Second chapter ho!

Okay, I'm sad to say that only two people voted in the poll I mentioned last chapter and it turned out even, so I'm picking out a narrator for myself. And we're gonna stick to three narrators in this story, since it won't be too long (definitely won't get past 15 chapters). So yeah, we're sticking with Natsu, Lucy, and Gray starting here (partly by request, partly for personal interests). I figured you guys wouldn't want to wait too long for an update, so I just did what I had to do. You guys really need to read my author's notes! I put them here for a reason, you know!

Anyway, let's pick up from the cliffhanger from last chapter! Please enjoy, and I hope I didn't ruin Gray too badly!

Oh, and WARNING MORE SPOILERS AHEAD! A whole lot more than the last chapter!

(Ah, man; I want to get back to writing Natsu! I have so much planned for him, dang it! DX)

Ch. 2: Reap What Is Sowed

It was official – Natsu had completely lost his mind. He wouldn't have attacked us out of the blue otherwise.

Nothing he'd just said made any sense to me, and it probably didn't register with anyone else, either. This was too drastic a change for his personality; how would we be able to let something like that sink in so quickly?

Okay, so we might have asked him some questions a bit too harshly. I may have flipped my lid yelling at him, and I probably should've held myself in check instead of having Erza hold me back. Seriously, though, could you really blame me? The idiot had to go around acting all secretive and expect us to figure out what was going on with him without giving us any freaking hints. How would anyone go about doing that?

The fire he blew at our faces should've knocked us back and roasted us (in that order, too – his fire has blunt force to it, believe it or not), but the blast never connected with its intended targets. There was a deafening explosion in the middle of the guild hall, and smoke billowed everywhere in its wake. Once it cleared, I saw a huge burning gash right at Lucy's feet – a good twenty-foot long trench. If he weren't acting so off his rocker right now, I would've thought he'd missed on purpose.

But that wasn't what had my attention. What did was the blue-haired man standing in front of the gash with his back to us. His black cloak billowed in the wake of the explosion. It took me a second to figure out who it was, but Erza beat me to it by saying his name first.

"Jellal?!" she exclaimed.

Now that was definitely a shocker. No one ever expected to see this guy again after he'd disappeared after the Grand Magic Games. He was part of an independent guild with two members (formerly three, but I'll get into that some other time) that basically acted as crime fighters by suppressing dark guilds everywhere to atone for past sins (trust me; it's a long story). They were wanderers, mainly, so if we ever ran into them, it was either due to luck, coincidence, or invitation…which made sense, considering the fact that he'd been broken out of prison and was now on the run. It was a risky move for him to show up at our guild hall alone.

I didn't know what to count this visit as, though. And he was all by himself, which was also kind of weird.

"Erza," Jellal began, his back still turned to us. "And the rest of Fairy Tail…I apologize for dropping in unannounced." He turned his gaze to Natsu, who was now crouched in a defensive position. "I just happened to feel a certain disturbance while I was in the area. I never would've guessed that it would be Natsu."

"So – so something strange really is happening to Natsu?!" Lucy demanded desperately. "Do you know what it is? Can you please tell us? He won't say a word about it!"

Jellal didn't reply for a minute. He just continued staring at Natsu with a strange expression – he looked kind of…angry. A natural reaction, maybe, but there was something about the way his eyes looked that told a different story.

"I'll explain in good time," he promised as he looked back at us briefly. He returned his attention to Natsu, who hadn't moved from his previous spot. "I just need to do something first."

"Wh-what are you going to do?" Wendy asked fearfully. She could probably tell that things were about to get ugly. I could tell from everyone else's expressions that they could see the same thing as she did.

"Don't worry," he assured us. "I'll do my best to avoid permanent damage."

His tone implied that he intended to subdue Natsu – and hurt him if necessary. Under different circumstances, I would've charged the guy for threatening to attack one of our fellow guild member (as annoying as this pink freak was, he was still part of the family), but I silently agreed that it needed to be done. We wouldn't be able to relax if Natsu suddenly took off on us again or blew up worse than he did a couple minutes ago.

"Natsu," he called, his voice firm enough to catch Natsu's attention. "Try and calm down. No one here is your enemy."

Natsu just glared at Jellal uncomprehendingly. "Jellal…you…"

"You want help desperately," Jellal continued in that same firm voice, "and I understand that, but we won't be able to aid you in anyway if you insist on separating yourself from the guild. It would be no different from running away. You know yourself that this isn't normally the way you do things."

"Yeah, so what?" Natsu retaliated in a guttural snarl, sliding into a fighting stance and backing away slowly. "It's only because I have no other option!"

"Yes, you do," Jellal countered. "You just haven't looked hard enough for an alternate solution." He then shot Natsu a harsh look. "This power that is tying you down is hampering your instincts! I know you can overcome this, Natsu! You are the person I least expected to succumb to something like this!"

I let in a huge breath once I realized what I was hearing – Jellal knew more about Natsu's problem than we did, and all we'd told him was that he hadn't been himself. Did he know something about this that we didn't?

"You're lying!" Natsu yelled. "There isn't any other solution! There can't be! I don't care how much crap you've been through; how would you know anything about this?!"

"Natsu!" Erza cut in sharply, no doubt prepared to lay down a retort on him, but Jellal waved a hand to calm her down.

"He is not acting like himself," Jellal said knowingly. "I know all too well. Don't berate him for something that isn't his fault."

"So you do know something," I reasoned darkly. "That's how you knew so much before we could so much as explain to you what was going on. You've had experience with this, haven't you?"

He nodded. "That's right."

"So you're saying…you know how to fix this?"

"I wouldn't take that statement so far, but I do know what –"

"You can fix this?!"

Jellal froze mid-sentence at Natsu's interruption. It was understandable, since Natsu's countenance had abruptly done a one-eighty and he'd rushed in and grabbed his shoulders before he could finish talking.

"You know about what's happening with me, don't you?" he asked desperately. "Everything? You can help me, right?! Please, you've got to do something to help!" His grip tightened on Jellal's shoulders as his whole body shook. "I don't want to hurt anyone…I – I can't keep going like this; it'll kill me! I don't want to die; I don't want to kill anybody, either!" His expression was wild again, but in a different way – he was frantic now, grasping at any kind of chance he might have. Tears were practically pouring down his face as he delivered his choked plea. "Please, Jellal…you're the only one who can…you've gotta help me…please…!"

Now, don't blame me or anyone else for being freaked out at seeing Natsu like this. This was a side of him that no one had seen before as far as I knew, and it was just so not him that we had no idea how to react to this. We were looking at a complete stranger. He was babbling about how he didn't want to hurt us, much less kill us, like it was some sort of lifeline – and none of that explained the strange happenings one bit. All I got from it was that Natsu was probably slipping – but under what, I had no idea.

Jellal had that same dark expression from before as he observed the crumbling form of the Fire Dragon Slayer before him. This may sound a bit crazy, but he looked like he was holding some sort of grudge…which wasn't like him. Whatever was happening to Natsu, he hated it with a burning passion. I half-wondered what had happened in the past for him to hate it this much.

Happy was full-on crying at the weak state his best friend was in. "Natsu…what happened to you…?" he whispered tearfully. "Bring him back…give me my best friend back…"

I lowered my head gritted my teeth in frustration. What a pathetic state we were in. Our fellow guild member – the pillar that held us up during the most trying of times, the glue that held our family together – was breaking down and corroding right in front of eyes and we couldn't do a damn thing about it. We had to turn to a former criminal for help because he was the only other person who knew what Natsu was dealing with, whatever it was.

"That fiend…" Jellal muttered suddenly. I looked back up at his expression, and it was no illusion – Jellal was seething mad. "Doing such a thing to someone so pure-hearted…how much lower will you stoop to satisfy your desires?"

For the first time in a while, Erza looked lost. "Jellal?" she asked. "Do you have a history with this?"

Jellal exhaled deeply before turning back to us, his expression solemn now. "Yes," he said. "I do." He glanced down at Natsu, still sobbing and clinging to his cloak. "Now that I'm certain of the property of this negative energy, I now know my course of action. I'm sorry, but you'll have to say goodbye to Natsu for a little while."

My heart stopped. "What're you talking about?!" I demanded. "You're gonna take him away from us? Just like that?!"

"I never said that I was taking him anywhere."

That stopped me in my tracks. "What? You're not making any sense here, Jellal. Give us some answers."

"You'll get them soon enough," he assured us. "That is, if you let me go through with this. Do you trust me? As I said before, I promise that no permanent harm will come to him."

By now I knew that Jellal wouldn't do anything to hurt Natsu on purpose, but I was still worried. What if something happened, and Natsu never turned out the same way again?

"I don't know about this," Lucy confessed, voicing my thoughts. "I mean…what if something goes wrong and…"

She didn't finish, but everyone else knew what she was going to say.

What if something happens and we lose Natsu forever? What if he never goes back to normal?

What if he dies?

"It's a risk we'll have to take, right?" I said, looking into everyone's faces in turn. "We won't accomplish anything by just sitting here and twiddling our thumbs. And hasn't Jellal helped us a bunch of times in the past, like when he helped us stop Nirvana and fight off the dragons? Who are we to doubt him now? And besides, we don't have much time. We need to do something, or the Natsu we knew won't ever come back! There's no point in hesitating!" I balled my fists. "Besides, I know that this can go wrong! But if we don't do anything then we're just for sure going to lose him! We can't let that happen!"

I didn't want to lose anyone ever again. Not after Ur.

Right then a short old man wearing the cloak of the Ten Wizard Saints stepped forward from the crowd – our guildmaster, Master Makarov.

Jellal inclined his head politely. "Master Makarov, sir," he said, his tone overflowing with respect. "I would like your blessing to begin this process."

The Master bowed in return. "I don't like this idea at all, Jellal," he began, his dark eyes stormy. "There is no parent who does not fear for the welfare of their children, no matter how slight. Before I can give you permission, you must promise me something."

"Of course."

He looked up directly into Jellal's eyes as he spoke. "You must promise me," he said firmly, "that no harm will come to this boy in this process, and that no matter what happens now, you will bring our Natsu back safely."

Jellal bowed again. "You have my word. I do owe Fairy Tail a debt, after all. They've done too much for me that I do not deserve."

"Very well," the Master continued with a huge sigh. "Though I do believe a payment is in order for your help yet again."

"No, nothing is necessary," Jellal said quickly. "I don't need any sort of payment. Just helping you with this is enough."

"Is that so…very well then. I have one more question before you begin."

"Of course. Anything."

"Will this process cure Natsu of whatever affliction is ailing him? It's too much for this old heart of mine to bear watching one of my children suffer so much."

Jellal's expression darkened. "This process alone is not sufficient to rid him of this plague," he answered. "This is more like a diagnosis. A temporary vaccine, if you will. By doing this, I will be able to ascertain the source of this dark energy, and once I track it down…I can get rid of it."

"I see…" The Master looked up at Jellal with a curious expression. "You seem to be quite knowledgeable on this subject, Jellal."

So the Master noticed the same thing I did. This was something not even he knew of; why else would he have asked Jellal all these questions?

Jellal lowered his head in shame. "Yes," he muttered. "I am…all too well. Because I was its previous victim."

Cue the aghast expressions.

"Are you serious, Jellal?" Lucy exclaimed. "This thing that's happening to Natsu…it's happened to you, too?!"

Jellal nodded reluctantly. "It wasn't all that long ago, either," he admitted. "I'm sure you can recall…all the trouble and pain I've caused you."

Was he talking about the whole Tower of Heaven incident? But that couldn't be right. Ultear had confessed to us that the whole reason Jellal had gone rogue was because she had brainwashed him into believing that he'd seen the incarnation of the black wizard Zeref. We already knew the reason behind that…but there was more to it? It was hard to believe.

"You mean the whole Tower of Heaven thing?" I asked. "That doesn't make any sense! You only did all that because Ultear brainwashed you, right?"

"That much is still true," he agreed. "But that isn't the whole story. Ultear was not the sole reason I fell to the dark side. She never would have managed to subdue me if it wasn't for this…malevolent power that had been holding me at the time."

Erza was so shocked I was afraid her eyes would pop out of her head. "You never told me about this!" she cried, stepping closer. "You never told me you had any lingering doubts! When did this happen?!"

"While I was being tortured," he replied flatly. "It was after I was caught trying to rescue you from punishment. The torture alone nearly broke me, but this dark energy almost guaranteed my slipping over the edge by Ultear's hand. You saw how different I'd become when you found me, Erza. I was like a completely different person. Is that not what is happening now with Natsu?" He placed a hand on Natsu's head, which was still trembling. I don't think he could hear anything of what was going on around him as of this moment – in other words, he was refusing to listen to anything other than the assurance that Jellal could help him. "This isn't the friend you know and cherish. When was the last time he was so broken and weak in the face of adversity? This certainly isn't the man who once crossed fists with me and freed me from the dark influence, nor is it the man that saved your life when the tower exploded. This is someone else entirely."

When he put it that way, it was virtually impossible to argue. His explanations made way too much sense for us to refute it in any way. There were too many parallels. We had no other option but to believe in him now.

"This will only take several minutes, but those several minutes will be crucial," Jellal went on, looking at each and every one of us. "I implore all of you to stay your fists once it has been done unless I give the word."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Wendy asked fearfully. "Are you going to hurt Natsu? You're telling us not to interfere?"

"No." He stared her directly in the eye. "Quite the opposite. There is a slight chance that this could get violent, so I'm only warning you to save your energy for when that happens."

I noticed that he said when instead of if as he explained to us. This was obviously not going to be pretty, and I didn't like it one bit. But what other choice did we have?

"Alright, Jellal," the Master agreed, his words heavy. "Do what you must. We shall do as you say and stand down until necessary."

"Thank you, sir," Jellal said. He then turned his attention to Natsu, who still hadn't let go of his cloak. "Natsu, I need you to look at me."

For a minute, I was afraid that he hadn't heard, and I was tempted to yell at him again, but he eventually raised his head slowly to look into Jellal's face. His expression was so hungry and desperate that I had to force myself to stay still as Jellal asked us to.

"I'm going to have to ask you to cooperate," he said. "This will only hurt for a moment, I promise. You deserve a rest, so I'm going to ask you to take a break for a couple minutes, alright?"

Natsu just stared at him with that same uncomprehending light in his eyes. "Wh-what are you talking about?" he asked, not understanding. "Are you telling me to sleep?"

"In a way. Now just relax and try to avoid moving." He loosened Natsu's hold on his cloak as gently as he could and placed his own hands on Natsu's shoulders. "You can trust me. Don't worry; this part of the process won't hurt you – I just need to restrict your movements. It's for everyone's safety, so you won't hurt anyone. Is that acceptable to you?"

Again, it looked like Natsu wasn't listening, but he nodded slowly after a moment's pause. "Yeah. If you can make it so I won't hurt anyone, then I'm okay with it."

I wanted to turn away. I couldn't stand watching this. It hurt just seeing him act so submissive, and I almost did turn around to leave – at least, until Erza stopped me.

"Erza…"

"We need to see this happen, Gray," she said firmly, though I thought I could hear her voice quaver a little. "It would be disrespectful to not witness this."

And I knew better than to argue.

We continued to watch as Jellal removed one hand from Natsu's shoulder. He stayed like that for a moment, concentrating really hard on something, before he muttered something under his breath. I don't know whether anyone else heard what had just been said.

Bind Snake.

It was a spell that wrapped around the target's body and restricted movement. Jellal had used it once on Erza back when he was still our enemy, when he was trying to use her as a sacrifice in order to revive Zeref (which was pointless, since he was never really dead in the first place), and I'd heard about what this spell could do. Jellal wouldn't use it in a way that would hurt Natsu, I knew, but it still made my stomach turn at the thought.

The worst part was that Natsu made absolutely no move to resist. He just stood there as the snake tattoo wrapped around his arms, legs, neck, and basically every inch of his body save his head, and left him as immobile as a statue. I could tell from the look in his eyes that he had complete faith in Jellal and whatever he was about to do.

I wish I could say the same with myself, though I couldn't really tell if Natsu really had faith or was just really, really anxious to get rid of whatever was making him like this.

Jellal lifted his other hand away as the Bind Snake spell completely immobilized Natsu. He had a pained look in his eyes now, like he was about to do something he really didn't want to do.

"Alright," he said at last. "Now, this is the hard part. I ask that everyone remain calm. Don't panic."

Jellal then placed his hand over Natsu's heart and closed his eyes as he said, "I'm sorry about this, Natsu." He stood that way for about a minute, and then his eyes snapped open as he intoned, "Limit Release!"

A sharp wave of energy permeated the length of the guild hall, and I didn't like how it felt – it was like trying to breathe in sulfuric fumes, and my heart was beating erratically. Judging from the way everyone else raised their hands to their chests or mouths, they all felt the same thing I did. But that wasn't the part that bothered us the most.

The moment that wave of energy started rippling through the guild, Natsu flung his head back and screamed. It was a loud, long, and horrible sound – the sound of an animal bellowing in pain.

"What d'you think you're doing?!" I shouted over the noise. "You trying to kill him?!"

"Stay calm!" Jellal ordered as Natsu started trying in vain to struggle. "This'll be over in a moment!"

Lucy looked horrified. "But – Natsu is –"

"Natsu!" Wendy shouted in terror.

"You're hurting him!" Happy cried. "Stop it!"

The screaming stopped the moment Happy had finished talking. Natsu was frozen in position, his head still flung back, completely silent. Was he knocked out? Or was he…

"You bastard," I growled as I turned on Jellal lividly. "He better not be dead, or else your face will be meeting the pavement!"

However, Jellal was completely focused on Natsu. I don't think he even heard my death threat.

"I know you're in there, you monster," Jellal said, his voice low yet still dripping with fury. "Start talking, and don't try anything funny. You're going to give these people the information they want. What are you planning to do?"

Nothing happened, which was expected since he was talking to someone who was unconscious. I was on the verge of thinking that Jellal probably hadn't recovered all of his marbles, and I was just about to tell him so. Why was he talking as if Natsu was the monster?

Before I got the chance to say anything, a strange voice suddenly spoke. Well, not spoke so much as let out a dark snicker.

"Hahaha…" My throat constricted when I realized where the voice was coming from. "It's been a while, Jellal. Straight to the point as always, I see."

I wanted to throw up somewhere. I felt so sick, so dizzy, and horrified. Natsu was moving again. He lowered his head, his sclera suddenly a bright crimson, laughing in that horrible way.

"Even if it is just a little bit…" the voice mused, "it feels great, being able to move again."

That voice was coming from Natsu.

This had to be some sort of nightmare. It had to be some sort of trick, an illusion. What I witnessing just couldn't be happening for real!

But no matter how many times I tried to fool myself, I knew in my gut that this really was happening. This wasn't Natsu anymore. No wonder Jellal has spoken to him that way.

"Save the pleasantries," Jellal said coldly. "What we want are answers. What are you planning to do with Natsu?"

"Heh, I don't remember you being this stiff," "Natsu" teased. "You've grown quite a bit, haven't you?"

I felt like there were coals lodged somewhere in my chest. I couldn't breathe. I knew this wasn't Natsu, but…whoever it was, it was unbearable watching this thing speak through Natsu's mouth. The voice sounded like him, but at the same time, it was different. There was another voice underneath his – a sound unrecognizable, not of this earth, and definitely evil.

"Natsu" then looked around at the crowd of people surrounding him, and whistled appreciatively.

"Wow," he remarked. "You gathered an audience for me, too. Isn't that kind of you."

"That's enough!" Jellal said sharply. "These are the friends of the person you are trying to steal away from them. They deserve answers! Now answer my question – what do you think you're planning to do with Natsu?!"

"You don't need to be acting so rude," "Natsu" scoffed. "I would've told you sooner if you'd asked me nicely."

"Let Natsu go!" Lucy shouted suddenly. She was sweating bullets, but there was a defiant expression on her face. "He's our friend; I won't let you take him away from us! If you do, you'll be sorry!"

"Natsu" glanced half-heartedly in her direction at her rant.

"Hmm?" he prompted blankly. "Who're you?" Then he raked his eyes over her body, and a hungry gleam began shining in his unnaturally red eyes. "Well, what do you know. Whoever you are, you've got quite a body on you, little lady. You this guy's girlfriend?"

Although we were in the presence of a certain monstrosity right now, it didn't stop Lucy from getting defensive at his remark. "I'm not his girlfriend!" she spat, her face redder than Erza's hair. "Don't you go getting strange ideas, you freak! Just let my friend go!"

"Natsu" laughed at Lucy's flustered reaction. "You've got spunk," he noted with delight. "I love women like you. I'd love to entertain you, but…" He glanced down irritably at the Bind Snake restraining him. "…I'm not exactly as free as a bird right now."

I couldn't take any more of this. "This is disgusting," I spat, prompting "Natsu" to look in my direction instead. "I don't know who you are, but get out of him already! I know it's not really him doing it, but watching Natsu say stuff like this makes me want to puke! This is all kinds of wrong!"

"Oh, so you claim to be this guy's friend, huh?" he mused. "I do wonder how he manages to deal with you, 'cause you know something…" He dropped his light façade and glowered threateningly at me. "I've known you for all of ten seconds and I already want to kill you."

My entire body froze in spite of myself at his words. Scratch what I just said to this guy earlier – this was all kinds of wrong and then some. Not to mention, it was kind of surreal seeing Natsu threatening to kill me. I couldn't deny what I felt the moment he glared into my eyes.

Fear.

"Enough with the games," Jellal interjected. His tone was still carefully controlled, but I could sense his rage underneath. It was nearly bursting at the seams. "I didn't bring you out so you can threaten to kill his friends. This is the last time I will ask you." He stepped forward until he was practically nose to nose with the thing possessing our friend. "What are you planning to do with Natsu Dragneel?"

"Natsu" didn't answer for a minute, but then a maniacal grin stretched across his face. "Aww, I'd hate to ruin the surprise."

"This isn't a game, you fiend!"

"Well, how about this, then? We'll make it one."

Jellal paled at those words, and "Natsu" licked his lips in anticipation.

"You…you wouldn't dare," Jellal said through tight lips.

"Oh, I do. This sure brings back memories, doesn't it?" "Natsu" laughed again. By this point I was ready to deafen myself at a moment's notice – I couldn't stand hearing him laugh like that in Natsu's voice. "Just like the game you played with this kid and his friends. Good times."

Wendy trembled, hugging Carla tightly to her chest. "What are you talking about? What game?"

"Oh, I don't believe I've seen this one before," he noted, glancing at Wendy briefly before turning his attention back to Jellal. "This one doesn't know, does she? She wasn't there when it happened."

"What do you hope to gain from this?" Jellal demanded as he grabbed Natsu's scarf and yanked him closer as far as the spell would allow. "You've tried this before while I was under your influence, and you failed! Do you honestly think you'll succeed this time?!"

"Heheh…would I have suggested it if I knew it would fail?" "Natsu" asked him mockingly. "Use that brilliant mind of yours, Jellal. There is one reason, and one reason only, that you failed my purposes all those years ago." "Natsu" managed to resist the Bind Snake spell slightly in order to reach Jellal's ear and whisper, "You lacked potential."

Jellal was so shocked he actually stumbled a couple steps backward. "Wh-what?!"

"Was I not clear enough for you?" "Natsu" teased as he pulled back. "Let me enunciate for you then. You…lacked…potential." He grinned mockingly in Jellal's direction. "Was that better?"

By now, I had no idea whether I should be confused or scared out of my mind. The "game" that Jellal had played with us during the Tower of Heaven incident failed because of his own incompetence? It had been plenty annoying and difficult to me.

Jellal still looked pretty shaken. "So what you're trying to tell me…is that Natsu is more suited for your purposes than I was?"

"Exactly!" "Natsu" exclaimed. "This Fire Dragon Slayer holds an infinite number of possibilities! Oh, man; I'm tingling just thinking about them!"

"You fiend!" Erza growled. "How could you do this?!"

"Oh, very easily, sweetheart," "Natsu" assured her. "You'd be surprised."

I just saw Natsu call Erza a "sweetheart". I didn't know how much more of this I would be able to handle before I snapped.

"Now, about the game I mentioned earlier," he went on. "I'll be nice and explain everything before I start, because Natsu's actually been pretty good at keeping his promise of not telling you anything."

I understood immediately. "So you were the reason he wouldn't talk! You made him promise to keep his mouth shut by blackmailing him, didn't you?!"

"Oh, how smart of you, Gray," he praised me half-heartedly. "Let me tell you; if there's one thing this idiot is really good at, it's keeping promises." He turned his attention back to the rest of us. "Anyway, here's how it will go down. As you can tell, I've already taken Natsu's body hostage. If you manage to free him by the time the sun fully sets tomorrow, you win. But if not…" That insane sneer came back. The red eyes just worsened the sight. "I win, and Natsu's body is mine for the taking."

The lot of us froze like icicles at that.

"You can't be serious!" I yelled.

"You've gone mad!" Erza shouted.

"No, you can't!" Wendy pleaded.

"There's no way we'll let that happen!" Lucy cried.

"That confidence of yours," "Natsu" sighed sardonically. "It's so potent, just like the last time we crossed paths. But…will you be able to keep it together this time around, I wonder?"

"You should know that better than any of us here," Jellal responded in a hard voice. "One should never underestimate the power of Fairy Tail. You incur their wrath, you incur the wrath of the heavens, and judgment will find you."

"Oh no, I'm shaking in my sandals," "Natsu" mocked with a small yet knowing smile. "Well, I'll be wishing you all the very best of luck. Let the game begin, and may the best party win!"

Just like that, he was gone. The Bind Snake vanished from around Natsu's body, and I saw his sclera go back to its normal color right before his eyes closed. Without anything to support him, he fell to the ground like a sack of bricks.

"Natsu!" Lucy was the first to make a break for him with Happy right behind her, but the rest of us quickly followed suit and gathered around our friend. Only Jellal hung back.

Lucy was holding Natsu up on her lap and trying to wake him by the time I got to them. Happy was right next to her, gently patting his pale and sweat-drenched face.

"How is he?" I asked urgently as I knelt next to her. Erza, Wendy, and everybody else hovered over us in worry.

Lucy only shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears. Apparently she couldn't bring herself to say anything, and I didn't blame her – we were all at least a little bit in shock.

"We only have twenty-four hours," Wendy said worriedly. "If we can't free Natsu by then, he'll…he'll be gone forever!"

"We can't let that happen," Lucy muttered determinedly. "We can't lose Natsu like this."

Abruptly Natsu gasped and his eyes snapped open, shocking all of us even more. When he saw the masses of faces around him, he panicked for a minute and scrambled to sit up.

"W-wait a second –" He tried to back away from us, but he was surrounded, plus too weak to really go anywhere regardless. "You have to stay away – I – I don't want –"

"It's okay, Natsu," Lucy said soothingly, causing him to lapse into silence. "It's going to be okay. You won't hurt us. Just be your old confident self, and things will work out."

He looked confused. "Hold on…how do you…" He rubbed his forehead confusedly. "What just happened…"

"We can explain that later," Erza said. "But we heard everything, and you have no reason to hide anything from us now. You're free of your promise."

When Erza said that, Natsu seemed to register the fact that he didn't have to worry about hurting his friends anymore…or at least, for the time being, because we knew what was happening with him now, and he didn't have to hide anything. We could help him without reserve now.

He lowered his head in relief. "Thank God…" He brought a hand up to his face, and his shoulders started shaking. He was crying. "I thought I was going to die…"

"Not gonna happen," Happy said firmly, climbing onto Natsu's lap. "We're definitely going to help you, Natsu! Because we're Fairy Tail wizards, and Fairy Tail wizards are family! And family members help each other!"

After that, Natsu smiled for the first time in days, which was admittedly a welcome sight for me. I didn't realize how much I'd missed that stupid grin of his until now.

"Thanks, buddy," he said quietly, pulling the little cat into an embrace. "I'm sorry for all the horrible things I said to you before. That must've really hurt."

Happy didn't answer, but that was fine. He didn't need to say anything to get the message across. He was forgiven.

Awww, isn't that cute! X3

And no, Jellal did not show up too soon. I know what I'm doing; don't lecture me! *pouts*

Haha, but in all seriousness, there is a reason he showed up so early. The solution isn't going to come this easily to the characters when I'm writing, no sir. I know this seems like a bit much considering it's the second chapter and there are a good number more to go before this ends, but I promise you; there will be plenty more content.

Call me cliché if you will for this, but I don't care. I haven't written any possession incidents since Bittersweet Journey (No, That One Side Of You doesn't count because that was something completely different), and this seemed like a good excuse. Losing your free will to someone else…that's a fascinating yet scary thought. That's why I'm so intrigued by it.

Anyway, I hope that Gray was acceptably readable. Honestly, for a male character I didn't think he'd turn out this generic, but…he is technically Natsu's foil in canon; it's kind of hard writing him in first person to begin with (either that or I just stink with characters like him).

So yeah. I also made this chapter longer (nearly twice as long!) to make up for the last one. I do hope you enjoyed! See you guys next update, whenever it happens!