Hi, so this is the first fairytail fanfiction that I have written in a few years I think. I did use grammarly as my beta reader so if there's any mistakes or if anyone seems out of character please let me know, but hope you enjoyed it thank for reading :)
Gray didn't know why, but he felt empty inside, like there was this gaping hole where something should be, and he didn't know how to fill it. He's been doing a ton of jobs solo and with his team to the point where the Master told him he needed to take a short break, which he did for a few days and then went straight back to it. Although now he's only doing solo jobs. Gray hasn't wanted to go on a team job for a while; it's not like they don't need him anyway. Natsu confirms that much on a daily basis. He knows his rival doesn't mean it. Of course, he doesn't, but it doesn't make the gaping hole any smaller.
He tries drinking with Carla or with Maceo and Wakabe. He tries going to different pubs around Magnolia or other towns when his guildmates become suspicious of his behaviour.
He tries fighting with Natsu, edging him into a battle every second he gets, just like when they were kids. He stops, though, after accidentally knocking Natsu out with his devil-slaying magic. That's another thing that's been icky lately. It's been getting out of hand, even on simple jobs. Once, he was doing a job in the forest, stopping a feral beast; his magic randomly came up without him calling it. He avoids using his magic after accidentally freezing a whole forest area; he never told anyone about that.
It didn't get any better since then. Now, he's been moody even though there's an emptiness inside him. He's snappy at anyone who tries to talk to him, even accidentally snapping at Erza and Gramps when they tried to ask him what's wrong; he ran out of the guild after that conversation. He didn't return until a week later, which was a mistake because Erza and Lucy had grabbed his arms and forced him with them to go on a team job, stating that they hadn't been on one in forever, which - well, they haven't.
"But I only just came back from a job," Gray complained once they were on a train. It was a bullshit excuse, and they knew it too. He'd been at home all week, but he would complain about it the whole way if he had to go on this job. He knew that was petty and childish, but he didn't care.
Erza rolled her eyes, "Gray, that's bullshit, and you know it." She scolded, but her voice became more softer as she spoke. "Now, we won't ask any questions if you don't want us to, but just know that we are here for you." Lucy nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, Gray. We just want to be there for you, so please, let us." She almost pleaded, reaching for his hand, but he flinched away. He turned away and stared out the window so he wouldn't see the hurt flashing across her eyes. The two girls must have caught the message and changed the subject. He let his mind wander as he tuned out the sounds of Natsu's gurgles and the girl's chatter. He thought about how fast he could finish this quest and how much he wished to be back home, curled under his dooner and blankets, oblivious to the world outside.
He very much wished he was back in his bed.
Gray's first thought was that it was cold, which didn't really bother him as he's typically more cold than the average wizard, but something was different. A type of cold he hadn't felt before. A cold that was unforgiving and powerful; it made him feel scared.
It was almost exactly like what happened in the forest.
The magic swirled around him, gathering faster and the snow thickening as if the start of a snowstorm. Ice and snow rocketed through the air, and Gray had a strange feeling that if they had a target, they would not miss it; it was like it had a mind of its own. He clenched his fists, taking a deep, steady breath, willing his power to stop.
But it didn't.
Why wasn't it stopping?
Why was it behaving like this?
It wasn't responding to him at all. It hadn't done that since they first appeared, and he didn't know why.
His breathing became more erratic as the power grew more out of control. He could feel the black markings creep their way across his skin, but they didn't stop in their usual place. No. They continued moving until they covered all of his body.
He looked up, and through the ice and snow swirling around him, he saw his teammates. He stared at each of their stricken expressions and stopped at one, Natsu, and boy, did he wish he didn't.
His rival's face held pure terror, one he only saw when someone was threatening his family, and they were - by him. Right now, he was a threat, a danger, a monster, and he didn't know how to stop it. It just kept getting stronger, the wind howling as it roared around him, blocking his view from their terror-stricken expressions. He didn't know what to do; he didn't know what to do.
He looked up. He looked at anyone who wouldn't be afraid of him and muttered one word, so silent that he wasn't sure that even Natsu could hear him.
"He-lp."
He could just see Natsu stepping towards him, but as he did so, a lance shot out from the swirling mass straight towards him. Thankfully, Natsu managed to block it with a flame just in time, but that didn't stop the guilt from shooting up in Gray's gut. He almost hurt his comrade with his devil-slaying powers again. He couldn't do this. He had to get out of there.
Natsu's arms were out before him, trying to placate Gray and get closer, but he couldn't hear anything now. Everything was a blur and so loud, it felt like he was in an avalanche tumbling down a mountain, drowning in snow and unable to call for help. Another lance shot out again; he couldn't see it but could feel its power.
He ran, leaving a destruction of ice in his wake with his magic still swirling around him.
The battle had gone well; it was pretty easy, actually. Natsu had destroyed all the bandits, all by himself, with no help at all.
"No, you didn't, Natsu, now shut up," Lucy shouted. Natsu, startled, turned around and gaped at Lucy.
"You-you can read minds now?" He shakily asked, pointing a finger at her. She rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her head.
"You idiot, you spoke out loud." Oh, that would make more sense. He shrugged, "Well, it's true though."
"You got like four guys on the ground here. Erza and I got everyone upstairs, and Gray iced everyone else that was left." Natsu crossed his arms in retaliation.
"There's no way that ice prick got more than me, right, Gray?" But Gray didn't respond. Natsu turned around, confused about why his rival didn't respond with his usual banter and found Gray frozen, staring at his clenched hands as magic began gathering around him.
"Uh, what's wrong with Gray?" Happy asked, flying up near Natsu's shoulder and glancing at Gray worryingly.
"Gray, what's wrong?" Lucy asked, worry evident in her voice. She took a step closer to Gray, Natsu following suit.
""Oi, ice princess, the fights over. You don't need to prove yourself anymore at the moment." He said, but it was like Gray wasn't there. His eyes were glazed over, and he didn't respond with his usual banter.
"Hey, iceprick, didn't ya hear me!" He asked, trying to get his guildmate to snap out of whatever was happening with him right now.
"What's happening?" Came Erza's worried voice.
She had been upstairs tying the rest of the bandits up. Erza stopped at once when she saw the state of her friend. "Gray?" She asked again after he didn't respond.
More magic swirled around him, the ice getting thicker, and the air started getting colder. Lucy and Happy were already shivering. Natsu was only beginning to feel a slight chill.
He became even more worried when the black markings that came with Gray's devil-slaying magic covered more of his body. They now covered all of his right side, and his second eye turned purple.
"GRAY!" Natsu shouted, and this time, Gray made eye contact with him, and he looked terrified. He started taking a few steps back.
"No, no, Gray. It's ok." He had no idea if Gray could hear him over the roaring of the ice swirling around him. He took a few steps forward, but before he could say anything else, Gray had bolted.
"What just happened?" Lucy asked after a moment of silence from the four of them. Erza shook her head.
"Was that his demon-slaying powers?" She asked, walking closer to the group, but her eyes never left the spot where Gray was just standing. Natsu trailed his eyes after the icy path that Gray had left, mixed with Gray's calm blue with the power of his purple-slaying magic littered across the wooden floor of the building right out the door.
"His markings, they covered all of him and that ice..." Lucy trailed off, finally turning around to look where Gray ran off.
"Natsu, are you ok?" Happy asked after he didn't say anything. He was too shocked; for once, he was speechless. One of his guild members, no, not just a guild member, his rival, his best frie- one of his closest friends just completely lost it. It left Natsu numb and shaky all at once. It unfortunately reminded him of the time when Gray and Natsu were intent on killing each other during the Alverez war, but it wasn't because Gray wasn't in control. Again, he wasn't in control a second time, but they don't know why this time.
"I-I'm fine." he managed to stutter out, snapping his mouth shut. He clenched his trembling hands and slowly faced the others; their expressions matched the way he felt.
"We need to go after him," he said. Lucy let out a squeal.
"Are we not going to talk about what just happened first?" Natsu shook his head.
"No, we can't. We have to find him first. Didn't you see how terrified he was? How out of control his powers were?" Erza stood in the middle of the two, wanting to calm them down before things became heated.
"Alright, Natsu, yes, of course we will find him, but Lucy's right. We need to discuss what happened." But Natsu shook his head, balling his fists up.
"No, there's no fucking time. Gray's out there afraid and probably hurting himself. If you two want to chat about it instead of doing something, then be my guest, but I'm going after our Nakama." He said and nodded to Happy, who lifted him behind his back and took off in the direction Gray went.
Erza sighed and looked towards Lucy, who gazed down in defeat, and the two of them were off.
