In the world of Fairy Tail, and in particular 'the strongest team', there were no two battles that raged in the same way. In every one of them they learnt something new about themselves, be it a new magical attack, a power inside of them that they had never known they had, or a personal revelation. Every time that they clashed blades there was something new to learn, a hidden truth to themselves that they were discovering. It was the important part of growing up, of being with friends and taking in every challenge with a new stride. Some lessons, however, were harder than others.

In this particular battle there was a particularly unnaturally round man, laughing as he twisted around twisted figures in all kinds of shapes and sizes. While the beasts themselves weren't a difficult foe, they were exceptionally good at dodging and were taking too long to attack while time was truly of the essence. Erza swapped her requip magic time and time again but eventually stuck with her cat-like armour, the cute ears and cheetah skin bikini giving her the additional speed she needed to take on the persistent ghouls. Though the monsters didn't say anything, nor were they capable of any real intelligent behaviour, they seemed to mock her in twisting out of the reach of her fierce attacks at the very last second. Because of this she opted for her glaive, giving her a large room to swing and still able to push forwards when they jumped back. Lucy, though obviously with less intention, had the same tactical advantage with her whip. Her magical energy had been worn down with a previous attack and the Fleuve d'étoiles was her best weapon to hand now, but the way that it spiralled around her gave her a distinct advantage as it extended to reach the moment that the ghouls dived out of her way.

It was safe to say that the boys had a far less… elegant approach. Both Natsu and Gray were firing their magic in rapid succession, a wide spread carnage around them that destroyed everything in sight and very almost the companions that they had cared for. It was a combination of practise and skill that meant that somehow the fire and ice did not hit one another, as the two had fought together for many years. Both had been able to clearly remember when they first fought side by side and all of the times that they had both tried to attack the same target that had received nothing more than an inconvenient ball of steam. Back in those days, they had spent more time fighting each other than the enemy. Now, however, there was a silent communication as they moved into each other's blind spots, the fire and ice never even touching one another.

The goal to this battle was a simple but incredibly important one. The round man, who twiddled his moustache in an overconfident fashion, was standing on top of a giant golden cannon. His name was Hazoula, and though watching his ghouls getting destroyed in front of his eyes, he had been able to see not one of the Fairy Tail members had come close to him yet. "Hoohoo!" he chortled, spinning his round fingers around his dark black moustache. "Almost complete!"

Natsu looked up at him from the wave of flames, a determined look in his eyes. The only thing he hated more than losing was the losers believing that they had won. They always looked so damn smug just before his fist made contact with their cheeks, he decided as he clicked his knuckled against his palm. He couldn't remember exactly what the cannon was supposed to do, it generally wasn't his responsibility to actually have all too much knowledge of the plans at hand, but he knew that it was pointed straight at Gate of the Afterlife. That name alone told him that this was probably a gate that needed to be kept shut, and that whatever the cannon's power was would somehow open it. He pushed his heels back, pouncing forwards like a wild animal as he kept his glance pinned squarely to the round man. Hazoula's eyes went wide for a moment, a smirk appeared on Natsu's face the split second that he pushed the villain back to slam straight into the wall behind him, a streaming river of fire following.

The click was so soft that if Natsu hadn't had the uncanny animalistic hearing he was certain he would have not heard it. As the moustache man slid down, the ghouls around them became slower and struggled to dodge out of the way, and his companions took the opportunity and began to fire a new siege of attacks, getting through dozens of the creatures as they stood helplessly still. Natsu watched them, a sudden sense of foreboding as he watched the control panel. It took him a few seconds to realise that the lever had been the other way before he'd knocked his enemy from his awkward position of standing directly on top of the cannon controls. There was a humming sound that filled the air, first caught by the dragon slayer as he watched awkwardly. "Shit…" he thought out loud. Light seemed duller around the barrel of the cannon, as if being sucked into its void. The humming grew louder as the darkness spread and a ball of light appeared at the end of the cannon, somehow similar to Jupiter in the most terrifying of ways.

Gray had heard Natsu's curse and looked up, staring past the dragon slayer and towards the gaping barrel of light. The Gate of the Afterlife was behind them, its darkness somehow growing stronger and yearning for the light that the cannon held. It seemed to even edge closer, the universe bringing these two powerful weapons closer together as they reached to one another. Terror flashed in Gray's eyes, and Lucy stopped her attack, staring back at the light with a tremble. Erza was the last to see it, glancing out of the corner of her eye as soon as she realised that her shadow was bending away from her, the new light gleaming against the metal spear of her glaive. Her shadow was now directly in front of her, and in a terrifying moment she realised that the cannon was pointed straight towards her.

The world seemed to freeze in that moment. The ball of light pulsated and trembled expectedly before finally letting go, the shower of light hurtling forwards through the space and desperately trying to reach the Gate of the Afterlife. Erza, however, was in its way. Even for the fierce warrior there hadn't been enough time for her to call on her powers and take her adimantine armours. If anything she had her least protective of armour on, designed for a speed that wouldn't be enough to take her out of the way of the fierce weapon. She had been too late, but there had been another with more time. Gray, in his split-second reaction, had reached out to her. He screamed something, probably her name, but the blast had deafened them to whatever that might have been. He selfishly dived forwards, pushing her dear friend out of the way of the cannon and taking the full force of the cannon himself.

The light blinded him quickly, and in a horrifying moment he remembered exactly what it was like to be shot. It hadn't been a real memory, a memory of a memory more like, but the sudden jolt was enough to replay the memories of dying back to him. He had remembered the shock that he had felt then, the feeling of his heart stopping with a jolt and trying to move his lungs into breathing. He could breathe now, his heart was still beating, and this was an entirely different pain. His body was taking in the magnificent light but it felt like it was slicing through something more difficult than flesh and bones. He was weakening, a sensation that was so familiar and yet strangely foreign, and a horrific tortured gasp left his mouth.

The cannon stopped. His friends were watching, both amazed that he was still standing and waiting for him to collapse. He didn't move, he was too afraid that even if he moved for a moment then whatever pain was inside of him would materialise and he would be ripped into tiny pieces. That was what a cannon was supposed to do, but this wasn't a normal cannon. It wasn't a cannonball that had struck him, it wasn't metal or even anything physical. Nor was it like Jupiter and intended for simply destroying whatever it came across.

"Gray!" Lucy ran forwards, looking him over. She stared at him up and down and could see no hint of injury, at least nothing that hadn't been there from earlier in their battle. It would have been very obvious too, she realised as he had once again gone into battle shirtless. "What happened? Are you alright?" she asked him, trying to meet his eyes.

He was staring forwards, unable to believe it himself. He felt as if he was still staring death in the face, and death was laughing at him. It had more planned for him, it always had more planned, like a children's yoyo it would pull him in and spit him back as many times as it could to watch how long it would be until he unravelled. Gray was going to snap here, he could feel it. Something inside of him just wasn't right. Something was burning inside of him, a feeling that he couldn't place, but there was a coldness in the pit of his stomach and a looming sense of dread.

His friends were around him, seeing the look in his eyes as he refused to look at any of them. They called his name, still in disbelief that he was even still standing. Then, all of a sudden, the ground shuddered. They looked around themselves, ready for the next beast and to defend their friend until they could find what was going on. Each of them dismayed that they could get attacked at a time like this, but Lucy screamed as she saw a huge pincer of gleaming blue crash through the ground, jagged edges straight up to the high ceiling.

They stepped back, looking at the creation in awe as another appeared behind them, more jagged edges and spikes as it rose. "Ice…?" The words escaped Erza's lips as she stared up at it, feeling the cool air from the grand creations washing over her. It wasn't pleasant, and the energy could only make her more confused.

Natsu sent a flame straight to the heart of the glacier, and it shattered beneath his fiery magic. The temperature was still quickly dropping, however, and there was an awkward sense from this. He knew Gray's magic, and was confident that this was his own ice creation, though he couldn't explain how.

"I can't… control it…" Gray said, his words slipping out of his mouth almost unnoticed. He was shivering now, not from the cold but from a raw fear and weakness that was running through him. He was fighting hard, but no one could see what he was fighting. Even he hadn't understood at first, but seeing the twisted ice magic had only confirmed what he hadn't wanted to believe. He was holding onto his magical energy like a gaping wound, trying to push it back and stop the bleeding. It was a losing battle, he knew already, finally understanding just how powerful the second origin inside of him truly was. Perhaps it went deeper that, he realised as he gritted his teeth so hard he could feel himself wanting to break. No, it was definitely more than a second origin, this went straight down to the core of his magical 'container'.

"Gray…" Lucy whispered, her soft voice washing over him. She was trying to be motherly, friendly, concerned for her friend but he could hear a shivering in her voice that only spread pain. "What is it? What can't you control?" Her words were cut off with a scream as she was suddenly flung backwards, the ground beneath her feet shattering as she was pushed across the floor.

"Lucy!" Natsu called out suddenly, feeling helpless when he couldn't see a monster to throw a punch against. His wish was almost answered as Lucy lay awkwardly against the ground, trying to lift herself back to her feet. She moaned gently, rubbing her sore head, unable to see the silver ice as it dropped from the ceiling. Natsu noticed quickly, jumping forwards and planting himself across Lucy, his flaming fist pointed up to the sky. His fire easily melted the dangerous stalactite, crumbling it into a thousand pieces as Lucy could only stare at her good luck with open mouthed wonder.

Gray watched, his eyes filled with lost sadness as Natsu saved Lucy's life. The ice around them was growing now, as if it had a life of its own, spreading and twisting as it sparkled against the flames of Natsu's fist. "I can't control my magic…." He whispered, realising now of what that meant. He could feel his body freezing and becoming more difficult to move, the cold feeling in the pit of his stomach now frozen and eating him from the inside. In a twisted sense, the world was starting to look more and more beautiful in a deadly way. The floor glittering like diamonds, the tiny shattering cracks sending painful snow hurtling towards the ground. Ice vines twisted around the windows, reminding him sorely of his master's magic that she had so carefully taught him, reminding him of what it must have felt to turn entirely into ice. "You have to get out of here…"

Erza stared at him, open mouthed. She could feel herself torn between wanting to obey her friend's wishing and the crushing guilt that this was all because of the blast that she should have taken and that she had been saved from. She was a mute, staring at him and knowing that there must be a way to stop this. She could see what he couldn't, the ice creeping across his face, the paleness to his skin and the temperature dropping around him.

"You have to get everyone as far from here as possible," he continued, and her eyes grew wide. This wasn't just about her and her own guilt and self-punishment. She had people to protect, she always would have people to protect and put before her own agony. "You have to get everyone as far as you can." She looked out of the gap where once years ago there must have been a wall, which now only lead straight to the Gate of Afterlife. Below that, however, she could see the ice creeping out of the room. She could see where her guild members were trying to reach the Gate to ensure it never opened. Just how far was far enough? Just how many people would be caught in this iced prison?

She looked back at Gray, her eyes watering beyond all of her best efforts. She didn't understand what was happening but it terrified her. Behind she could hear Natsu yelling, and a warmth licking the back of her armour. If she had turned she would have seen the ice melting, the dragon slayer running around like crazy trying to extinguish the cold. She had to be strong, she knew, and she nodded to the ice mage. He was trying hard to be strong, and she had to as well. "Lucy, Natsu, you need to get everyone out of here as fast as you can," she ordered them both, her voice stern and as cold as the room.

Natsu looked at her, stopping his fiery push back for just a moment. "Huh? What are you going to do?" he asked her, curious why she was still defying Gray when she had seemed to agree with leaving.

Erza pulled back her hand, a shining bright light appearing as she clasped onto the hilt of a blade from the other world. It felt good to have a weapon in her hand, it felt comforting to touch cold metal. Somehow in a blade there was hope, there was a determination. "I'm going to find Hazoula. I'm going to make him tell us how to stop this," she said, her eyes glazing as she refused to look back, not even for a moment, to Gray's freezing image. She didn't want to think of the way that this could end, only the way that it could be stopped. She seemed to run two steps at a time, knowing that the strange round man couldn't have gotten far but that he would have bolted at the first chance. Time was against her, but she couldn't focus on that. There was a way around this.

Natsu stared after her, surprised by her sudden decision but also impressed. Now, at least, there was hope. There had always been hope for Natsu, however, but mostly because he hadn't taken into account of the full situation. This was another adventure; this was going to be another great story. That wasn't to say that danger wasn't there, of course, but Erza was a responsible leader and if she said that he could fix this then he had absolutely no doubt that she would. Lucy squealed again as another block of ice crashed to the ground, and Natsu was suddenly reminded that they had to keep up with their end of the bargain. He gripped his fist tightly. "Right. Don't worry, Gray, Erza's got this. We'll get everyone back for now," he told him, still not truly taking him in as he stepped away.

"Nat…su…." Something about the tremble in Gray's voice made Natsu stop and look back at him. And really, really look. Gray was holding his stomach, a pain inside of him that by now he couldn't differentiate between heat and cold. His body was turning blue and pale, barely moving at all. When he reached out and tried to grab his friend, his knees gave out below him. He fell, able to still hold himself up but barely. There was shivering, all kinds of shivering. A shivering from fear, from pain, from sadness, from concern, from weakness and from a blistering cold.

Natsu's eyes went a little wider watching him, not quite able to take it all in, but knowing that he had been called for. "Lucy… go on ahead," he told her.

Lucy squealed, not sure that she could possibly handle such a big responsibility by herself. Then there was concern for her friend. Even a fire mage couldn't be completely immune to the cold that was burning through her lungs. "What?!"

He looked back at her, his eyes dead set in determination now. A plan was forming in his head, and he was wondering from the way that Gray was reaching out to him that he had thought the same thing. "I can melt some of the ice from here, and buy Erza some more time," he said, and the tone of his voice showed that there was no way that he would let any other logic talk him out of this. But he did look back at Lucy and smiled at her. "You can do it. You'll have Happy with you too." He told her, not even letting Happy have an option in this. Luckily the small blue cat didn't complain and simply trusted Natsu completely.

Lucy panicked. She felt like she absolutely could not do this, she didn't even know where to start. But all of the fear and concern in the world couldn't block the fact that she was also really, really cold. She glanced back at them both, taking a small half-step back. She had to get everyone out of here, didn't Natsu count? She took another small step back, his logic seeping into her. There was something that had always been difficult between a fire mage and an ice wizard being so close, and now perhaps they could use their contradictions to save everything. She stared back at Gray for a moment, and he nodded to her. He too wanted her to go, needed her to go. And she ran, as fast as her feet would take her.

The ceiling shivered and a huge chunk of it crashed against the ground. The ice was spreading, diving into every crack in the old building and pressing it open wider. There were creaks and crashes even beyond where they could see, and the two had to wonder just how long there would be anything left. Natsu pulled his fists tight, the brilliant flames gathering around his fists and feet, twisting around him. He held them there, burning through the ice around him, before pushing out and engulfing them both in a cyclone of flames. The ice began to melt into water, licking against his flames as he had to push his powers back.

Gray bowed his head, shame washing over him. He gripped his fist tightly, unable to look at Natsu as he was on his knees, feeling lost and afraid. Pain was running through him, making his body tremble, but there was another reason for the tears that fell to the ground. "I'm sorry, Natsu…" The dragon slayer looked interested, the ice mage grasping his full attention for once. "I'm sorry for pulling you into this…"

Natsu tried to process his words for a moment, taking longer than usual as he also concentrated his flames to fight against the growing water from outside and ice that continued to spread underneath his feet. He only stared at him blankly, wondering why there was anything for him to be sorry about. They were Fairy Tail, they were nakama, and that meant that they would look after each other no matter the consequences. He gave him a warming smile. "Just hold out until Erza's back, OK?" he told him, still confident in the requip wizard.

Gray tilted up his head and Natsu now could see the tears that had frozen against his cheeks. He could see the blue glistening against his skin, and suddenly knew that in front of him was more ice than human. There was a sharp and unexpected pain in Natsu's chest as he saw that, and even more as he saw Gray's shaky hand lift up towards him. "Help… Me…" he asked, his voice weak. Natsu wasn't sure if he had ever heard Gray speak those words to him but he knew in that moment he never wanted to hear them again. There was something broken inside of them, something that desperately needed something to hold onto.

Natsu told himself that his body was the warmest part of the magic. He told himself that this was the real reason that he was on his knees, why he ignored the hand that Gray had reached out and instead pulled him close to her chest. He told himself it wasn't a hug, it was a way for magic to spread to the coldest centre and protect his friend from the magic burning inside of him.

Gray gasped, barely able to understand but for a moment he could feel true, real heat. He could feel his limbs, he could feel tears on his cheeks and he could feel strong arms wrapped around himself. He could feel his own weakness, too, feel himself leaning into it more than he had ever wanted to. His eyes closed. "I can't hold on any longer…" he warned Natsu, the magical energy trembling inside of him. This had only been the tip of the iceberg, but he had tried to hold out for as long as possible. He could only hope that Lucy had managed to warn the others and get to a safe distance, and that Erza had given up her quest and ran as far as her legs would take her. He didn't know if it would be far enough, but he could feel heat against Natsu. He could feel a faint shadow of what warmth should have been, and it would be over soon. One way or another. "Don't hold back."

Natsu nodded. He was afraid now, this felt like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He was holding his friend in his arms and had no idea how that this would end. He could feel the magical energy pouring out even before Gray had managed to give his warning, he had obviously been pushed well past his breaking point, and he knew that holding back was never an option. "With you? Never."

His magic was strong, but so was Gray's, and suddenly he wasn't so confident anymore. Natsu closed his eyes tightly, pouring everything he had into making the world as hot as possible. The flame of a dragon, or even stronger if such a thing was even possible. One burst of energy, twisting around him, and still he could feel the cold grasping his skin. It was so cold that it was painful and he pushed forwards through it, pouring every emotion that he felt into his magic. He was confused, afraid, determined, angry… Yes, angry. That was the one he tried to focus on, trying to pull it forward in his mind. He was angry that this was happening, that he had pushed the lever on the cannon. He was angry that he had known, deep down, that Erza had tears in her eyes as she left the room. And yes, he was angry that he had been made to stay. He was angry that he had to be put into this, that he had to fight it, that he always had to fight the stupid Ice Block. He was angry that he could feel his strength draining out of him, every last drop of magic flooding into fire. He was angry that Gray was leaning into him now, angry that he couldn't feel him moving and he let out a deep, hoarse scream into the heavens.

Lucy looked back on herself, staring at the bright light in a sudden terror and awe. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, and there was something horrifyingly beautiful about it. She recognised its location straight away, the place that she had been running from and directing every else to escape from as well. There was a huge tunnel heading straight into the sky, the brightest and clearest of purples she had ever seen. The colour was so magnificent for a moment it made her want to cry, but there was a terror that held onto her that stopped her. "Natsu…" she breathed.

Erza looked up at the brilliant light, teeth gritted tightly. The light was a warning beacon, a symbol straight to the heavens that she had failed. The round mage was at her fingertips of course, but he had bumbled through his answers and hadn't had the faintest clue how to stop the curse that had struck her dear friend. "Gray…" she whispered under her breath, pulling her hostage with her as she ran straight back, a prayer and a curse on her lips at the same time.