the best of her abilities was a trait Mira always said she'd have no matter the situation. Lisanna only hoped that in the end, things would work out for the better on Gray's behalf.