Gray groaned as he woke up on the hard ground. His back ached and felt stiff as he opened his eyes. Above him, the sky was dark with stars visible on the clear night. A crescent moon shone down on them and he frowned. Staring at it, he blinked once. Then again. Then, he bolted upwards with wide eyes, his head spinning around to take in his surroundings. "What the—?" Why did it feel like he'd just been sleeping? Last he recalled, Acnologia had targeted their guild, drawn in by the conflict that had begun in Magnolia. Gray had planned to use iced shell on both him and Zeref.

More awake, Gray looked around at his surroundings. The guild hall still stood, with the town itself looking relatively close to the same as he remembered. Some destruction lingered from Acnologia's attacks, but he couldn't see any recognizable changes. A few other wizards were in a similarly groggy state, looking around the area. Levy took a stumbling step forward, barely supported by Jet next to her. Macao was on the ground with Romeo, looking to be involved in a quiet conversation. Approaching Gray was his team from the guild, along with Lyon, Juvia, and Ur.

"Gray!" Arms were thrown around him as Ur pulled him into a hug. "You idiot. Don't you dare think about doing that again!" She released him, smacking his head. "I should come up with some sort of discipline for you two idiots if you're going to keep acting like reckless children, you know."

"Relax, Ur." Lyon smiled. "It seems as if we've all managed to make it out alright. Although I cannot quite say I know how."

"All I know was that some sort of powerful magic activated." Lucy frowned. "Everyone was preparing for the worst, ready to stand together until the very end. We thought Gray and Zeref were only going to buy us a few minutes at best." She hesitated, looking over at Erza and Natsu. "Do either of you have a better idea?"

"Nah, that sounds about right." Natsu grinned. "It felt like we all combined our magic together into one massive spell."

"Indeed." Erza's arms folded over her chest. "Yet I'm unaware of exactly what it was we did. It appears as if there was little effect on the surrounding area and as far as my physical state goes, I do not feel particularly affected beyond a brief moment of disorientation."

Gray nodded, seeing the others starting to recover relatively quickly. Mira was standing with Elfman and Master Makarov was quietly watching over their group as a few straggling wizards found their way over. Gray spotted an unfamiliar face, someone he assumed to be a member of Grimoire Heart, but luckily the man didn't begin to fight. He looked around at the group before nodding and walking off, possibly looking for his other guild members.

"I'd say it probably knocked us out for a bit at least." He slowly stood up, rolling his shoulders to stretch out his muscles. "Can't say it was this dark out when Acnologia arrived." Where was the dragon anyway? Warily, Gray sensed out for any incoming magic attacks or even a nearby wizard. Mostly, he could just sense the rest of his guild nearby. Turning, he began to spin around to see what else he could find.

Magnolia, as he'd thought, was still the same as it had been before. There was some damage from the attack, but otherwise it was unchanged. A few destroyed buildings were honestly somewhat normal given how reckless their guild could get. So, those he could easily overlook. Yet, his eyes froze when he noticed the oddity in the landscape. A frozen block of ice stood not far behind where he'd been, with a blue-tinted surface that was clear enough to look through. Approaching, Gray began to walk towards the out of place ice block.

"Juvia saw that earlier. She thought that it may have been a result of the spell we cast with the guild."

"No." Lyon shook his head, his voice quiet as they approached. "This magic looks to be the result of iced shell." His eyes turned towards Gray with a frown. "That is what I'd assume, yet the caster…"

"Is still here," Gray finished for him. Now standing at the base of the creation, Gray could see exactly what happened to Acnologia. Inside, the blue had frozen over a haze of black magic that remained still and unchanged. Wisps of black swirled around in the ice, surrounding two contrasting figures inside. One was a massive dragon that demanded attention from anyone approaching. Its eyes were closed, yet the creature's jaws were open as if preparing an attack.

Suspended in front of the dragon's form was Zeref. Gray went still at the sight, seeing the man's expression locked and forever frozen with a soft smile. His eyes were open, meeting Gray's from even within the sculpture. "Did you actually manage to cast iced shell without becoming ice?" Lucy frowned. "I thought that was impossible."

"It is." Ur placed a hand on her hip, staring at the spell. "At least, everything I've seen says it is. Iced Shell itself comes with numerous warnings regarding the cost of casting it. When I first learned it, there were even warnings saying that it was dangerous to even consider experimenting with altering the cost. From what I could gather, it is the sort of spell that requires payment to use - adding in the element of transformation magic offered a payment in its inherent form rather than allowing a random toll to be taken from the caster."

"Then this isn't a simple mistake on Gray's part." Erza stared at Gray. "Or perhaps, it is and we have simply not seen the price the spell will take."

Swallowing, the ice wizard tried to focus on himself for a moment. Closing his eyes, he felt around for his magic. Beyond being a bit drained, that felt normal. His back ached, but he had woken up on the ground so even that wasn't exactly weird. Overall, he felt perfectly fine. If he focused even deeper, almost meditating, he could even still sense the devil slayer magic lingering in him that he had not quite figured out how to use.

Opening his eyes, he slowly shook his head. "I don't feel any different." He looked over at Ur. "Should I?"

"I suppose we'll have to wait and see." Her eyes flickered towards the spell. "I can't imagine you'd intentionally leave out aspects of the spell. I know I didn't officially train you on it, but you have seen me use it before. Everything I could see looked like the correct form."

"Well, nothing to be done about it now." Natsu walked over, frowning at the ice. "He's still alive at least. I mean, I'm still around, so that says something. That just means we've gotta figure out that reversal spell and get 'em back out."

Right. Even if Acnologia was still alive in there, this wasn't the outcome they were expecting. Reversing the spell now would be for the best. Focusing on the memory Zeref had shared, Gray drew on the sensation of his magic. He supposed this still was in his 'realm of expertise' with ice magic, given what it was reversing. The magic circle formed underneath the ice block, giving the entire creation a light glow. Then, the magic unleashed and engulfed the entire creation in white. When the spell faded, Gray felt just a little bit more exhausted than before. Yet, he frowned as he noticed the ice was still there.

"When did you learn how to reverse iced shell?" Lyon frowned at him.

"Zeref told me about it." Stepping closer, Gray frowned. Was it just weaker at a distance? He slowly took his stance to try again, this time while standing at the base of the spell. Looking up, he met Zeref's eyes, feeling a burning determination again. "And be quiet. I need to focus and get it right this time."

He began to call on his magic, but stopped when Zeref's eyes closed. The man opened his eyes again, staring at Gray intensely with that same frozen expression. He saw them shift, looking towards something else. They continued to move, rapidly spinning around before settling back on him. "What—wait, you're actually aware like this?"

Those eyes blinked again, as if in answer to his question. His eyes flickered towards Erza, lingering on the other wizard. "Erza, I think he wants something from you." Gray frowned, feeling a bit strange. Usually, he'd just know what it was Zeref was trying to say. He wasn't used to this lack of a telepathic connection to the guy, but Gray at least could figure a few things out from subtle hints.

"I see." Approaching, Erza stood at his side and looked up towards Zeref. "Are you able to speak in any form?" Those eyes remained still, staring intently at the requip wizard. "Then I will have to make do. Are you able to demonstrate the limits of how you are able to communicate?"

Again, Zeref closed his eyes and began to shift his gaze around. The motion was subtle and difficult to catch, but Erza was observant. "Very well. Yes or no questions seem to be the limits of what we can manage." She looked over at Gray, nodding at him. "Before we determine means, can you inform me somehow if blinking is necessary for your comfort in this state? It would be the easiest signal to see, but I do not want to rely on something you will be doing naturally."

Zeref's eyes remained open, unshifting at her question. After a few moments, she nodded. "Very well. Then I shall use that as our signal. Blink once for yes and do not react for refusal."

Blinking once, Zeref kept his focus on the two of them. "Wait a second." He frowned, staring at Zeref. "I could just free him and get rid of this whole barrier in the first place. This whole system is pointless."

"Then why does he wish to gain our attention?" Erza asked. Gray hesitated, looking over at Zeref. Then, the ice mage sighed and looked away. The requip wizard nodded, turning back towards Zeref. "Does Gray know the appropriate spell to free you?"

Zeref did not move and Gray stiffened. "Wait, what? I thought you told me the reversal for iced shell!" He glared at the black wizard, before a realization dawned on him. "Is…is this not iced shell?" Zeref blinked, his eyes closing for a long moment. Then, they opened again. "What the hell did I do to you then?"

A hand rested on his shoulder. Gray turned, seeing Ur there by his side. "It's alright. I know you've worked hard to help him, Gray. I might not exactly like the guy, but I can say you did your best."

"Exactly. Everything I saw indicated you were truly about to unleash iced shell." Lyon turned towards Zeref with a frown. "Did you realize his initial casting was incorrect for iced shell?" There was no motion. "Do you know what spell he activated in its place?" Again, Zeref's lack of motion indicated he did not.

"Not even Zeref knows what you did?" Lucy blinked, frowning. "This is getting even weirder. I mean, it sounds a lot like what was used on Deliora. I don't get why it'd be that different."

"Do you know how to free yourself?" Juvia approached with a frown, joining in on the questioning. Zeref again did not respond. "Juvia should clarify - are you aware of a spell that would free you?" Again, nothing. "Are you able to use magic to experiment with ideas on reversals?"

Gray shook his head, taking a step back. All of his answers were no, meaning Gray had essentially trapped the one person who might even be able to come up with an answer to undo this. "I didn't…this isn't right. This isn't what I was planning to do."

"Take a moment to calm yourself, Gray." Erza nodded at him. "Panicking and worrying over the past will not help us determine how to move forward."

"Exactly." A new voice chimed in, bright and cheerful. "Sorry for barging in! A lot of the others are still regrouping and it felt weird to join in with them. You guys sounded more like you were concerned though so I thought I'd see if I could help."

A young girl with an oddly familiar face approached their group. Green eyes shone out of a youthful face framed with long blond hair. A pink dress hung around the frame of a girl who could hardly be labeled as a teenager in appearance, though Gray knew she was much older mentally. "You're—"

"Oh, right! I'm Mavis Vermillion." She girl smiled. "I wish I could explain how I got here, but unfortunately, I don't know how this happened. When I became aware of my surroundings and the fact that I was awake…" Her voice trailed off before she just shook her head. "Regardless, that wasn't my reason for approaching. As I said before, I wanted to help alleviate your concern."

The ice mage didn't know what to say. He was shaken, seeing this girl who was supposedly dead based on what he'd seen in Zeref's own memories. "Gray, is everything alright?" Ur asked.

Inhaling slowly, Gray turned towards the frozen form in the ice. Zeref's eyes had spotted Mavis but even he didn't react. Gray was learning Zeref probably couldn't even if he wanted to. Turning towards Lyon, Juvia, and Ur, Gray began to explain. "She's the—"

"First master of your guild. I learned of her during my research of the curse at Phantom Lord." Lyon frowned, turning towards the founder of their guild. "Do you recognize this spell then? We thought we utilized iced shell, but it appears as if our assumption was mistaken."

"Hm." Mavis walked passed them, her eyes widening when she saw who was trapped within the spell beyond just Acnologia. "Zeref." Her hand lifted, reaching out for a moment before dropping to her side. Mavis turned her head away, inhaling slowly. "What is he even doing here?"

"Helping us stop Acnologia." Gray turned towards her. "Look, I get you two have a complicated past. All I want to know is if you know anything about ice magic that could help us figure out what the hell this spell is."

"I've researched a lot about magic in the past." Mavis stared at the spell with a frown, studying it for a moment. "The most I can say is that this resembles iced shell, like you originally thought. I'm afraid I haven't had the time to gain nearly as much mastery over other branches of magic as I'd like." She pressed a hand to her chest as she continued. "My specialty lies with illusions, even if I do have a basic understanding of some concepts in other specialties. For elemental magics, I did not research more than the basic introductions."

"Can you at least identify how it will interact with the curse?" Mavis frowned at him while Gray crossed his arms over his chest. "Just need to know if we need to make a plan for keeping people away from this until we have an answer or not."

"Based on what I can see, it appears to be containing it." The black wisps inside had not moved as far as Gray could tell either. "Yet, there's no guarantee of anything as far as this curse goes." She tilted her head. "How much has he shared with you about it?"

"We are on a quest to find a means of reversing it," Erza answered. "Gray is likely the most familiar, but as members of his team, we all share the same goal."

Nodding, Mavis let out a sigh. "Well, I wish you luck. All I can say is that I find it to be quite unlikely that you'll find an answer."

"Hey! We're gonna find a way no matter what." Natsu grinned at her. "After all, Gray already said he had an answer before Acnologia came. That means we've got everything under control!"

"Regardless, I think we should be figuring out why he wanted Erza, specifically, to approach." Ur interrupted, moving on from the conversation that was giving them no real answers to Zeref's situation. Mavis smiled at her, nodding towards the others and giving them a wave. She walked off towards Master Makarov instead, leaving them be for the time being.

Turning back towards Zeref, Gray nodded. "Right." He looked at the man with a frown. "Is Erza able to do something to help then?" There was a pause before Zeref finally decided to blink. So, he was hesitant to say yes? "She can indirectly help?" This time, the blink came a bit faster. "Got it." Thinking back, he realized what made Erza unique as far as assistance would go. "Do you need something from your requip space then?"

Zeref blinked and Erza nodded. "I see. Given your current state, can you assure me that there will be no repercussions if I obtain the incorrect object?" The black wizard blinked and Erza let out a slow breath. "Perhaps I should begin with narrowing down my search first. Am I seeking out a book?" No motion came. "A magical device of some kind?" This time, it was another long pause before the blink.

"Ah, my apologies, that was a broad suggestion." Erza folded her arms over her chest. "Based on my past experiences, are you attempting to request that we reach out to your empire for assistance again?" Zeref blinked and Gray had a sinking feeling. If they were going that far, it meant that Zeref really was trapped. "So, a communication lacrima. Are you able to tell me if I've retrieved the appropriate one for one of the the contacts in your empire?" Zeref blinked and Erza began to act.

The rest of them watched as she began removing lacrimas, holding them out for Zeref to inspect and either confirm or deny. Eventually, she settled on one and held it in her palm. "It appears as if this is the one he wishes to use. I cannot say I know who it will connect with, however."

Gray took it from her, slowly spinning it around in his hands. Was he going to be dealing with God Serena again? August? Heck, maybe this one even reached out to Dimaria. There was no telling and Gray found his chest was feeling tight at the thought of activating it. He'd need to admit what he'd done the moment someone answered. Then, an entire empire would know he'd managed to render their emperor powerless.

"Gray, we'll be here to help." Lucy smiled at him. "We've come this far and we're not going to stop now."

He had his team with him, at least. Gray could relax just slightly with that knowledge, though it didn't exactly ease much else. Closing his eyes, he started to reach out for his magic to activate the lacrima. That was when he was interrupted by an unexpected sensation of magic surrounding almost all of Magnolia and a voice shouting in his head. Everyone! Do not be alarmed. I am a member of the rune knights, here to evacuate the survivors of the attack. Please make your way to the airship that is currently landed on the eastern side of town at once.

"The rune knights?" Erza frowned. "What is the magic council doing here?"

"Likely responding to the attack." Lyon looked over at the frozen dragon. "I can't imagine they'd do nothing when reports of a dragon come in, along with reports of Grimoire Heart."

"We can't just leave now though." Gray closed his hands into fists, seeing the other wizards slowly getting up. A few were starting to follow directions, moving through town to head towards the supposed airship. "Someone needs to stick around to help Zeref."

"We can always come back if we need to." Lucy looked over at the frozen man, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry. I know it can't be easy for you like that, but I kinda get the feeling we'd be wanted criminals if we refuse."

"That didn't sound like an order." Juvia shook her head. "Juvia thinks it is more of a request and that there is no punishment for refusal."

You idiot, you're gonna freak everyone out with that announcement. Another voice came in over the telepathic link that had formed. You're not in trouble or under arrest, but you must know that this area is not safe. Our sensors indicate an approaching attack will arrive in twenty minutes if you fail to evacuate. The choice is yours, but please, I implore you to come with us so we can explain the situation to you in full.

"We're under attack again?" Lucy frowned, looking around. "I don't sense anything though."

"Neither do I." Erza looked over at Zeref, studying the wizard. "Do you?"

The black wizard remained still, blinking after a pause. His eyes were wide when they opened, darting around the area. Gray tried to turn and see whatever he was looking for, but there was nothing to be found. All he knew was that whatever Zeref sensed had given him plenty of reason to be alarmed.

Turning back towards the black wizard, Gray met his eyes. "Should we trust them?" There was no response. "Zeref, can you even hear anyone right now? Someone's trying to warn us about some approaching danger using telepathy. I thought it was just broadly reaching to everyone in Magnolia."

The black wizard did not blink in response. Somehow, the magic couldn't reach him then. Closing his hand into a fist, Gray took a deep breath. "They're offering us a chance to evacuate. None of us have teleportation magic - there's no one that could bring you with us." The dark wizard watched him, blinking. The frozen smile made it difficult to gauge exactly how he was even feeling though. "I don't want to abandon you, damn it! We need to figure this out!"

"Gray, we don't have time." Ur grabbed his arm, shaking her head. "We…will return later, if you insist. But if Zeref truly senses danger, I'd rather go towards the stranger offering protection than the spell Zeref seems so alarmed about." Her eyes turned towards the frozen wizard, raising an eyebrow. "You'd agree with that assessment, wouldn't you?" Blinking his agreement, Zeref let his eyes shut and remained still in the ice. It took him quite some time to allow them to open again, this time more calmly observing the area around him.

Grimacing, Gray slowly turned around to watch the others leaving for the exit of Magnolia that the telepath had mentioned. A few paused, noticing the frozen ice that still remained, holding the black wizard. Mira hesitated, looking over at Master Makarov as they walked by. "Master, there must be something we can do."

Looking grave, Makarov slowly closed his eyes. "We will come back and resolve this matter soon." He looked over at Zeref again, nodding. "I thank you, for standing with my guild at our time of need. While I cannot say I understand your motives entirely, I am glad that you are willing and able to protect my children despite everything."

"Gramps, we can't just leave him behind!" Natsu glared at him. "I know he's a dark wizard, but he's my brother! I still haven't even gotten the chance to know the guy."

"If it weren't for him, Acnologia would have—"

"Gray, Natsu, enough." Master sighed, shaking his head. "We do not have time. The rune knight reaching out to us has a voice I know well. I would trust in his warning with my life - if we do not leave now, we will be in grave danger."

"But what about Zeref?" Happy flew over, landing on Natsu's shoulder. Gray didn't know how much Happy had overheard, but he was at least glad the cat had found them. "He can't run away from this even if he wanted to."

"That is why we will return and free him once the danger has passed." Makarov looked over at Zeref, nodding. "You have my word. As repayment for what you've done for our guild, we will find a way to ensure you do not remain trapped in this state for long."

Zeref only closed his eyes, having no other means of answering without access to the telepathic link that he'd once used with Gray. Gray gave him one last look, feeling his heart pound in his chest. A heaviness settled over him as he turned away, joining his guild in fleeing from Magnolia. This wasn't goodbye and at the very least, Zeref was still alive. They'd figure out exactly what mess they were in and Fairy Tail would find a way to stop it and save him.