The next morning, Gray was awoken by the sound of the door opening and closing. He rolled over, rubbing his eyes and frowning as Lyon and Juvia entered the room. "Juvia had so much fun during our night out! An entire day, spent solely with her beloved. Truly, this must be a dream."

"Ah, but it must be my dream, for I am the one who is lucky enough to have your attention on me the entire time." Was that really Lyon? Gray blinked again, frowning at them.

"Not at all. Juvia is the strange one that most do not wish to spend time with. Surely, Lyon could have any woman he desired with his charms, but Juvia is the one to have won his heart out of all her love rivals."

"I have told you before that there was never really any contest for my heart, haven't I?"

This had to stop. It was too damn early to listen to Lyon attempting to flirt. "Hey, are you two gonna shut up and let people sleep anytime soon?"

"Gray?" Lyon blinked over at him, his gaze finally seeming to notice that they weren't the only two people inside the room. "I didn't realize you'd returned. I thought it would take longer to infiltrate Grimoire Heart."

"Probably would have, but turns out I didn't need to. I managed to run into the god slayer before running into the rest of the guild. Zeref picked a fight with him and wasn't really able to learn much from his magic. So, that lead is pretty much a dead end at this point."

"A shame. I thought you'd succeeded as well, given the fact that Ultear showed up yesterday too."

"Indeed. Juvia found it strange for her to arrive, if she hadn't been persuaded to leave her dark guild and make amends with her mother."

The water wizard turned on the light and Gray sighed, beginning to pull his shirt on in response. "I ran into her too. Honestly, I thought I pissed her off a bit, but maybe I was wrong," Gray said.

"No, Juvia thinks she was angry as well. However, we left as soon as we saw her." She glanced over towards Ur's room. "It seemed like a personal matter that Juvia was not meant to be apart of, after all."

"Yeah, and I have a feeling that me hanging around would've worsened things as well." Lyon looked over at Gray with a frown. "Is she still here, by the way? I had hoped that Ultear would stay this time and realize that Ur still wants her daughter around."

Shaking his head, Gray ran a hand through his hair. "No. Ur says she ran off." He paused, thinking about their conversation from last night. "Zeref came up with some theories as to why, but I really don't know what to think about it all."

"I see." Lyon paused, taking a seat on the ground. "And what are we doing next for the curse? To my knowledge, god slayers were our only lead at the moment."

"Waiting to see if reviving a religion will actually give a god some magic again." Lyon blinked at that, while Gray sighed. "Long story. I don't feel like going into it right now. Still, we've got time to kill. Zeref wants to investigate some weird magic that's in my pendent here apparently, but beyond that, we've pretty much got nothing else to do."

"Then we can assist Ur in handling Ultear?" Juvia wanted to help Ur? He hadn't realized they were friends at all, though he supposed Ur did seem to approve of the whole relationship she had with Lyon. "At this point, Juvia thinks Ur might need some assistance in calming her daughter down. Now that they've had their discussion, space and outside advice might give Ultear the push she needs to fully reconcile with her family."

"I'm not so sure about that." Ultear definitely didn't seem like the sort to listen to others. Even if they could find her, Gray was certain that they would only escalate things further. "Ultear has good reason to hate myself and Lyon. From where she stands, we basically took the life she should have had. Maybe you might have better luck, but we aren't an option here."

"Well, we could look into healing Natsu's scarf then. You and Zeref seemed quite concerned about the matter before," Lyon said.

Sighing, Gray crossed his arms over his chest. "Already done. We ran into a healer of sorts on the way back and got her to take care of the problem."

"You could return to working at your guild then? Juvia would, if she had a guild to return to."

Shaking his head, Gray frowned. "It isn't like Zeref can jump in and join too. Technically, I'm still upholding my agreement with him anyway."

"The deal you made for what? To use iced shell on him?" Lyon scowled. "You don't need him around all the time to—"

"It's sorta personal for him, I guess." Gray glanced away. "But it was what I agreed to help him with in return for him actually involving himself with our search for a solution to his curse."

After a moment, Lyon nodded and frowned. "I see." He paused again and the room was silent. There really weren't that many options right now. "You could still take a job and simply bring Zeref with you afterwords. It isn't as if he is incapable of helping, even if he can't officially be a part of your team."

"Juvia's Lyon is so smart! That is an excellent idea, one that ensures we can all keep working together too!"

This wasn't getting them anywhere. Perhaps. However, it is technically more entertaining than doing nothing. I can't say I'd object to following you along on tedious wizard work, though I am likely overqualified for most tasks you'd be assigned to.

Of course he would be. There wasn't anyone else Gray knew of that understood more about magic than Zeref. "We could brainstorm ideas for handling Acnologia in the future," Gray suggested. Lyon and Juvia blinked while Zeref's mind went silent. "I figured he wouldn't be happy about that one. So, maybe not."

It just isn't viable to do, Gray. You do realize how impossible that task is for anyone, right? He knew nothing about Acnologia, so he really didn't. You are aware of some of how dragon slaying magic works, correct? Well, Acnologia is a dragon slayer who is capable of using any and all elements. In essence…any magical attack directed towards him only fuels his own power. So, you'd think physically harming him would be the solution, but he's already completed the dragonification process…meaning he can take on a dragon form. Exactly what weapon exists that can pierce through a dragons' scales?

So, that was the issue. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say only dragon slaying magic?

Precisely. Zeref was quiet again. That, or another dragon, I suppose. In essence, Acnologia is impossible to stop because of his impenetrable defense. To stop him, you quite literally need to do the impossible and either remove his magic to make him vulnerable, or find a dragon, which is impossible due to the fact that they are practically extinct now that the war is over.

"Gray, who is Acnologia? Why would we need to stop him?"

Glancing over at Lyon, Gray shook his head, trying to focus on the room again. "Some guy I agreed to fight in return for help from a supposed god. Basically, I got lucky in getting a clue on how to handle Zeref's curse, but I made an agreement in the process that might be difficult to actually pull off."

"That seems rather random. Why would he even need to be stopped?" Juvia frowned. "Juvia has not heard of any unusual activities going on that would be concerning."

"Not sure, really. All I know is that he's been around for a long time and that even Zeref's concerned about me agreeing to help with this." Juvia kept frowning, while Gray shrugged. "Basically, I need to come up with a way to stop a dragon without magic, as far as I know. Not exactly an easy task."

"That's insane." Lyon stared at him. "Dragons don't exist anymore and even if they did, surely your best option would be to place an actual dragon slayer against them, right? Their magic should be tailored for that purpose, given its name."

He didn't feel like explaining this, so Gray just scowled and turned away. "Never mind, just forget about it for now. I feel like I'll just keep repeating the same details over and over again, and it isn't like I don't have some time to think about it first."

I've had over three hundred years to think about it and still haven't come up with a solution. So, I'm not certain if that mindset will be helpful or not.

Well, that wasn't exactly promising. Gray didn't know what else to do, though. The room was quiet again as he tried to think. With the conversation effectively over. Juvia began cuddling next to Lyon and they started giggling and flirting with whispered words once more. Damn, they really were annoying. He could see what Ur was talking about quite clearly now. Though, he supposed they were happy, so he couldn't exactly bring himself to interrupt either.

Rolling onto his back, Gray stared up at the ceiling. What was the answer? Sure, he'd supposedly be able to rely on magic from a god, but that wasn't exactly something he could picture. Could Acnologia absorb that too? He didn't know. Still, as he was lost in thought, the door slammed open again, this time banging against the wall. He looked up, but as he did so, a flash of magic filled his senses. Suddenly, there was a pink band around his wrist and then a sharp flash of pain in his arm. A feminine whine filled the room with it and when he managed to look over, he saw Mer, standing in the doorway with the same band on her wrist. "Where is Ul?"

Gray saw a cut bleeding from her arm, likely the source of his own discomfort as well. "I haven't seen her since I got to this town. Can't say I have an answer for you."

Mer held up a dagger again, pointing it further down her own arm. "I'm not afraid of pain, nor am I afraid of death if it takes down the enemy that stands before me."

Wait, could she kill him right now by killing herself? Yes. She can. Gray slowly rose to his feet, watching her carefully.

"I should have realized who you were before and finished you off then. For what you did to Ul, I'll never forgive you."

"Look, Mer—"

"Don't call me that!" She stepped forward with a flare, the dagger pointing towards him instead. "My name is Meredy, member of Grimoire Heart, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. I will not let my greatest enemy refer to me with some nickname given out of necessity."

He didn't have enough details to know what that title meant, but he knew it was bad. "Gray, exactly who is she?"

"She's—"

"Someone who was forcibly dragged on a 'date' with a man that deserves to die." Meredy glared at them both and Gray almost groaned. Great, now two more of his friends seemed to think he wanted to date another person. "Now, tell me what I want to know, before I get impatient and kill you slowly through torture. At least if you cooperate, I will make it swift and painless."

Gray…offer her myself. What? He wasn't going to just turn over Zeref like some object. You cannot get out of this. She is someone willing to die for a personal vendetta and I see no hints that she'll back down. Regardless of what you say, she intends to kill you for this grudge. If you can manage to grant her secondary wish, the goals of her guild, perhaps there will be a method of survival in the end.

Swallowing, Gray grimaced and glared over at her. "Sorry." He inhaled slowly, shaking his head. "But that's not how Fairy Tail operates, so I'm gonna have to pass on that plan." He walked towards Meredy, stopping in front of her and staring down at the other mage. "Ultear came here to speak with her mother. That's honestly all I know, Meredy."

"I see." The girl frowned, before nodding. "Then it seems you're useless either way. Suffering is all you deserve at this point, Gray Fullbuster."

"I get that." She blinked at him, still frowning. "Sure, I could say I was a kid and didn't understand, but that's just an excuse, right? Really, I was a bit of a selfish brat back then." Meredy paused, the dagger hovering in the air. Gray really didn't know if he was getting through to her or not. He couldn't read this girl and she seemed to care about nothing other than Ultear, which didn't give him many options to get out of this, just like Zeref said. "I focused on nothing but my own revenge and wanted to do nothing but avenge my family. I used everyone around me to move forward towards that goal of revenge and I probably hurt more people than just Ultear and Ur in the process. Can't say I blame you for hating me, so go ahead, do your worst."

"Avenge your…family?"

"Yeah." He tilted his head. "They were killed by a demon, a long time ago. Now, I've decided that keeping all that anger bottled up inside of me isn't doing anyone any good. Sure, I've changed a bit since then, but it probably isn't anywhere near enough to make up for my past. So, go ahead, be angry and get your own revenge. I understand revenge well and know there isn't any point in trying to talk you out of it."

The dagger lowered slowly and she stared at him. "A dark guild…destroyed my family too." Well, he wasn't expecting her life story. "That's why I owe Ultear so much. She saved me and I vowed to stay by her side and return the favor. This action isn't about revenge. It is about justice and about devotion to my promise."

"Yet you act like you're angry too, don't you?"

Meredy grew quiet, turning away. The girl closed her eyes and after a moment, she turned back towards him. "One chance." The knife was slid under her cloak, out of sight. The magic band around his wrist vanished from sight as well, leaving his senses as his own once more. The ache in his arm vanished with it, leaving him feeling fully healthy again too. "You will help me find Ul and if you convince her to grant you forgiveness, I will do the same."

Gray nodded, glancing over at Lyon and Juvia. Both of them were on their feet and seemed ready to fight, but neither had moved. "Well, sounds like we have a deal."

"You are going to assist her? She did just threaten your life." Juvia frowned in confusion.

Lyon, however, just smirked and shook his head. "Of course he is. After all, she is an attractive young woman. It seems as if Gray might finally be starting to understand my own perspective on just how far someone should go for the sake of—"

"Don't you dare, Lyon." He glared over at the ice mage, who shrugged but kept his smirk. Mental laughter reminded Gray that Zeref was still listening in and amused by all of this. "I promise you, there is nothing going on between us."

"Obviously. I'd never actually be interested in someone like him. They only managed to drag me along because it was a convenient way to get a free meal." Meredy turned away with a huff and then pushed the door shut behind her. "Regardless, we should work quickly, before my guild comes looking for me. Do you have any ideas on where to start our search?"

"Not exactly." Gray paused, before blinking and smirking at her. "But, I do know someone who's pretty good at tracking people down, if you have something that smells like Ultear on you."

"Smells like her?"

Gray nodded. "He's a dragon slayer and he's got a better nose than anyone you'll ever meet." Meredy nodded and the others gradually calmed down as well. They had something to do for now, at least, no matter how quickly the task would be finished. Things really never got boring around here, did they? Even when they had no clue on what to do next, trouble found them and brought them into some new goal to meet anyway.

Gray didn't think he wanted to know why Meredy was carrying around some old jacket that Ultear had worn a while ago. Still, she seemed intent on explaining anyway. "If Ul gets cold, it lets me be of assistance to her. She doesn't normally think about boring details like that, not when it is my job to pay attention and plan out small things of that nature."

They were on their way to the guild hall, after checking with Erza on where Lucy and Natsu had gone the day before. Lyon and Juvia were with him, while Erza said she wanted to stay behind and finish planning out the 'perfect date' for him to make up for her mistakes from before. Ur was only happy to volunteer assistance and Gray had only been too eager to get away. Honestly, he didn't know if he should be afraid of whatever plan they came up with for him.

Supposedly, Natsu and Lucy had gone home and were planning on taking another job yet. Natsu had destroyed some property on their last one, so their reward hadn't been enough to cover Lucy's rent. With her needing more funds, they were planning to try and take another quick job while they were in town.

"You do realize that it is her own responsibility to carry a coat if she wants one, right? There's no need to run all of her errands for her." Lyon was frowning at Meredy, trying to figure out the answer Gray really didn't want to hear more about.

"She saved my life. It is only logical that the life she saved belongs to her, at whatever level of service she requires." That was one way to look at things, though it was pretty damn heartless to see things like that. "It is my ability to see this logic that makes me so valuable to her and my guild. Much like Master, she has goals she wishes to accomplish and is the mastermind behind great schemes. I am the one who points out the minor flaws, the details where others may have miscalculated or inaccurately predicted the outcome of events."

"So, you're an analyst basically?" Gray watched as Meredy scowled when he spoke, but she didn't seem to react more strongly than that at least.

"There's more to it than that." After a moment, Meredy sighed, stopping and turning towards them. "Let's take your guild as an example. Master Hades anticipated a battle with them in the future, as they'd likely stand in our way of retrieving the final key to Zeref's revival." Gray couldn't exactly deny or agree with that, so he said nothing. "He's been gradually having us gather information on your members. Using this, I have already begun creating the order in which guild members must be eliminated to ensure our victory. Gray Fullbuster in spot number one, for his actions against Ultear, Makarov Dreyar in number two, for his status as a wizard saint, Gildarts Clive at three, for his incredibly destructive power that few can counter. I've constructed more than just this and have been debating rankings over time, but if followed accordingly, your guild would be decimated with ease."

That isn't a terrible strategy, though I suppose she has allowed some personal opinion to skew the rankings. Gray sighed, shaking his head. Yet, there is every possibility that she'd be incapable of separating your guild members. Fairy Tail operates with a strong sense of friendship and connections, which leads to the need to anticipate teams working together—

"That's unlikely to succeed." Lyon looked over at Meredy, shaking his head. "You do realize that this is a guild full of idiots who seem to think that working on teams is the only path to success? I've never once seen a member of Fairy Tail manage to accomplish anything on their own."

"Juvia isn't certain if it is wise to share this with a potential enemy…"

"It isn't like she wouldn't figure that out eventually." Gray sighed, glancing over at the wizard who had started moving again. "Either way, it is creepy that you actually went through and ranked us like that. Why the hell does a personal vendetta against me make me a bigger target than a wizard saint? Seems like your priorities got a little mixed up there."

"Not at all. I've already explained the reasons for my devotion to Ultear."

Gray didn't know what else to say after that, and they began walking in silence. You know…I could come up with a ranking list of my own in my free time. Who would work together? Hmm…clearly, you have a tendency to work with Natsu, Erza, and Lucy…that combination would prove risky against myself in the right situation, possibly against Invel…taking personal histories into account, that matchup would also fair poorly against Irene and Brandish as well. Already, I'd say your team…would likely be close to the top to defeat. Reports indicate that Levy McGarden has a consistent team as well, though she herself is the only wizard of any threat level amongst them. Strategically, she may outsmart my tactics, but on a level of strength, she would be incapable of enacting the proper plans to intervene. So, that risk is lower than yours. Then, of course there is—

Are you seriously rambling on to me about your war plans with my own guild? You do realize that you've basically just said you'd kill me first, right?

Zeref paused for a moment. I said I'd have to…remove you from the battle first. Perhaps I could plan a way to do so without harming you or your team…distraction could work. Simply forcing you to leave is also an option…capturing and detaining you is also feasible, and then there is the unlikely possibility that I could convince your team to assist me in my own goals as well. Though, I really doubt the last one would function as a viable option.

Gray snorted, shaking his head. Meredy glanced at him with a frown, while he sighed. "You really don't get how to deal with people at all."

"What is he doing now?"

Looking over at Lyon, Gray chuckled. "Making war plans and telling me what comes to mind. He's considering what he'd do if he took Meredy's approach to analyzing our guild."

"Juvia finds it odd that he would not have done so already. From what little she's heard, he does seem to have quite a bit planned for this war he speaks of."

Shrugging, Gray opened the doors and stepped inside of the guild hall. "What war are you even talking about? Wizarding guilds are banned from participating in wars of any kind and being a legal guild, Fairy Tail should not be considering such a course of action," Meredy focused on him. "What reason would a member even have for discussing such plans with an outsider? Are you a spy? A traitor?"

"Hardly." Gray crossed his arms over his chest, scanning the guild hall. The building was far noisier than the streets and it also probably wasn't the best place to have this conversation either. "I just happen to be friends with a dark wizard who's been contemplating starting a war with us for a while now."

"And he carelessly gives you details of that nature about his plans?"

"You did the same just now." Meredy didn't reply, only frowning. Spotting Natsu and Lucy by the request board, he began moving through towards them. "Besides…we're doing what we can to prevent that war for now. It's highly unlikely it'll actually happen at this point, if you ask me."

"I still think you are being too optimistic. You are depending on him actually having enough patience to wait for you to find a solution." Lyon shook his head. "Considering the impossibility of solving his problems, I'd say it is still quite likely he'll resort to his war to succeed."

"Considering he has been unwilling to provide exact details, Juvia fears Lyon would be correct."

"He's repeatedly explained that—" Gray broke off, looking over at Meredy. Maybe he shouldn't hint at Zeref's end goals with her around, not even with how vague his knowledge was of it all. "Never mind."

"Hiding things from me?" Meredy shook her head. "I assure you, Grimoire Heart already is invested in their own plans. We won't steal some amateur dark wizard's work for ourselves, not when we're so close to achieving our goals."

"Could you not blatantly blurt out the name of your guild here either?" Gray ran a hand through his hair. "It isn't like it's legal for me to not turn you in, you know." The girl frowned, but nodded and said nothing. "And calling him an amateur is actually massively underestimating him. Trust me, he's a lot wiser than he looks."

You can tell her, you know. They are already hunting me down, after all, and I do plan on joining you for this quest of yours. What? Why the hell would Zeref help search for Ultear? Because I am bored, much like you. It seems as if spending time traveling with you has made it far less entertaining to sit around meditating while observing you. In fact, I am waiting outside the guild hall to attempt to avoid conflict with your master again.

Groaning, Gray sighed. The noise made Lucy turn around, noticing him there. "Gray? Is something up? We still haven't finished picking out a job that'll cover the rest of my rent, you know."

"Is she the dragon slayer?"

Gray shook his head at Meredy, while Natsu turned around. "Nah, that'd be me." He grinned, holding out his hand. "Natsu Dragneel, fire dragon slayer. Did ya need something from me?"

"Meredy." The girl shook his hand, before holding out the jacket towards him. "Your companion says you can find a friend of mine through her scent. I wish to retrieve her immediately and if you can assist me, I will ensure your friend's rent is paid in full."

"I didn't think you'd actually offer to pay them for the work." Gray blinked at the girl, who shrugged.

"It isn't as if I don't have the funds. Offering payment for a job is the fastest way to get legal wizards to do work, anyway."

He couldn't exactly deny that, given the fact that she was a stranger. Still, Natsu took the jacket and smelled it closely, before nodding over at her. "Seems simple enough. This thing smells familiar too…didn't that room smell like this after we got back from our last job?" Natsu glanced over at Lucy, who glared at him.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm not a freak like you, you know. I'm actually normal."

"Well, I say it definitely smelled like this." Natsu grinned, glancing at the girl. "That means I know where to start to track her down! You get Lucy her rent and we've got a deal. After all, this seems like a quick job, right?"

"Ideally, yes." Meredy narrowed her eyes at them. "If it isn't, we'll have other problems to deal with."

Worst case scenario, she can theoretically claim she was recruiting new members. A dragon slayer, devil slayer…she has a few options for those utilizing lost magic amongst you.

"Great. And of course, you'll be joining as well as an excuse."

Obviously. Gray sighed, glancing over at Meredy who was frowning again.

"Who are you even speaking with? None of my research indicated a tendency towards voicing thoughts out loud." She paused. "Has the guilt of your past actions finally driven you to some sort of mental instability?"

"Hey, you got something against the ice princess?" Natsu narrowed his eyes rising to his feet. "Because that didn't exactly sound like friendly banter to me."

"Knock if off, flame brain. She's the one who's paying you, remember?" Natsu scowled, and Gray sighed. "If you want to meet him, we should get going. He's waiting outside the guild anyway."

"Is there a particular reason you did not just invite him—" Meredy broke off as the doors to the guild opened. Someone was shoved through them rather violently, crashing into a few tables and gathering the attention of the rest of the guild. Gray winced slightly as he felt the discomfort through the connection, but Zeref simply sat up, stretching his arms slightly and turning back around to face the door.

"Look who I found lurking outside the guild hall." Cana stood in front of them, placing one hand on her hip with her other hand fanning out cards in front of her. "Seems like this idiot is back for his war plans yet again."

"And now you know why he was outside." Gray shook his head, getting up and walking closer. "Cana, knock it off. We were getting ready to leave and he was trying to avoid a fight."

"Then he shouldn't have been waiting around like some creep." She narrowed her eyes at him. "What the hell are you even doing back here? Aren't you on some quest to change his mind about the whole war thing?"

"Cana, I don't think shouting at them will make a difference. Master did say before to let them go…" Mira hesitated, staring at them. "Maybe we don't have details, but we do know that Gray would never mean us harm. If he needs to stop at the guild to finish his quest, then we shouldn't harass them for it."

"Yeah! How else am I supposed to get money for food or rent?" Lucy glared at them, while Cana seemed to look away.

"I don't have a problem with you guys hanging around, it's him that bugs me." She glanced back at Zeref. "I had thought he was on our side, you know? He got the guild back, but now I just don't know what to think."

"If it helps, I am simply here to join on a task completely unrelated to any of those goals." Zeref smiled, tilting his head as he turned towards Meredy. "Ironically, I believe I am assisting one of those who seem to worship me like some sort of strange god. Or has Precht actually given you an accurate description of my capabilities now?"

"I don't worship anyone."

"Oh? Are you not attempting to 'revive' my lost power? I was certain that was the goal of your entire guild." Zeref shrugged. "Perhaps that goal only matters to you because of how invested Ultear is in the matter. Regardless, it is unrelated to my own plans in the end."

"You're claiming to be Zeref?" Meredy's eyes widened, probably the most expressive Gray had seen her get thus far. "Master located you recently. He tracked down your location after sensing a peculiar outburst of magic on—"

"Tenrou Island, I imagine. I got bored and now I'm here." He shrugged, rising to his feet. "Is Fairy Tail going to stand in my way still? I have kept my word to your master and your secrets still remain quite safe."

Cana didn't back down, but Mira slowly approached. "We need to let them go, Cana. Master is away, dealing with Gildarts, and we need to honor his last order regarding them."

"Gildarts? He's back?" Gray blinked over at her.

Natsu grinned, stepping forward. "Alright! Where's he at? I wanna fight him and prove that I've gotten stronger!"

"How is this working efficiently towards our task?"

With a sigh, Lyon shook his head at her. "I've come to discover that this is about as efficient as Fairy Tail wizards get. They are not exactly the most reasonable group to associate with."

Either way, the mood in the guild wasn't matching Natsu's enthusiasm. Gildarts may have returned, but there was something they weren't seeing right now. "Natsu, he isn't in any shape for a fight right now." Mira looked away. "He's lucky he even managed to get back to the guild, in the state he was in."

"Are you saying Gildarts actually failed his mission? But that's not possible!" Natsu looked stunned.

Happy flew down onto his shoulder, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, Gildarts is the strongest member of the guild. There's no way anyone could stop him!"

"If you really want to see him, stop by Porlyusica's on your way out. But Natsu, please don't go picking a fight with him, not right now."

Zeref was frowning and Gray was wondering exactly how strong this enemy was. He knew that Gildarts had taken the hundred year quest on and he'd expected it to take the man some time to finish. However, he hadn't thought Gildarts would be forced to quit early because of a lost battle. He'd never even heard rumors of Gildarts losing, or of some wizard being strong enough to stand their ground against him. Only a member of the wizard saints had a chance of doing that and even then, Gildarts had seemed so powerful that it was hard to imagine one of them forcing him to do more than just leave the battle.

Glancing over at Mira, Zeref hesitated. "When did he return?"

She looked wary as well, but calmly met his gaze. "Yesterday, while Natsu and Lucy were out visiting your team in town."

The black wizard nodded, before walking towards the door. He wasn't speaking, but Gray could hear him contemplating who he had fought against. Already, he was assuming Gildarts had left the country, which was a strange thing to think. Yet, this man had analyzed Fairy Tail wizards already for his war. Likely, he knew a thing or two about generic wizards in the country as well, if he planned a full invasion to take their guild on.

"We are searching for Ul, there's no debate on that. My task to find her takes priority." Meredy was insistent as they walked out.

Zeref shook his head. "If it comes down to it, I will handle your guild easily." Zeref turned towards Gray, ignoring the glare given to him by the sensory link wizard. "Where is the woman mentioned at your guild? I'm curious to see what sort of injuries he sustained. I'm trying to determine exactly what sort of threat he faced…"

"Why?"

"Because Gildarts is indeed someone capable of standing amongst the ranks of the wizard saints." Zeref paused. "While not quite at that level yet, his magic is destructive and physically difficult to evade. If the one who targeted him is also described as someone to handle within a job request for wizards, they also disregard legal restrictions on magic. In other words…there is a high probability of this ultimately effecting me, either directly or through my empire indirectly. I'd prefer to see the results and plan accordingly to stop this from happening."

Meredy's glare softened and she slowly sighed. "I suppose I can understand that logic." Zeref nodded in response. "Very well, but you better be capable of making your conclusions quickly, or as we search for Ul."

"Who is Gildarts anyway? I've never heard of him around the guild." Lucy was watching them, frowning as Gray began leading the way to the forest where Porlyusica lived. She'd likely throw a fit over having so many people at her house at once, but he hoped she wouldn't be too angry.

"He's the most powerful wizard in the guild, other than Master Makarov," Gray said.

Natsu nodded, grinning. "Yup! He always beats me in like, one or two hits. But this time, I'm gonna face him in a real fight and show him that I've finally gotten strong enough to be taken seriously!"

"Your guild just explained that he was injured. What makes you think now is a good time for a fight?" Lyon stared at Natsu, shaking his head. "Honestly, your desire to prove your strength knows no bounds. I was thinking I was bad, but you're worse than I am."

"Juvia does not think Lyon has done anything wrong! He is a strong wizard and he deserves recognition for his prowess with magic. She is certain that his need to prove himself is justified."

"Didn't he try and bring back a demon to prove his strength? That doesn't seem any better than Natsu picking a fight with Gildarts, you know," Happy was only happy to defend his partner, making Gray sigh.

"It doesn't matter who is justified and who isn't. Right now, we're only looking into what happened and nothing else, alright?" While he did have time to waste, Gray wasn't all that keen on letting Meredy get too impatient. She was still angry with him and probably still wanted to see him dead right now. It was only through luck that he had any chance of that changing at the moment.

"Jeeze, since when are you so pushy?" Lucy shook her head. "I get wanting to keep moving, but I think you're starting to get too stressed with everything going on, Gray. Try to relax a bit and loosen up."

She patted his arm, while Gray just scowled. However, Zeref was already smiling faintly, speaking just as Gray caught what he planned to do. "You know, he did recently go on a date—"

"You're bringing that up?" Meredy frowned, glancing at him. "Weren't you the one who interrupted, claiming to be his partner? It seems strange that you now sound so approving of his romantic outing."

"Oh, I simply find it amusing, that's all."

"Wait, you're dating my brother?" Natsu spun around and Gray groaned. "When the hell did this happen?"

"Why would you even consider that?" Lyon glanced over at them. "Clearly, Zeref interfered out of jealousy while Gray was pursuing Meredy instead. After all, he does have a strange obsession with Gray."

"Juvia understands his actions as well. The need to intervene when a love rival is speaking with one's beloved is too strong to ignore."

"I'm not dating anyone!"

"But…Lyon could be right about you and Meredy over there." Lucy grinned, patting his arm again. "If you really are going on dates, I guess you are starting to have a bit of fun and relax too. I mean, I don't know a thing about her, but I could sorta see—"

"Finish that statement and you will regret it." Meredy glared at her and Lucy grew quiet. With a shake of her head, Meredy pushed past them all. "Idiots, careless and weak. Clearly, I had overestimated all of you in my rankings. Perhaps Cana and Levy are the greater threats after all."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Meredy ignored Natsu's question and they found themselves arriving at Porlyusica's hut with that. Gray shot Zeref a glare, while the black wizard just looked way too pleased with himself for furthering all the confusion around him. Knowing his friends, he really would be forced on blind dates at this point and almost certainly with dark wizards who wanted to destroy their guild. Why the hell did drama have to make things so complicated? Gray didn't want it in his life at all, though when he glanced at Zeref's amused expression again, he hesitated. He still looked so content, compared to when they first met. The man had changed a lot and was opening up for a change. Really, was the drama that bad? It was sort of like dealing with the weird antics of wizards at the guild. While it was annoying, it was tolerable and usually they meant well in the process. So, like he'd agreed before, he'd deal with whatever this led to in the future, especially when it seemed to help Zeref keep smiling in a way that actually seemed happy for a change.

I think I forgot to add a note on the last update - I have just returned from vacation and am doing a bit of an off-schedule update now that I'm back. I might try and get one more chapter up today to make up for missing last week, but we'll see what I have time for. Thank you all for reading!