Invel was failing to understand why August was so insistent on pursuing such a high-risk invasion when the issue at hand could have been solved with a discrete action to retrieve his majesty. His opinion on the matter had been out-voted by both the elderly wizard and Irene, however, so that was why he was still remaining at this camp that served as the home for Crime Sorciére.

Technically speaking, he supposed planning was running smoothly. Mavis was more than willing to cooperate and share the necessary information for him to gain an understanding of their allies. Between her and Meredy, Invel felt he had a decent grasp on the strength of the guild that would comprise their main force. Based on what he knew, Mavis' skill with illusions would be the key to their success. Her deception would provide the opening for them to launch their attack, but it would only work a single time. The remainder of their efforts would need to be precise, as they would only have twenty minutes to coordinate their attack and defeat the opposing forces.

After committing themselves to the alliance, Invel had spent the rest of his day arguing over exactly how much of the military should be offered on the mission. Concerns over political strife were always present, since this was not intended to be a declaration of war on Fiore itself. Yet, August and Irene still insisted on taking even further risks. Even Dimaria said it was stupid to go to the extent of sending four of the ten remaining members of the Spriggan Twelve on the task, but in light of sending no other wizards, August insisted that it was only fair.

Now, Irene, Dimaria, and August were arriving to finalize their plans. The prisoner was still sleeping as they landed, forcing Invel to remain seated with the other ice-make wizard and his lover while they approached. Invel nodded towards them when they arrived, disregarding August's raised eyebrow when he noticed Gray's current state.

"Slacking off already, huh?" Dimaria grinned, smacking Invel's shoulder playfully. "Keep acting like that and I'll have to start saying you're worse than Randi."

"Given the fact that she was too busy enjoying an exotic shopping trip to even listen to the meeting, I'd certainly say that is an exaggeration." Irene sighed, looking over at Invel. "Any further updates on our plans? I'm hoping to finish dealing with this quickly so I can return home. I've been making some enhancements to an old spell of mine that I was hoping to have finalized before the end of the month."

"None that I haven't already shared." Invel rose to his feet, pausing to kneel down by Gray. "The time for resting is over." He shook the prisoner's shoulder, making the boy blink open in surprise. The boy inhaled sharply, taking in his surroundings quickly. There was something sharp in his gaze as those eyes narrowed at Invel. Then, Gray blinked and rubbed his eyes, the expression gone.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to sleep for too long." He looked over at the others, nodding at Dimaria. "Good to see you again."

"Wish I could say the same." The time mage glared at him. "Seems like you went and did something stupid like I thought you would. Pissing off Invel is never a good idea."

"Dimaria." August sighed, shaking his head. "She may be blunt in her words, but she is simply stating that Invel has a tendency to be quite strict as far as enforcement goes."

"Nah, that's fine." Gray shrugged. "Can't say we talked much, but I did meet her before." His eyes flickered towards Irene. "You're new though."

"Irene Belserion, at your service." She smiled, looking over at the others. "Though, I suppose that is a bit of an exaggeration, given your potential crimes. We have yet to see what fate has in store for you."

"I imagine we are intending to gather with the rest of the guild?" Lyon interrupted, rising to his feet with Juvia. "They've been headed in that direction based on what I could see while we were waiting."

Nodding, Invel turned to follow the man now that the majority of introductions were finished with. Anything that remained could be given when the entire group was present to avoid wasting additional time. The camp was relatively cleared out on their path to the open area that was clear of tents. Instead, it appeared as if chairs had been fashioned out of some form of maker magic by one of the wizards in the guild. They were scattered in a circular formation around a large fire pit in the center that remained unlit in the day.

Lyon took a seat with Juvia, leaving Invel to guide the remainder of the generals to the front with Gray following without complaint. There, he saw Master Meredy, Makarov, and Mavis already gathered. Meredy turned towards him. "Thank you again, for your assistance."

He nodded, looking out at the crowd. "Is this everyone?"

"Everyone that is currently here," Meredy answered.

"Quiet down, you brats!" Makarov shouted out to the group, attempting to get their attention. "Our guests have arrived and you are being rude!"

"That's a bit harsh, Third." Mavis smiled. "You could just ask them to calm down politely."

Sighing, Invel shook his head at the small debate already interrupting their initial start to the meeting. Too many people were getting involved and there was no sense of order amongst these wizards. He wished he was back to dealing with trained soldiers, rather than guild wizards that were too rowdy to properly listen. Still, he would make do with what he had.

"Good evening, wizards of Crime Sorciére." Invel stepped forward, taking the lead. "As most of you have learned, I am Invel Yura, general of the Alvarez Empire and adviser to his majesty, Emperor Spriggan." He gestured to the others. "These are my colleagues, here to assist in our attack to destroy the ultimate reversal magic known as Nirvana."

"I am August. I look forward to fighting alongside of all of you."

"Irene Belserion, high enchantress of the Alvarez Empire." The redhead smiled broadly, standing proudly by August's side.

With a hand on her hip, Dimaria grinned. "And you lot have seen my face around here plenty. The name's Dimaria, the only wizard alive to be personally trained by Chronos himself."

Invel narrowed his eyes at her, nearly asking what she'd been doing in the area only to stop himself as he realized it was certainly not the time for such a debate. "We four generals will be aiding you in the attack and in making the strategy for our approach regarding the issue." Invel looked over at Mavis. "First and foremost, the starting point of our plan is simple. Utilizing Mavis Vermillion's illusion magic, we will deceive the enemy into firing Nirvana before the rest of us land. This will begin the moment where we must act decisively - we will have only twenty minutes to destroy Nirvana once the illusion is shattered by the failed attack."

"I've already agreed to this strategy. Based on my understanding of the situation, it is our best means of creating an opening for an attack," Mavis said.

"From there, things become more difficult to predict." Invel sighed. "We know little about exactly what numbers we will be facing off against. As such, we intend to divide into groups to handle regions rather than specific enemies. The first group will be in charge of creating a decisive pathway to Nirvana. The second will infiltrate the spell, with six wizards designated as those that will be destroying one of the lacrima."

"That being said, we are aware of some of the wizards we anticipate facing," Meredy began, interrupting Invel's explanation. "The Oración Seis' magics are well known, consisting of a dragon slayer, celestial wizard, and a reflection magic user among others. In addition, they've added powerful wizards to their ranks including another dragon slayer capable of healing magic and an arc of time wizard. Do not underestimate your foe, no matter how they appear and be prepared for any type of magic to be used against you."

He waited, watching her until she had finished then returned his focus to the group. "Our ground forces will consist of Lahar, Sting, Rogue, Levy, Elfman, Mirajane, Dimaria…" Invel continued listing names, assigning nearly three fourths of the group to the initial attack. "Those of you whose names were not called will be joining the six targeting the lacrimas in the spell. Your task is to ensure they are not delayed on their path to these power sources and take on any enemies residing in, or on, Nirvana as it is infiltrated."

Folding his hands behind his back, Invel gazed out above the crowd. "The six destroying lacrimas will consist of myself, August, Natsu, Lyon, Erza, and Juvia. As back-ups in the event that one of us is unable to continue, Kagura and Ur will need to be prepared to act quickly to locate and join the remaining wizards. These eight will have a constant telepathic link to coordinate the destruction of the lacrima, held by Doranbolt who will be providing support from the airship alongside of Irene."

"Why are you positioning one of your own wizards on the sidelines?"

"Because my specialty may be required to save all of you if you don't act fast enough." Irene was scowling, likely in response to Invel bringing up her daughter in the list of their allies. Still, she was an expert at hiding her emotions and did not reveal anything further than that. "As an enchantress, I have the highest chance of being capable of devising a protection spell that would guard against Nirvana. From the air, I can analyze its initial failed attack and work on a barrier spell that would negate a second blast, provided it isn't too complex for me to grasp."

Gray frowned. "Wouldn't August be the better choice for that? I mean, his magic would let him—"

"We need the ability to counter anything we might face in the internal charge towards the six lacrima." Invel interrupted, narrowing his eyes at the ice mage. Had his majesty truly been careless enough to reveal even August's specialty? It was irritating to hear exactly how much information their prisoner had, but at least he was subdued with those cuffs. "Are there any further questions regarding the plan?"

One of the younger girls stepped up, raising a hand. "I've got one." She folded her arms over her chest, focusing on Dimaria. "You got a back-up plan for if I get hit by this spell? Because I assure you, no one will make it out of here alive if I do."

"Stay behind if you want." Dimaria shrugged. "Doesn't make a difference to me - Crow says you're still not quite up to your usual massacre-level strength anyway."

Invel raised his eyebrows at the time mage who just gave him a smirk, not explaining the exchange. Turning towards the woman, Invel frowned. "We can use as much assistance as we are able to get. All of us are aware of the risks."

"Drop it, Invel." Dimaria's smirk faded, her joking tone going with it. "She's not lying. If they say the risk isn't worth it, we shouldn't push it." Her eyes looked over towards one of their older guild members. "You wouldn't happen to know the level of risk we're talking about, would you?"

The man was quiet, before slowly shaking his head with a small smile. "I'm afraid my control isn't quite there. You would know the odds about as well as I."

"Well, then I'd say we play it safe." She looked over at the others. "You three got a problem with leaving behind just a small group of their guild wizards? I'm willing to bet the guild master didn't even give you info on them anyway."

"Exactly who are we leaving behind?"

"The gods, of course." Dimaria folded her arms over her chest. "Why do you think I've visited here so often? Chronos has been hanging out with the guild so I've been stopping by as soon as I realized he was here."

Actual gods? Invel frowned, studying the elderly man with new information. While he personally had little experience with the old religions, Dimaria was certainly the most familiar out of their group. She'd been the one leading the publications August wrote regarding the religion, before they were passed on to Invel to circulate and promote to the public. He simply hadn't found the time to read the fine details of them to know much beyond the basics of the major gods involved.

"Of course they're abandoning us." Gray spoke up, scowling. "More cowards, afraid of a real fight just like Alvarez and their massive army. It's all just for show, isn't it? Big flashy curses and armies larger than anyone has ever heard of - just one big intimidation tactic to hide behind for everyone."

He'd been quiet thus far, but this was oddly similar to his earlier outburst. Frowning, Invel turned towards the prisoner and met his eyes. "Then I suppose you are not a coward?"

A dark grin flashed on Gray's face. On instinct, Invel began to focus on his magic, preparing for a fight in response to the expression on the other wizard's face. "Never. I'll take on everyone here if I have to. None of you actually wanted to help Zeref anyway, so I'll take you out to make sure you don't get in my way this time."

"Gray." Lyon spoke up, narrowing his eyes. "Enough of this." The white haired wizard rose out of his seat, approaching their group and standing in front of his companion. "If you think shouting and making petty claims proves your bravery, then you are no better than I was when you found me on Galuna Island. In fact, you're no better than the demons there claiming that they could resolve all of their issues by destroying the moon."

Gray only laughed, stepping closer to Lyon. "You want me to act?" Invel moved to stand by Lyon's side, lifting his hand and preparing to subdue the young wizard. "Well, I am more than happy to oblige." Gray tilted his head, lifting one of his hands calmly as he pointed towards Lyon. Not giving him the chance to truly act, Invel released his magic and activated his ice slave spell to subdue his very thoughts.

Instantly, Gray's body froze. "Lower your hand," Invel commanded. With a dazed look, the boy responded and let his hand drop to his side. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards Lyon and narrowed his eyes. "Do you still insist on having nothing to share?"

The other ice-make wizard still kept staring at Gray with wide eyes. Amongst the crowd, Invel could see others were also shaken by the wizard's sudden actions. "He will overcome this." Lyon spoke after no one else responded. The boy slowly nodded, looking over at Invel. "I assure you, this has nothing to do with Alvarez or any matter that concerns you."

"Hey! Let Gray go, you bastard!" Startled by the shout, Invel spun around to see a flaming fist headed straight for him. Swiftly, Invel took a step backwards and leaned back with it to dodge the attack of the pink-haired boy.

"You'd prefer I allow him to attack your fellow guild members?"

"Gray wouldn't do that!" Recognizing the face, Invel narrowed his eyes at Natsu.

"Well, if you insist, let's see how you handle him." With a wave of his hand, the collar vanished from Gray's neck.

The dark haired wizard blinked a few times after being freed, slowly looking around and regaining his bearings as his thoughts regained clarity. "Wh—Natsu, Lyon, what's going on?" Invel frowned, staring at the ice mage's confusion once more. Was this risky enough that they needed to reorganize their plans? Someone needed to observe this wizard and his mental state was more unstable than he'd realized earlier.

"Gray." Meredy spoke, rather than those Gray was questioning. "Remember our conversation from yesterday?" Invel looked between them, watching as Gray slowly nodded at the guild master. "What you're doing is having more consequences than you realize. You need to stop now, before this gets even worse."

So, Lyon wasn't the only one aware of what Gray was hiding. Invel made note of the information but kept his focus on Gray. His eyes were focused on his hands, staring down at them with a frown. Eventually, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back. The silence kept going on before he shook his head and met Meredy's eyes. "I don't think I can."

"This isn't something to joke around about!" The pink haired wizard glared at him. "I will tell them if I have to—"

"Meredy, I can't." Gray inhaled slowly. "Look, it's just for one more day. We'll get Zeref back, and…whatever you think is happening will stop then. I promise, I feel just fine."

"Really?" Invel interrupted, folding his arms over his chest as he approached. "Considering you just threatened to, at the very least, incapacitate everyone here, I'm curious as to what you'd label as 'not fine'."

"I did what?"

Meeting his gaze, Lyon slowly nodded. "It seemed as if you were intending on picking a fight with me for attempting to talk you down from it."

The dark haired ice mage stared at Lyon with wide eyes, turning back to Meredy and taking a step back. "I—I don't remember doing that." Gray preside a hand to his head, closing his eyes. "I swear, I don't remember any of it."

"There are no signs of a magical influence altering your memories." August spoke calmly with a frown. His eyes flickered towards Invel. "Has he been behaving this way since you've left?"

"Only for today." Invel shook his head. "And even then, it was only a single time. He claimed it was triggered by exhaustion."

"Then he should stay behind with the others." Ur walked up, joining them. "If he's exhausted—"

"I am not allowing him to leave our supervision." Invel narrowed his eyes at Ur. "He will remain with Irene during our operation, away from the battle. As of right now, he could very well be responsible for his majesty's murder." It didn't matter if Emperor Spriggan wished for that death. The fact still remained that they had an empire to run and needed to show that they did not take treasonous actions lightly.

"Oh, so we're going to risk having to fight him as well?" Ur raised her eyebrows at him. "That's just an insane plan and you know it."

"He has no magic. What exactly do you think he can manage?"

Lyon stared at Gray, closing his eyes. "That would depend on the strength of those cuffs, I suppose." His eyes flickered to Ur. "My current theory is that he's being an idiot."

"Care to clue us in then?" Lucy placed a hand on her hip. "Honestly, the secrecy isn't worth all of this, you know. We just want to make sure he gets help if he needs it."

"Everyone, I'm fine!" Gray interrupted. "Look, Invel is right - I have no proof to say I haven't actually killed Zeref. From their perspective, the only thing I can say is that Natsu is alive. That doesn't counter all of the other circumstances they've seen though - Tartaros is gone and Mavis is suddenly able to get back up like nothing happened after Zeref—" Gray broke off, looking over at their guild's founder and letting out a slow breath. "My point is, things don't exactly support my claim that he's alive. I'm not resisting because I can see their point of view, alright? Plus, I kinda deserve some kind of punishment for trapping him at the very least."

"Gray, do not blame yourself for what happened." Erza met his eyes. "We all should have done more when we knew what was coming."

Either way, despite their debate, they were not the ones leading this mission. Looking over at the other generals, Invel raised his eyebrows. Dimaria shrugged, disregarding providing her own stance. August just kept his focus on Gray, frowning and not noticing Invel's expression. "I can handle him," Irene said at last. "I assure you that keeping him contained would be simple for me, should he actually try anything in my presence."

"Then the decision is made." Invel turned towards Mavis, seeing the blond contemplate the situation before slowly nodding. "And Fairy Tail's founder and master tactician agrees that it is not worth further debate. As our prisoner, Gray will remain in our custody and be treated as we see fit. This action will not influence our attack nor will we allow it to alter the plan we've designed."

"You better keep him safe," Lyon said. Then, the man slowly turned to return to his chair.

"Lyon, you never gave us an answer! What—"

"Lucy, it's alright." Gray gave her a tired smile. "Even if I can't say I know exactly what the rest of you are seeing, I do know that this won't be happening for long."

"Have you noticed a particular trigger at the very least?" August frowned. "You have lapses in memory - are their patterns in the events leading up to what you fail to recall?"

Gray frowned, pressing a hand to his stomach for a moment. "Nothing that anyone else can control at least." He lowered his hand, shaking his head. "I might be able to at least figure out a warning sign though, if the last thing I remember is some weird indication for whatever is happening."

"Then we will trust you to monitor yourself and tell us when something seems wrong." Meredy nodded at him, speaking sternly. "One more day. Anything more and I'm putting a stop to this myself."

"Fair enough." Gray dragged a hand through his hair, looking over at Invel. "Sorry for the hassle, I guess."

"You're hardly the most violent criminal I've dealt with in the past." Invel adjusted his glasses. "You certainly won't be the last problematic one I handle either." He nodded towards the group. "Prepare yourselves for the invasion for the rest of the day. We will leave tomorrow for the attack to take down Nirvana." With that, Invel began to walk back through the camp with Gray following behind him. As he walked, Invel frowned at the sensation of the air growing warmer once they were further away from the place Gray had been standing. He paused, turning back towards the others.

"Something wrong?"

Invel stared at Gray, expanding his senses and frowning when he felt no flow of ethernano within the boy. Slowly, he shook his head and turned to keep walking. Yet, the fact that he noticed the change in temperature was alarming. Somehow, Gray had managed to surpass the cuffs during his outburst, enough to create a difference in temperature even noticeable to himself. Not only that, but the outburst hid itself well, showing no signs of energy flow or alterations in Gray's aura. While Invel might not know exactly how he'd managed it, he was starting to think that perhaps Lyon had been truthful when he theorized that Gray had a means of overcoming magic suppression.