Gray had spent the last few days in a haze. He had been so sick and weak and tired and scared, and that had made him numb. He hadn't realized just how numb until the numbness was gone.
Laxus had told him to get angry. And Gray had thought he had. But he hadn't even understood what the word meant. Gray had known real fury until he had heard Natsu say I love you, and then go limp in a pool of his own blood.
Magnus was doing this for what? For some dumb ideal? He had taken Shelia from Wendy, he had taken Lyon, he had taken Gray's finger and his life. And now, on top of that, he had had the audacity to take Natsu.
Gray couldn't stand for that.
Gray felt the demon patterns slide up his arm, and he let out a roar of rage. He didn't know where Loke was anymore, but that didn't matter. He didn't care. Gray didn't need anyone.
He stopped thinking. He'd been thinking for what seemed like forever, thinking about duty and sacrifice and winning and what he was supposed to do. That hadn't helped him one bit. It had gotten him killed, and now he'd gotten Natsu killed. Gray always fought best when he didn't stop to think, anyway.
Gray was so low on magical power that he felt practically hollow, but that didn't matter. What little he had left leached outwards, and jagged blades of ice curled around his arms. On his right, the ice wrapped around Oblatio, freezing the sword to his hand and supporting its weight for the first time since he'd picked it up.
The exhaustion Gray had felt before was a distant memory, one so alien to the way Gray felt now that he could barely believe it. He wasn't tired, or in pain, or afraid anymore. The cold rage had burned that all away.
Gray howled and leapt towards Magnus. He whirled into the Seven Slice Dance, pouring all of the rage he had left into the explosive movements.
Magnus grunted, and stumbled backwards as Gray felt his ice sword slice into him. Gray could feel the absence of his relief almost as cleanly as he would have felt the actual emotion. He'd hit Magnus, yes, but that wasn't enough. The last strike, the one with Oblatio, would end everything, and Gray would manage one last smile as he watched Magnus die.
Gray barely noticed it when Magnus's sword slid into his chest. He was too furious to register the pain, until he tried to move and was stopped by the metal pinning him in place.
Gray looked up. Magnus met his gaze. He didn't look proud, or even really happy at all. He looked like he'd done nothing more than smash an insect that had wandered into his house.
God, Gray hated him.
"Look…down," Gray managed, blood bubbling up through his lips as his lung tried and failed to expand around the sword piercing it.
Slowly, Magnus's face crumpled as he took in the sight of Oblatio, buried deep within his own stomach. Gray wished he could live longer, just so he could remember that expression until the day he died.
"Hah." Gray's laugh sent blood spattering over Magnus's face as the dark wizard looked back up, unbelieving. Before he could react, Gray reached up to the blade of the sword Magnus still held and let the last of his magic trickle out. Bloody ice crystallized around the sword, keeping it locked in place in Gray's chest. He wouldn't be able to hurt Gray with it anymore. And maybe it would keep most of his blood inside where it belonged. Long enough that he would be able to finish this, at least.
"You-"
"Told you I was hard to kill." Last time Gray had been stabbed by Magnus's sword, he remembered how much of a struggle it had been to make his mouth form words. His thoughts had been slow and fuzzy too. But right now, everything still felt crystal clear. He finally understood Jellal - he was pretty sure he could have managed to give Magnus a whole little monologue.
Not that he needed one.
Gray used all his strength to wrench Oblatio upwards. He carved a huge trough of flesh from Magnus's stomach to his chest, and managed to get almost to his neck before the strength in his arm gave out. Blood rippled out of the wound to coat Gray's arms and chest. Gray was simply covered in red now, and he had no idea how much of it was his.
"You…lose," Gray hissed.
Magnus said nothing.
Gray knew the second it was over, because both swords dissolved at once. Apparently, the swords were the only thing that had been holding him and Magnus up. When the swords vanished, time seemed to blink out for a second, and then Gray was horizontal and staring up at the ceiling.
Gray wasn't surprised his legs hadn't been able to take his weight, because he couldn't even feel them anymore. But that didn't matter. The overwhelming rage had been replaced by…not peace, not relief. Maybe grim satisfaction.
He'd done it. It was over.
Magnus's sword had stabbed him in the chest, and based on how hard it had already gotten to breathe, he was pretty sure it had punctured his lung. The sword itself had also been preventing him from rapidly bleeding out, like a cork in a bottle. Now that it was gone, there was nothing at all to stop him from bleeding. He could feel himself getting rapidly weaker with each beat of his heart.
Someone entered his field of vision. For a second, Gray felt something akin to joy. He was sure that it was Natsu. But then the person got closer, and it was Loke, of course. If Natsu wasn't already dead, he surely wouldn't still be able to move.
"Gray!" Loke was saying. "Gray, can you hear me? You're bleeding out."
Gray knew that already. He didn't know why Loke was telling him. He didn't know how to react. Not that he would have had the strength to anyways.
"You need to freeze the wound."
That was an absolute impossibility. Gray didn't have a single drop of magic power left. He had given everything in the final fight against Magnus.
"Gray, please. Look at me! Stay awake, you can't pass out on me, okay?"
Gray didn't have much of a choice, there. He couldn't freeze the wound, and there wasn't anything else that could stop the blood loss. Sooner rather than later, he was going to pass out.
"If you pass out, you'll die, Gray, please-"
Dying. That didn't seem as scary, now that he'd already done it once. The first time, he'd been leaving behind a lot more. Magnus was still alive, and far more importantly, so was Natsu. Gray didn't remember anything after dying, afterlife or no afterlife. But even if there wasn't any way to see Natsu again, he'd take emptiness over the pain of living without Natsu. He understood what Natsu had gone through now, at least a little bit. It would have been nice if he'd gotten to tell him that.
Gray couldn't hear Loke anymore. The only sound left to him was his own fading heartbeat.
Gray stared into the darkness of his closed eyes and waited for it to stop.
Jellal was trying (unsuccessfully) to sleep when the crash from right beside his head banished any last remnants of a doze. He managed to roll over, which was a minor victory, intending to hiss at the careless nurse who'd knocked whatever-it-was off his bedside table. Instead, he made eye contact with a disheveled, frantic Loke, sprawled across the floor.
Lucy shot upright from the chair at Jellal's other side. "Loke? Oh god, you're covered in blood-"
"If you want to help, do it now," Loke said breathlessly, pushing himself upright with bloody hands. Halfway through the attempt, his arms gave out, and he slumped back to the floor. "Magnus is dead, but Gray and Natsu are down. Bleeding out, tapped out, too far from Wendy."
"What-" Lucy stammered, going pale.
"You have ten seconds."
Jellal didn't waste a single one of them. He could feel the magical power inside him, slowly growing, but still barely a fraction of what he was used to. Lucy was right - if he tried to transfer his power to Gray or to Natsu now, he would probably end up either fainting or having another seizure, and all three of them might end up dying.
"I need to borrow yours." Jellal didn't bother with more of an explanation, just grabbed Lucy's hand and concentrated on the magic inside her.
"Take it," Lucy said, squeezing his hand and shutting her eyes.
Jellal had realized he had at least some ability to transfer magical power between people all the way back when he'd created golden fire for Natsu to eat when they'd been fighting the Oracion Seis, well over a decade ago now. Since then he'd refined the ability…some. He'd taken magic power from Erza in emergencies, when he needed just a little more of an edge to cast a massive spell and he was already drained. He'd given magic power to multiple allies in battle when they were tapped out and he wasn't. And during the resurrection, he'd learned to use his own body as a lacrima.
He'd never taken someone else's magical power, channeled it through himself, and then given it to someone new. And he'd never done any of it at all at a distance. But if Jellal was good at two things, it was improvising and magic. If he wasn't able to do this, no one could.
But he would be able to do it. If he couldn't, the hell he'd been through for the past week wouldn't be worth it. Jellal would make it worth it.
Jellal heard a sharp intake of breath from Lucy, and her hand started to glow. Jellal concentrated, and the glow quickly started to spread up his own arm as well. He could feel his own magic power increase pretty much immediately, and it frankly felt amazing. He hadn't had a comfortable amount of magic in his body since the resurrection. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like.
Not that he would have it for long.
"Natsu, or Gray?" Jellal managed to gasp.
Loke hesitated.
"Natsu, or Gray?" Jellal ground out. The magic power coursing through his body was already starting to get a little overwhelming, nearly too big for him to hold. Jellal's vision started to shimmer.
"Gray."
Jellal nodded tightly. He was panting for breath now, and he couldn't even tell if his eyes were open or closed. It felt like the gravity in the room had increased by ten. He had the vague sense he might be sick.
But none of that mattered. Jellal closed his eyes and pictured Gray. And let go.
The magic certainly went somewhere. The feeling of pressure in the room vanished as quickly as it came. Lucy lurched forward with a small sigh, barely managing to catch herself on Jellal's bed. The weakness hit Jellal a second later, and he slumped back against the pillows. It hadn't been super comfortable to feel like a supercharged live wire, but it was still probably better than feeling like a very sick man in a hospital bed. One who was very likely going to pass out in the next ten seconds.
"Did it work?" Lucy asked shakily, pushing herself upright.
"I…hope so," Jellal managed, and then the edges of the room turned black and rushed inwards on him.
The rush of magical power hit Gray like a flood, taking him over so completely that his eyes opened before he even knew what was happening. How was he still breathing? He knew, beyond a doubt, that a few seconds ago, he'd been completely tapped out.
Gray's body kept on breathing without him, and his next weak exhale was accompanied by the taste of blood. If he wanted to survive, or even have the smallest chance of surviving, he didn't have much time. Gray still had no idea where the surge of magic had come from, but it didn't matter.
The first time he tried to move his hand, it didn't work. Gray's limbs didn't seem to want to respond to him, even with the increase in magical power. He wasn't sure how much blood he'd lost, but it felt like most of it was outside his body, rather than inside where it belonged.
Gray concentrated, and this time he managed to bring his right hand up to his chest. It felt like he was moving through molasses, and it occurred to him that there was a chance that even with the extra power, he would just be too slow to save himself.
He'd thought Loke was here with him, a second ago. Loke had been the one to tell Gray to freeze the wound. Without him, Gray wasn't sure he would have been able to force his exhausted brain to come up with the answer.
He wished Loke was with him now. He could help Gray move faster, or try to stop the bleeding, or even just be here with him. But once again, it was all up to Gray.
Finally, Gray's fingertips brushed against the blood coating most of his chest. He didn't try to explore any further - the lightheaded feeling permeating his body told him that he had seconds at most before he passed out from the blood loss.
Flexing his fingers, Gray froze the blood into a solid sheet against his skin. Freezing cold raced across his chest, making him tense. When the cold reached the edges of the wound, it turned into an intense pain that would have made Gray scream, if he still had the strength.
Instead, Gray heard himself whimper as he froze himself solid. Ice crackled through his chest, blocking the blood and packing itself around whatever Magnus had hit with the sword.
It was harder to breathe immediately. Before, his injured lung had been (sort of) expanding, but now it was frozen in place and couldn't expand at all. He still needed air, but every time he tried to take a breath it felt like he was getting stabbed all over again. He had to fight the urge to hold his breath against the pain - that would just make him pass out faster.
Natsu. Gray didn't feel like he was tapped out quite yet. With a movement so painful it almost made him scream, Gray rolled to the side. Natsu was lying there in a small puddle of blood, back to Gray. Gray couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, but he was very limp. He didn't look super alive.
But now that Magnus was dead, and Gray had some magical power, there was no way Gray could just do nothing. He dragged himself forward a slow, painful foot, until he could reach Natsu's shoulder with his hand.
Gray didn't know where the wound was, so he froze Natsu solid from the neck down. Based on the puddle of blood, and how still and pale Natsu looked, if he was still alive he wouldn't be for much longer without intervention. He needed to keep the rest of Natsu's blood inside him, and damn the cold or whatever else.
Honestly, Gray was surprised he had the energy left to do it. But he still didn't feel completely tapped out, despite the fact that there was nothing left for him to do. He could have frozen a few more guys solid if it had come to that, he thought.
Gray knew Natsu's ambient body temperature would melt the ice patch quickly, but Gray didn't think he could stay conscious long enough to resolve that problem, extra magic or no. At that point, it had to be up to Wendy. She had to be close, right? The other team had been fighting close enough for Natsu and Gray to hear them. Yeah, they were pretty loud. But she had to be….
Whatever. Gray had done all he could.
He let himself slump to the ground.
Erza had known immediately that Gray had been successful in killing Magnus, because the shadowy armies they'd been fighting had dissolved like they had never been. There had been some Lamia Scale members there too - Magnus must have pulled them back as guards, maybe when he realized the tunnels had been breached - and they had instantly collapsed.
Shellia was among them. Wendy had gone to her knees beside her instantly, and Erza had gone with her, helping her check Shellia over for injuries. But something had started bothering her. At the end of the long chamber they had been fighting in was a tunnel, and past that was where Natsu and Gray had been fighting Magnus. They must have been able to hear Laxus, Erza, and Wendy, so they knew where they were.
If Magnus was defeated, why hadn't Natsu and Gray come out?
It could be nothing. But not even to hear one of them, despite Natsu being probably the loudest person she'd ever met, was nagging at her.
Erza waited a few more seconds, just to make sure that she wasn't overreacting. But suddenly, the vague discomfort crystallized into a certainty that something was very wrong.
"Wendy," she said urgently. "We need to get to Natsu and Gray."
"But Shellia-"
"Why haven't we seen them yet?" Erza asked, already beginning to head for the tunnel. "They're in trouble. I'm sure of it."
Wendy narrowed her eyes, and the sense of danger swelled inside Erza until she was considering grabbing Wendy and simply dragging her along.
"We have to go," she repeated.
"Good enough for me."
As Erza was in the process of turning back to drag Wendy with her, Laxus shouldered past her. He was already in a full sprint, Wendy tucked under his arm like a football.
"Aaah! Okay, I'm sorry! You're right, just- PUT ME DOWN!"
"Short legs," Laxus said by way of an explanation, continuing to run full speed ahead. "This is faster."
He was right. Even though he was slowed down by carrying Wendy, Erza was hard pressed to keep up with him. Laxus beat her to the tunnel, as she followed close behind. He blocked most of her view, but she heard him and Wendy both gasp as they entered the next room.
"Shit, Wendy, go, go, go!"
Laxus moved aside, and Erza ran up beside him. The room was small, and entirely dominated by the still forms of Natsu, Gray, and Magnus lying on the blood streaked stone. Wendy was already scrambling towards Natsu and Gray, but from here, Erza was desperately worried that it would be too late.
Erza lurched forward, falling to her knees beside Gray without really realizing she was doing it. Wendy was on his other side, midway between Gray and Natsu. Gray's chest was covered in bloody ice, thick enough that at one point, Erza wondered if he'd frozen the entire inside of his chest. Beyond him, she could see that Natsu was covered in the same, all the way from the neck down.
That was encouraging. It had to be. Gray had been alive and aware enough to freeze himself and Natsu, and there couldn't have been much time between that and their arrival.
"Gray?" Erza whispered.
To Erza's surprise, Gray's eyelids fluttered. He managed to wrench them partway open, and he gazed vacantly at a spot that was certainly somewhat near to Erza's face.
"Magnus…?' he whispered.
Erza looked over to confirm, even though with the shadowy soldiers gone she didn't really need to. And sure enough, the form of Magnus was somehow the bloodiest of the three, lying completely limp and still. Even more damningly, there was no sign of either sword.
"Dead," Erza said.
Erza couldn't even tell if Gray was aware enough to feel relief at that. He rolled his head vaguely, lips slightly parted as he gasped weakly for air.
"Hey, Gray, don't try to move…."
"Natsu," Gray whimpered, tilting his head back towards Erza. "Needs…n-needs help…f-first…."
Erza glanced over at Wendy. The mix of ambient blood and body heat had already melted the majority of ice into a bloody slush, which Wendy had mostly cleared. Her hands were glowing now, hovering carefully over what looked like a brutal stab wound in Natsu's back.
"Unlike after the Hydra, you appear to be correct this time," Erza informed him. "Natsu's condition was more dire than yours. Wendy is healing him now."
A small dent appeared in Gray's brow. "Healing?" he whispered.
"Yes, she's healing him…oh." Erza realized what Gray had meant - these wounds must have been from the sword too. A horrible tightness appeared in Erza's chest. But when she glanced back at Wendy, it was clear that something Wendy was doing was working. Some of the magic of the swords must have been lost when Magnus died. The wounds didn't seem to be anything special now. "Yes, she's able to heal him."
"He's-" Gray broke off, abruptly starting to wheeze. His face was pale, but his lips were stained red with his own blood. Erza didn't know what Magnus had done to Gray's insides, but whatever it was clearly wasn't good.
"Lie still," Erza said. "Wendy will be here soon."
Gray settled down, his eyes slipping most of the way closed and his breathing getting shallower and raspier. Erza absently stroked his hair off his forehead, not able to shake the fear that while Wendy was saving Natsu, Gray would slip away again right before her eyes.
But it only took another minute or two for Wendy to appear next to Erza. She looked tired, much paler than she had before the battle, but her face was set.
"Natsu…?" Erza asked cautiously.
"Not exactly stable, but he's alive," Wendy said grimly. "I could do more for him, but I need some magic left for Gray."
Erza looked down, half-expecting Gray to protest. But he was gasping weakly for air, and he didn't seem to have heard them. His wheezing was getting more noticeable with each breath, until Erza couldn't imagine him taking in any oxygen at all. She moved away, unable to shake the image of Gray taking in one last rattly breath before his chest stopped moving forever.
Again.
Wendy filled the space she'd left behind, letting her hands light up again. Gray moaned softly as the glow intensified around his chest, and Erza saw the edges of the wound start to close. She backed up further, towards Natsu. He was only about six inches away from Gray, but she knew they'd both want to be closer.
When she reached his side, Natsu was still unconscious, and it didn't look like he'd be waking up anytime soon. His eyelids were dark, almost bruised looking against the unnatural paleness to his skin. Erza saw that the wound on his back looked better, like it was in the process of healing, but it wasn't anywhere near closing.
Erza let her armor vanish. Many years of Natsu's complaints about being "stabbed" with her armor echoed in her ears as she gathered him carefully into her arms, and she smiled against his hair.
"I won't hurt you this time," she whispered. "I promise."
Natsu didn't stir, which in some ways was a mercy. Erza laid him down gently next to Gray, making sure not to put any undue stress on his wounds. Then, she summoned a cloak of Jellal's from her pocket dimension, and tucked it carefully over the Fire Dragon Slayer.
"Natsu?"
"Gray," Erza gasped. "You're awake."
She skirted around Natsu, joining Wendy as the glow on her hands flickered and died. Wendy's head fell forward, and she took a deep breath.
"I did all I…." she mumbled, before her eyes slipped closed and she fell to the side.
"Hey, you're okay," Laxus said gruffly, putting a hand out and catching her before Erza could move to help. "I got you."
Wendy didn't try to get up, just slumped against Laxus and took another few deep breaths. "They'll survive," she whispered. "They'll be okay."
Erza was frozen, one hand on Gray's. She hadn't realized just how much fear and grief she'd been carrying with her until Wendy's words had finally banished the weight. Now, she felt almost too light headed to speak.
"Did you hear that, Gray?" Erza managed. "Natsu will be okay. And so will you. You did it. You won."
She didn't realize she was crying until her tears fell onto Gray's cheek. Even after the resurrection, she hadn't let herself get used to the idea of having Gray with them. Greeting him again would have made the second goodbye far too painful, so she'd held back a small part of herself, deep inside.
But Wendy said Gray would live, and Magnus was gone. Gray was here to stay, and Erza didn't have to be afraid anymore.
Gray made a face, and Erza had known him long enough to recognize that face as the precursor to complaining.
"What's wrong?" Erza asked earnestly. "Are you in much pain?"
He scrunched up one side of his face. "Mm…stop it. It's wet…uhgh…."
Erza realized she had accidentally started crying on him. She swallowed hard and wiped her tears away.
"Lyon…," Gray whispered.
"He should be safe now."
Gray tried to shake his head, but if Erza hadn't been watching him carefully, she didn't think she would have recognized the movement. "He's…out there. Down the tunnel. Stabbed. G-get him, okay? When we…leave…."
"Oh," Erza said. "Yes, don't worry about that, Gray. Loke told us. We'll pick him up as soon as Wendy has rested a bit, and we're ready to move again. We'll get all of you out of here, don't worry about anything else. You can just rest now. You did well, Gray. You can just rest."
