DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail for it's by Hiro Mashima. Also, Hatsune Angelbeat (OC) is owned by Shiranai Atsune.

Interlude I:

Two Sides

"That girl's a real piece of work."

The redhead glanced at the figure sitting imposingly behind the large mahogany table, and with a quirk of their brows, that was all it took for him to continue his tirade. "She's seriously high-strung, wouldn't doubt it if she had a stick up her ass or something. You'd think she'd show a little bit of emotion too, but nooooo, she's about as dense as a damn rock. I feel like I'd have a better conversation with a wall."

If he didn't know any better, he may have doubted that the woman was the infamous Melodic Angel. Her moniker was a contrast to her personality and way of fighting, he mused, as she had the ability to utterly decimate anything in her way. Not to mention the… deadpan way she'd speak, even if her voice had a pleasing lilt to it, it's as if she couldn't be bothered about anything even with the situation nearly blowing up in her face.

"She's… real cautious and observant though," he begrudgingly tacked on.

He had to admit that she was interesting, especially when she ranted about the way people viewed others as tools, and how she was quick to assess her situation.

Well, if he was any other person, he would've knocked her out to stop her from doing so, but hey!

It was kind of amusing.

He'd really like to chat some more too, because he felt like he was so close to getting under her skin. He could see her twitching in response to some of his comments.

They hummed in understanding, and with a hint of amusement that got him to smirk. "Yes, you'd best keep a close eye on her. I wouldn't put it past her to already be planning an escape route."

The cloaked mercenary rolled his eyes dramatically. "She ain't going anywhere under my watch."

And ain't that the truth. He had eyes everywhere, and it'd be a huge blow to his pride to miss even the tiniest scuffles of rats under the floorboards, or even how his 'guildmates' were doing some dumb intimidation fights from one side of the bar to the other.

The figure only nodded. "Continue the search in the meantime then, Ciel."

Ciel waved his hands dismissively, expertly hiding how disturbed he was hearing his name slip from their lips. They always sounded so… off.

Eh, whatever. It was just a matter of time until he'd get paid and he could run off anyways.

"Uh-huh. With the condition of the town, I'm sure we'll find her soon."

The first thing that registered in his mind was that it hurt.

Gray slowly opened his eyes with a groan, but could only hiss in pain every time, black splotches decorating his sight. He instead feebly tried to feel for his limbs, which were unhelpfully aching. Labored breaths escaped him, alongside the absolute torture of something stinging at his sides, stabbing at his flesh relentlessly. That and, his muscles felt stiff, accompanied by the throbbing sensation at the back of his head only got him to stubbornly pursue the desire to get up.

"Please calm down, Gray," a familiar soft-spoken voice called out, and the sounds of footsteps and rustling of cloth, instinctively made him tense. "Don't get up yet, you were… beaten up pretty badly."

The presence was cloudy, body temperature slightly lower than normal. It didn't feel threatening. He distantly realized that perhaps this could be a ruse, but the hand that touched his bicep was gentle.

"So he's awake?" another voice inquired, this one male and infuriatingly familiar.

"About time!" an energetic one, slightly mocking, declared.

A snort, then a higher-pitched voice spoke derisively, though it was half-hearted at best. "As if you weren't knocked out, idiot."

What happened..?

Suddenly flashes of explosions and a battle echoed in his mind, the fearful expression written on a girl's face, and the roar of another who desperately tried to wrestle against their assailant. His own voice hoarse, because he wouldn't allow anyone else, no one—

"Gray, please." The presence, he now came to conclude was Juvia, tightened her grip.

Forcefully blinking his eyes, he craned his neck to the side, and he automatically surveyed his surroundings. They… were in a relatively small bedroom, and the curtains were drawn open, letting the sunlight filter through the windows.

He then observed his teammates, all in varied states of weariness.

Juvia looked exhausted, hair hanging limp against her back, and bandages peered from under her thick, blue coat. Her face suffered a few bruises and cuts, but overall she strangely seemed beautiful. She'd always managed to that so.

Shaking that train of thought away, he turned his gaze to Jellal, who had discarded his cloak and armor, exposing his sleeveless sweater and cargo pants, tattered and full of cuts. He had a pensive look on his face, though he couldn't deny the relief that flashed by when he first laid eyes upon him.

Lucy and Natsu… the former was fine, save for her securely bandaged arms, while the latter was utterly banged up. Happy was out cold in the blonde's lap, and thankfully he was only sleeping.

Finally… there was no sign of the sound mage.

Subconsciously, he clenched his fists tightly. He wanted to ask if they had even managed to track down the kidnappers, but his throat was dry as sandpaper.

"W-water…" he croaked out.

Immediately, a glass full of water was pressed against his lips, and it was tilted in a way that could only allow him slow slips. He frowned, wanting to just grab it and down it all in one go like his body was pleading for him to do, but he reluctantly drank slowly under the rain woman's intense glare. It was… embarrassing to have to resort for help as the water dribbled down his chin with every sip, but he wasn't going to act like a petulant child.

He could hardly sit up, after all.

With that done, he trained a hopefully meaningful gaze at Juvia. Because if he couldn't do it, he'd have to ask for help, it was what the Master asked him to try anyways.

She stared at him, searching his face, before sighing and placing a steady hand on his back and shoulder. He bit his lip thanks to the rush of pain that gone through his veins as he got up, and hissed once he was settled against the wall beside him. With a soft exhale, he looked down at himself, and was not surprised to see that he'd been mummified from the waist up.

He'd… fought a little bit too aggressively back then after all. He didn't regret a thing though, because he'd rather go down trying than standing around looking like a deer caught in headlights—not like last time.

"Since the ice weirdo is up, should we start, you know, talking about 'plans'?" Natsu asked with a hint of disdain at the last word, while he carefully hid the twitch in his eyes at the unnecessary label.

Jellal shifted from his position near the corner. "We should. We were blindsided by them and rushing in wouldn't serve us well."

The looks the tattooed mage gave Juvia and Natsu made him wonder if they'd done just that when he was out cold. He didn't have to wait for any confirmation though, because Juvia's face darkened, but willfully unrepentant, while the pink-haired fire spit let out an indignant harrumph.

Lucy suddenly cleared her throat, making everybody's head turn to her. "In any case, we stick with the original pairings sans Juvia—" She shot the bluenette a glance before continuing. "—she'll have to pair up with Jellal while Gray stays here to recover."

He immediately opened his mouth to retort, only to pause when she swiveled her head towards him with a stern glare. He wanted to go out there and help, but… she had a point. He'd only be a burden at his sorry state.

Satisfied that he seemingly backed down, Lucy's eyes considerably softened a fraction before she was back into her usual self. "Natsu could go sniff the vicinity around for traces of Hatsune's or that creep's scent, and try to find clues about this dark guild's location."

Natsu grumbled something like "Is she saying I'm a dog?", but it was Jellal's heavy sigh that caught everyone's attention.

"About that, there's something you all need to hear about Ryu."

Everyone, save Lucy, sent a questioning gaze at their guild's Oberon. "… This is about the inconsistencies, isn't it?" the celestial mage concluded more than asked, and to their surprise, Jellal nodded.

"The mere fact that the reward was that high when he'd claimed they couldn't afford barrier lacrimas when it would help alongside the commissioning of mages seems a little detrimental. And from what I've heard from Ivan and the other people when I headed over to their location, they have volunteers willing to fight since the rest of the townsfolk were seeking shelter at a nearby town for a month. If this dark guild was simply seeking out a random woman using the chimeras as distractions to their true intentions, and haven't found her yet here, why haven't they moved to another place instead? Why keep attacking Ensata?"

"Do you think this was a trap?" Gray hazarded a guess, feeling his gut churn at the implication.

"Maybe," he hedged. "This is all still guesswork though, and unless we have clear proof we'll have to put it aside. There's no way to know for sure until we catch those cloaked men, and get Hatsune back."

The atmosphere in the room quickly changed, one from glum and doubtful to brimming with steely determination. Sometimes he couldn't help but be stupidly amazed at how Fairy Tail mages acted. Even when he became one himself, their loyalty towards one other, how they'd boast of being comrades… It was a foreign concept, one that sounded so ham-handed and dumb, but at the same time, it was inviting.

Besides, strange it may be to admit but he did worry for the girl. She may be weird, slightly detached and stone-faced, with a gaze sharp and calculating everyone in sight, but… she was also caring in a way, mindful of others if a bit awkward. He wouldn't have really paid attention to her if not for the fact that she was a good friend of Juvia, and how he'd come to wonder why she'd stare at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

"… But loathe as I am to admit, we're gonna have to be careful but swift about the way we approach this."

He blinked in confusion, and he noted that he wasn't the only one. Jellal frowned, as if contemplating if he should've just stayed silent. In the end, he spoke up. "Master has told me that if we take too long on this, he'll have to issue a retreat."

His blood went cold.

Natsu shot up from his seat. "What? Why would Gramps say that?"

"Yeah, Juvia doesn't understand. Master can instead send back-up for us, yes?" the rain woman similarly stood up, tense and with an edge of a growl in her voice.

Jellal muttered something under his breath, before he leveled them all a tired look. "Apparently the Magic Council has caught wind of the situation, and they're considering a purge of the town."

What? They planned to burn this town to nothing?

"Building on what Hatsune has said, Master's told me that the Magic Council's really adamant in trying to keep the chimera's existences off the record. Apparently, the leak came from an anonymous source just a few hours ago, and they've gone crazy ever since."

The team was all taken aback, all with varying states of disbelief. Jellal was plainly disagreeing with that notion, because this was a matter of human lives they were dealing with, and Gray couldn't help but feel the anger bubbling up his veins.

Sure, he'd once thought of others as faceless nobodies or labeled as foes to erase, but after his introduction to Fairy Tail, the thought just crossed him as inhumane.

In any case, all other thoughts were cut off when a loud bang of the door came with a brunette barreling through, and before anyone can speak, the woman instantly leveled him a scrutinizing stare that could have made him nervous, if not for him being still stuck on processing what was going on.

"You're up!" she yelled in relief as she dashed to his bedside, not reading the mood until she'd glanced back at the others. "If you're all done with the meeting, do you mind leaving us for a bit? The living room's empty at the moment. And don't say anything, young man."

He was at a loss for words at being shut down before he got a chance to open his mouth. The group exchanged curt looks then stepped out, and he could only watch as she began prodding at his bandaged wounds, messenger bag open and filled with bottles of medicine, wafting with a smell that he could only summarize as a hospital and a tea shop.

He realized that it was making him woozier.

"You can rest. Your group seems to have it handled as of now," she spoke in a confident manner, and smiled reassuringly.

The statement was welcome, but he still didn't like the idea of staying behind. "I…"

Her eyes shined knowingly. "No need to worry, Mister Fullbuster. Now rest."

Something glowed in her palms, and he succumbed to the drowsiness that abruptly blanketed him.