"I'm ready."

Porlyusica gave a grim nod before stepping aside, allowing Freed to take his position once more. Gray heard him murmur that they would now prep the site, before a cloth, damp with disinfectant, was wiped over the entire seal. Wendy quickly followed with a warm breeze, wanting to evaporate the alcohol completely before Natsu's flames were allowed anywhere near. Gray couldn't resist twitching a little at the tickling sensation as a brush was then used to apply sterile ink as guidelines upon the seal, to mark off the targeted spots. At some kind of silent signal, he heard movement from all around.

As everyone took their positions, Wendy gave him a quick warning before swabbing his left hand with more disinfectant, then inserting the IV needle just above his wrist. The infusion of medicine had immediate effects, with both his breathing and heart rate slowing noticeably.

He could sense he was now surrounded on all sides, and even though he knew he could trust each person here, he still found the sensation daunting. Before he could bring himself to raise his arms, he heard someone clear his throat. He'd already forgotten he was here.

"Jii-chan?"

"Gray, my son. Before they get started, I wanted to tell you it's okay to be frightened. I can only imagine what you're about to go through, and we all know you will be experiencing things we can never know. But your strength and courage know no bounds. No matter what your decision would have been, whether to risk so much to regain your powers, or to continue to adapt and grow strong in other ways, I would have been proud of you.

"Also, remember your friends aren't just some of the most caring, loving, and self-sacrificial people you and I know. They are also some of the finest wizards in all of Fiore. Their many years of experience and learned knowledge can be accumulated into decades of attained wisdom. You can rest easy in the confidence that they will use every bit of that wisdom to succeed. I believe without a doubt that if anyone can do this, they can. But they also won't lose sight of what's most important. The magic isn't their priority. You are. You're in good hands with them."

He already knew this. He's always known. But hearing it spoken aloud, by the man who'd been his father figure for longer than his own father had been able to, made it more real. He blinked a stray tear away as he nodded.

Closing his eyes, he slowly raised his trembling arms to their designated positions beside his head, and waited.

His breathing hitched when four sets of hands gripped his wrists, shoulders, ankles, and knees. He couldn't tell who was whom, except for Capricorn, whose fur covered hand he could feel holding down his left ankle.

His arms were spread out as if crucified ... His wrists were restrained in that position with heavy-gage wire. A quick check confirmed the same with his now bare feet. He felt that same wire wrapped around his neck, just above his knees, and across his chest. He couldn't move at all.

"It's not the same. Just hands. My friends' hands. Right here. They're right here…" he whispered.

Laxus, whose broad hand covered the deep ligature marks which wrapped around Gray's leg, heard his quiet, futile attempts to calm himself, and resolved to keep his grip firm, but not too tight. He met the eyes of his three companions who shared this unpleasant task with him. They all held the same concerned looks, but their determination to fulfill their roles in this procedure only grew with those desperate words.

Gray was still trying to keep his mind in the present when he felt someone approach.

"Gray," whispered Wendy, "You need to bite down on this."

Something was held to his lips, and his first instinct was to clamp his mouth shut. But this was Wendy, who would never harm him. Had never frightened him. He's never had reason to doubt her.

He forced himself to open his mouth, biting down on a thick strap of what smelled and tasted of leather. An old, crude method of pain management, the best they could afford him, more a distraction than anything else. Something to take some of his focus. At the very least, it would protect his teeth, and prevent him from biting his tongue.

"You can... take my magic... my eyes, my ears... my freaking tongue! ...

It would do little to stifle his screams.

He tried not to think of how much it felt like he was descending deeper and deeper into that dark, foreboding pit of his nightmares. But through all the different things going on around him, competing for his awareness, the only thing he could focus on was the undeniable fact that his voice had just been taken away.

Freed donned a pair of heat resistant gloves, then positioned the first knife, held aloft over the appropriate mark that had been painted on Gray's skin. Natsu, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, nervously brought his hand up, about to begin applying his magic, when he paused.

He was dealing with his own bout of fear at the moment. He's never admitted to anyone, not even to Happy, that he'd been experiencing feelings of self-doubt and anxiety over his perceptions of his powers lately. Lucy had witnessed a small breakdown he'd had, where he'd voiced his consternation that his powers terrified Gray. He'd gone out of his way to not give off so much as a glowing ember within his presence.

His powers were awesome. He'd always believed that. When his friends needed him, he always knew he could give his all, and they'd be alright. But when you removed all the flare and excitement, all the bravado, all the flashy techniques and impressive moves, everything boiled down to this: His powers were dangerous. Happy was right all those months ago, when they'd just been passing banter back and forth on their way to pick Gray up for a mission that fateful day. He'd never dare use his powers on a friend. Not in a way that would hurt them.

Until today.

"Natsu," Freed urged quietly, "It's time. Don't prolong this for him."

Swallowing passed his dry throat, he nodded, raising his hand once more, when he made the mistake of glancing down at his friend, and saw the fear that was almost tangible in him.

Gray's breathing was harsh as he tried to keep it controlled. He was already sweating, his eyes closed, whole body rigid, stomach clenched tight in anticipation. He fisted his hands, and his teeth gritted into that leather strap, already leaving marks.

Natsu averted his eyes, trying to focus on his task, but the scent of fear coming from Gray was overwhelming. Something caught his attention again, just a small flash of movement in the corner of his eye; and though he knew he needed to focus and get started already, he couldn't help it when his eyes trained towards that movement.

Both of Gray's hands were still fisted, but as Natsu watched, the right one, which Lyon held, kept loosening ever so slightly, before tightening again. Call it a dragon's instinct, or the minds of best frenemies tuning into the same wavelength, or just a stray thought lurking in the back of his mind; but he couldn't shake the impression that there was meaning behind that action. Why was he flexing his fist? Why just the one hand?

Looking at his friend's face, he could just barely see his jaw moving. He was really gnawing on that thing. But there was something else. There was a small hiss coming from his mouth. It took him a moment to realize his harsh breaths were more controlled as he breathed out. Zeroing in on the soft hissing sounds, he listened very carefully, and caught what he was now absolutely sure were words.

"... han— … —n …"

Furrowing his brow, he tried to interpret what he was saying. The leather strap made it impossible to read his lips.

"Natsu!" came Freed's insistent order.

"Gimme a second!" he hissed.

Natsu knew he was missing something important, but what? He took one more long look at his friend, and an image appeared in his mind. Not something he'd seen, but one he'd constructed in his mind, piece by horrid piece, as that phantasm was described in heart wrenching detail by Gray himself.

"… I couldn't… couldn't fight back. *sob* I could only hold on. So that's what I did… I held on to whatever I could, and waited. And kept waiting… for as long as I could. I held onto those chains… until my powers were gone… until my ice melted away, and my hands were burnt beyond saving… I held on... so firmly to that rag. No matter how bad the pain got, I refused to let go…

'Han … n?

…

!!!

His eyes widened, and he realized they'd missed a very important detail.

'He's telling himself to hang on!'

One of Gray's worst traumas was his inability to fight back. Now here they were, about to force him through another such experience.

Yes, he'd said he wanted his powers back. And he'd been given every opportunity to say no, and to back out. All that would happen here would be completely and wholeheartedly with his consent.

But the actual act was entirely out of his hands. They'd be doing everything for him.

Everything to him.

He needed a reminder that he was fighting, too.

Abruptly, he pulled off his scarf, and stepped around Lyon, causing everyone to wonder what had already gone wrong.

Gray was trying so hard to keep it together, but there was just too much going on around him. Too many people in too small a space. Too many hands touching him. Too many things to focus on. His senses were being overwhelmed, but he knew there was so much more to come.

He could no longer feel the softness of the mattress he lay on. The sound of trickling water was overshadowed by the pounding in his head, in tune with his racing heart. He felt a need to get away, but no desire for those around him to leave. To be left alone. In this horrid chamber—

'—Not the chamber! She isn't here! Not her! Not—'

He was startled by an unexpected touch when someone grasped his fingers, gently prying them open, and placing a soft cloth within. It felt very familiar.

"Hang on to this for me. It keeps getting in the way."

His eyes shot open, and he blindly sought for what he could from the direction of that voice. Instantly, he was brought back to full awareness of his surroundings. He felt as Natsu wrapped his beloved scarf around his hand twice more, before nudging his fingers closed. Relief washed over him, and courage renewed, he tightened his fingers around the scarf and reaffirmed his resolve.

Trying to relax as much as he could, he blinked a few tears away as he sighed his gratitude. He felt Lyon give his shoulder a squeeze of encouragement as Natsu retook his position.

Without a word, Natsu reached his hand forward, finally bringing his powers to bear as he loosely gripped the first knife. Gray stiffened as he felt the heat, but showed no more reaction. Freed could feel it as the knife grew warmer, and he kept his hands steady with a confidence born from many hours of practicing these very same motions over and over the day before. Just like in practice, the runes scrawled onto the knife sent a pulse that resonated with his magic. It was ready.

Without further delay, he channeled his magic into the knife as well, in order to activate the new runes, made eye contact with Natsu, and gave a silent count of three. Very swiftly and with perfect accuracy, the knife hit its mark.

It plunged its arm down, the scalpel clutched in its fingers digging deep.

Gray's screams resounded throughout the room, brought about by pain, then intensified by terror, as the scent and sound of sizzling, burning flesh—his flesh—reached him. He struggled to rise, to get away, instinct and self preservation overpowering his conscious desire to see this through. Laxus and Capricorn leaned in with their full weight to keep his legs still; while Lyon and Loke both tightened their grips around his wrists, leaning against his shoulders, taking turns saying any and every random thing they could think of to distract him from his torment.

In the background, the women could only watch, wishing they could tune out those cries of agony. Lucy took Levy's hand in a vice-like grip, stifling her sobs as she refused to turn her head away. As useless as she felt right now, the least she could do was bear witness to his pain. She felt the smallest comfort that at least this time, he wasn't suffering alone. Levy returned Lucy's grip with the same, but couldn't bare to watch, flinching with every scream she heard, and closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to see him struggle against their friends' hold.

Cana kept a stoic visage, refusing to allow her face to reflect her inner turmoil, but failed to control the slight tremors Lucy could feel through their bodies being pressed so close together.

Erza, contrary to her usual disposition, allowed her emotions free reign as the sight before her tore her heart asunder. That didn't mean she had no rule over them. She in fact demanded full expression of what she was feeling right now. She refused to allow Gray's torment and screams go unacknowledged. If it were possible for her to siphon his pain into herself, she'd do so with no hesitation. Instead, she could only watch and know, and allow herself to feel her own pain in response.

His screams were interrupted by choked sobs as the knife was withdrawn, but he had no time to draw breath for another wail as pain blossomed anew, in a different location, Freed having brought down the second knife as soon as he was able. Gray coughed and struggled, forcing himself to take in air in too-shallow breaths. His hand, in which he gripped the scarf, grew stiff and sore, but it would take nothing less than having his fingers severed to make him loosen his hold.

Sweat soaked his skin, causing any blood that made it past the seared flesh to dilute, running in morbidly pink rivulets across his body, soaking into the sheets beneath him. The ink from the target markings started to smear, but were still legible. Wendy wrung a cloth over a basin of cool water, and dabbed his forehead and face, along his neck, and across his eyes, hoping this provided even a minuscule bit of relief. She kept a constant watch over the heart monitor, and so far, Gray was holding his own.

The second knife was withdrawn, and while Natsu shakily heated up the next one, Freed allowed for a slightly longer wait so he could verify whether to proceed further or not.

"Gray! Can you hear me? We're about to make the third mark. If you want to stop now, we can. Just nod if you can't go on."

He answered with an immediate and emphatic shake of his head. No. He wanted to keep going. He'd come this far, and he wasn't about to turn back now.

The third knife was ready. Neither men allowed any time to reconsider. The mark was made.

Gray's reaction was more intense than before. All the men struggled to keep him still. His heart rate increased, and Lyon was sure he could see his heart pulse beneath his skin, it was pounding so hard. Loke murmured soft reassurances into his ear. Just one more to go.

Suddenly, he paled, and weakly gasped out what could only be curses through the leather gag. His eyes were weary, heavily lidded, as he stared straight above. He labored to not scream, to take in enough air to force out his words.

"Fe ... *gasp* ... I f-eel ... st ... ange ... col... "

Lyon sensed it first. As he'd told Wendy months ago, an elemental wizard was always attuned to their specific element. He could feel it before it became apparent, and the sudden spike in ethernano coming from Gray was both expected and not. Whipping his head towards his abdomen, he was astonished to see tiny ice crystals forming within the sweat and blood. Soon, the others saw it too. They didn't have time to wonder at that before Gray screamed again, this time the gag failing to suppress the sound. None could bring themselves to imagine the agony of a glowing hot blade being pressed against ice cold skin, let alone piercing it through.

"Shit!" yelled Natsu, taken aback at the thin layer of bloody frost now crawling up the knife. He concentrated, taking utmost care to delicately reheat the blade, fighting against the magic trying to reclaim its domain. It was a strenuous balancing act. He had to allow the heat to increase slowly enough to not overshoot the desired temperature, and risk a larger burn spreading outward, maring the seal irreparably. But the stop gap was down. What little ethernano Gray's origins had contained all this time was leaving him. Natsu had to finish quickly enough to complete this mark, and apply the last one before Gray's dwindling reserves put him in mortal danger.

Panic arose when a particularly heart-rending scream abruptly stopped, the sudden lack of sound drawing everyone's attention. But he hadn't passed out. In fact, some felt they would have preferred if he had, but for the drugs rendering him unable to do so. His chest was still heaving, still forcing out screams that would no longer come. His voice was gone.

"It's not physical. Keep going. You're almost done," came Porlyusica's firm consolation. She dared not be more forthcoming in how she knew, having seen how he'd stiffened at the sound of her voice. Those few words were enough to cause him even more distress. But there hadn't been an incremental shift in the sound of his screams. It hadn't grown weaker, or raspy and hoarse, or petered off. It had been there one moment and gone the next. This was panic induced, not due to injury. His voice would return when he'd recovered from this trauma, however long that may be. Which could be sooner if these pitiful humans would pull themselves together and act already!

At last, the third mark was done, and Freed was quick to yank the knife out, dropping it in his haste to position the final one. Natsu wasted no time, forcing heat into it faster than the others, having not adjusted his power output from the previous knife, forgetting he wasn't fighting against Gray's ice with this one just yet. Freed allowed it, ready to move the very instant his runes activated.

"Everyone brace yourselves. We don't know what will hap—"

Before he'd even finished speaking, the runes pulsed, and he plunged the knife down, almost reflexively. This was the largest knife, the widest, and the strangest in appearance. It had to be specially made. They couldn't just carve these marks into the proper shapes with an ordinary knife, not if they were having to cauterize them simultaneously. The blade acted more like a very sharp branding iron, the "point" more of a jagged, serpentine shape. Freed had to apply just a bit more pressure to force it down, the searing heat proving helpful in this. He grew queasy at the image of a hot knife slicing through butter, but that's what appeared in his mind as he searched for a comparison.

Once again, Natsu struggled to keep the blade hot enough to fulfill its purpose, while everyone else prayed for this ordeal to finally end.

As if those prayers were answered, the ice crystals which were already encrusting the knife started to recede. Then, they quickly disappeared as a disturbingly red mist of steam started rising from the wound. Natsu frantically pulled back on his magic, afraid the blade would heat too rapidly with the ice now gone. Why was it disappearing now?

He had a feeling he knew the answer, and was proven right upon turning his head to glance at Gray's face.

His eyes were glazed over, mostly in pain, but also in concentration. He gritted his teeth and forced shallow breaths to keep from losing himself to more agony. Some silent screams still escaped, but he stayed focused on his arduous task. He was the one doing this.

He was controlling his ice.

Allowing a wide grin to squeeze out grateful tears, Natsu returned to his own share of this venture. He could hardly contain the laugh that was trying to escape. This was something he'd missed, something he'd been looking forward to for the longest time.

They were fighting this battle together, his fire working alongside Gray's command over ice.

Finally, the two words everyone was beyond eager to hear were spoken with great relief.

"It's done!" cried Freed as he eagerly pulled out the last knife.

The reactions were immediate. All the men stepped away, leaving room for Porlyusica and Wendy to work. Gray lay boneless on the bed, head lolling to the side, chest heaving and body trembling all over. His now released arms fell limply to the edges of the bed until Wendy gently placed them at his sides. Porlyusica injected a cocktail of painkillers, along with a counter to the vasodilators, into his IV, gently squeezing the bag to hasten the delivery of the medicines. Meanwhile, Wendy tried to rouse him.

She pried the leather from his mouth, dropping it into a bin, and gently tapped his face, whispering his name a few times, sighing in relief the moment he opened his eyes, blinking away so much pain and weariness. She took his hand, smiling to find it still clutching Natsu's scarf, and rubbed her thumb against the knuckles, knowing he usually found this particular rhythm soothing, and gave him time to catch his breath and calm down.

She could tell the moment the painkillers kicked in, when he gave a great sigh at the welcomed warmth and numbness only the best drugs they were allowed to carry could provide.

"Gray? How do you feel?"

He blinked a few times, and Wendy understood he'd need a moment or two. Those who'd paid attention, who'd been able to see beyond the suffering, knew he'd been teetering between reality and illusion the entire time. He'd taken control of his magic near the end there, but was that because he'd known Natsu needed help? Or had he been hallucinating, perhaps thinking he'd been trapped in the kiln again? No one doubted he'd found himself in the chamber more than once since before that first knife came down.

With all the conflicting thoughts and emotions taking so much time and energy to sort through, he settled on the first thing he noticed through the drug-induced haze and exhaustion.

"It's too warm in here."

So Wendy was having to read his lips still. She knew his voice would return soon, after some rest. As for his feeling warm, Natsu had radiated quite a lot of heat in the last few minutes. Gray was likely still feeling uncomfortable because of that.

"I'll cycle some outside air into the room to help you cool down. How's the pain? Do you need more painkillers?"

Compared to before, the aches he was feeling all over was nothing. At the weak shake of his head, she continued.

"I know you're tired, so I'll just let you know that it worked. I can sense the ethernano flowing freely within you now. While you rest, I'm going to try to use my magic to at least relieve the swelling around the burns. That will help me figure out how much magic you're able to absorb." While she was at it, she'd see about healing the heavy bruising she could already see forming along where he'd been held down.

He gave a barely discernible nod, and would likely forget this whole conversation the next time he was awake. But that was okay. They'd succeeded. He had access to his magic again!

"Did he say he was warm?"

The stern tone in Porlyusica's voice shouldn't have surprised anyone who'd known her for as long as they have. But when something bothered her, they tended to pay attention.

"Yes, Porlyusica-san."

"I gave him a full dose of vasoconstrictors. He should feel cold by now."

"No, this is good. He should be feeling warm!" Lyon interjected. He neared the bed again, bringing his hand to Gray's head, and carded his fingers through his sweat soaked hair, feeling the coolness there. Gray closed his eyes, sighing as the gentle touch eased the headache he'd been trying to ignore in order to follow along. Lyon noticed, and continued the soothing movements as he added, a hint of excitement in his voice, "His body is trying to adapt to his magic again. That's why he's feeling warm. His core temperature is lower than it was. It's not as low as mine, not yet. But if all goes well, he'll soon reach the proper temperature needed to suffer no ill effects from using his powers."

Lyon felt a great deal of relief from this. That meant Gray wouldn't have too much trouble acclimating to the cold again. This opened up many options for them in regards to training with his magic. But foremost on a lot of their minds was another prospect that hadn't been possible until now.

He could finally get his sight back.

He looked down when he felt Gray move. His eyes were open again, though everyone could tell it was a struggle to keep them that way.

"Natsu?"

Natsu was paying attention to his face, and answered right away.

"Yeah, Frostbite?"

More movement drew his attention to Gray's hand, which was jerkily loosening its grip on the scarf.

"Kept this out of the way for you," came Loke's voice, since the slayers were too distracted to remember others would like to know what Gray was saying.

Natsu let a chuckle escape as he took back his scarf, wrapping it snuggly around his neck as he replied, "Thanks. I owe you one."

"Hmph. How about we call it even?"

A few soft laughs all around reminded them of the presence of quite a few other people in the room.

"Is it okay for the others to come over?"

"Wouldn't be a good host right now."

"That's okay," said Erza as she and the others approached, "We're just happy to see you're doing well."

"Yeah," said Lucy, "I don't ever want to see you go through something like that again. But you did great, and you handled that better than I thought anyone ever could."

"That means you can stop showing off now," teased Cana, "You're awesome, and we know it. We're done with these stunts for now on. Deal?"

Gray's eyes had drifted shut as they spoke, and he could only give a weak smile, to let them know he'd heard. As he allowed sleep to take hold, he was certain they would remain there with him until long after he awoke. That was find with him.

"You did well, son. Go ahead and rest now. You deserve it."

It was his guild master's soft, fatherly voice which followed him into slumber.

...

...

"You're running out of time."

...

It was the voice of a stranger which greeted him there.

Gotta Rant: So are people still interested in this story anymore? Because 24,000 words in a month is a lot of work for so little enthusiasm. Gotta tell you, I'm losing motivation to finish this when no one's reviewed in the last three updates. I fully understand that new readers are having to read the previous parts first, but no one's reviewing those stories either. I really want to hear from you, especially new readers! I'm not a jerk who holds their story hostage for X number of reviews, not if you all really want to read it; but here's the thing. I need to know if you want to read it! I sure don't feel moved to update so consistently if no one cares about it.

If no ones interested, that's fine. I'll just take my time writing it for myself, cuz I do enjoy reading it. I've got other story ideas I'd like to get working on, but I'm not one who likes to work on several projects at once, so if I have to put this one on hold for a few months, I'd be free to write something else. I must have started writing this story too late, cuz all the fans of stories similar to this one seem to have left the fandom. Maybe I'll get around to publishing it again when the 100 Year Quest anime comes out. Perhaps that will jumpstart the fandom again, cuz right now, it's like a desert out here.

Seriously, let me know what you liked, and if you want me to continue this.

If I do continue, then here's what to expect for the next update. Hope to hear from you.

Next Chapter: So many sights to behold, if he would want to open his eyes.