What's up? NeoShadows is back and with a new chapter!

What's that? Where's The Story of a Dragon, a Knight, and a Fairy Hunter and A Time Before Fairy Tails, you ask with quivering lips and eyes full of hope? I'm sorry, but they're not here. I have. . .Silenced them. MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

. . .Should not watch the Simpsons while editing. Count Boobula or whatever her name is really gets to me.

Anyway, don't worry. I'm working on them next. I just want to get a few chapters in on A Slight Change in Time and A Fairy Unique Heart. Damn, what two years since I update my first legit story? It needs some love.

As I've said before, I'm actually glad I haven't updated for a while. So much new information on Fairy Tail has come out since my long haitus. And it all works well with what I'm coming up with. Oh, this is going to be good! No spoilers though! The amount of times I've had to kick my brother's ass for spoiling shit on my video games I've yet to finish would make me rich.

When I created this story, it was for shits and giggles. My shot at crack. But as recent chapters had come out at the time, this story began to evolve. Which is weird because I'm out of Rare Candies. The story changed, and while I still did not give up on the comedy I worked on the serious note. A broken future. Such inspiration. And this chapter is where things begin to shift.

The timeline will change. In ways you haven't seen before.

I threw a rock at this puddle you called a story and now you're reading the outcome of the ripples that rock created.

So, let's enjoy the show. Action is abound!


Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima owns it. If I owned it, do you really think I'd be writing fanfiction about my own work? Maybe some of the really ecchi stuff, but still, I have some self respect here.


Chapter 6: Shift.

"Sooooo, this is normal?" Ultear tilted her head as she looked on at the disaster in front of her.

It was nearing the end of the day at Fairy Tail. As such the guild hall had to close up and take in the Jewel count on the bar and the clean up the mess of the day. Technically, the guild wasn't to close for another five minutes, but what was the harm in closing up a little early? Especially with the state of the guild Fairy Tail had left it.

As Ultear was learning now that she had been employed for a good few hours today, Fairy Tail had a knack for, pardon the language, wrecking shit it up like it was no ones god fucking business. Even if that shit belonged to them.

Chairs were smashed along with their respected tables, beer mugs littered the floor along with plates and shards of said plates, stains from what she had hoped were food smeared here and there, papers littered the place from requests or drawing courtesy of Reedus, and bodies laid about in drunken heaps or beaten heaps. It was a disaster and even worse, Mirajane had said it was a normal day. They hadn't even had a party a quite a while. Not to mention the regular offenders to the disasters weren't even present today.

Dear god, the woman was some kind of saint to put up with all this.

"How do you deal with this without quitting?" Ultear questioned in awe at the bar maid as she stood by her with Meredy.

"Well, for one, their my family. I kinda have to deal with this all the time. You develop a bit of a tolerance to it." she smiled kindly before taking an odd device out of her dress and pointing it towards the downed forms of Droy and Jet. The poor fools drank themselves silly trying to impress Levy that they could hold their liquor better then the other. Unable to go more then three mugs, the two passed out in a drunken stupor, snuggling another with smiles on their faces as they called out their teammates name in their dream.

"Oh, Levy~"

A click later and the image was saved forever by the little device, run by a picture taking lacrima.

"And two, this makes for great blackmail material. Not to mention the pays good too." she winked before heading off to the back of the bar for some cleaning supplies.

"That would explain how Sorcerer Weekly got all those embarrassing photos in their papers." Meredy said in realization as she tapped her cheek. She had always wondered how Jason had got his hands on them. Especially since the guild wasn't overly too fond of the man. Good guy, really, but you could only take someone saying cool once. Not at the end of every sentence. Or the beginning. Or for no reason. That wasn't cool.

"I'm not surprised. She was known as The Demon for a reason."

"How are we going to clean this mess anyway?" Meredy huffed, noticing that a few of the guild members have yet to even leave. Most notably the man standing in front of the guild requests.

"Goddammit, Nab! We're closing in less then five minutes! Don't you think it's way too late to look for a request to take!?"

"I'm just trying to find something to take tomorrow! It's going to keep me up at night!"

"I'll help you with that! Just let me slap you around with a few requests till you go to sleep! Maybe that will help you make up your decision!"

"Will it?"

"Get out!"

Sulking with a cloud over his head, Nab slowly trudged his way out of the guild. The pink haired girl had only started today and already she was settling in. She had a hell of a glare on her.

"And the rest of you drunks!" Meredy shouted with a vein bulging in her forehead. Said drunks heads shot up in confusion before trembling at the dangerous aura flowing off the normally cute girl as she stared them all down with a dark look on her face. Didn't help she was cracking her knuckles menacingly.

"I want you all out before the count of three. And trust me, you don't want me reaching two." she whispered darkly.

"Every man for themselves!"

"Leave the passed out! Dead weight! Dead weight!"

"It's unmanly to leave a friend behind!"

"Get off me, Droy! Why the fuck are you in my arms!?"

"I like what I'm seeing! Oi, baby, let me get your numb-PAH!"

A mug of beer shot Loki of his feet and straight out of the building, shortly followed by a crowd of guild members running for their very lives. It was safe to say Meredy never got to counting two.

"Wow." whistled Ultear as she looked out the guild entrance to see many of her future guild mates running with their tails between their legs. Or, in Max's case, his pants.

"That was impressive."

"I'll say." Mirajane laughed as she came back out in time to watch the end of the show. "I usually have the Master come out of his office to kick them all out before I can get started. You beat his record by a minute."

"Meh." Makarov grumbled from the upper floor once he had come to the see what the all the ruckus was all about, "I guess some records were meant to be broken. Even if it was by some little girl not even a third of your age." he sniffed before sipping his mug of beer.

"Thanks." Meredy blushed as she scratched her cheek at the attention she was getting. "When you're as cute as I am, you kinda have to develop something to get others to listen to you."

"Other then being cute?"

"Some people aren't affected by that. Like Natsu. Sometimes you have to show a little force." she smiled brightly.

'Yeah, little force.' Makarov chuckled as he downed the last of his drink. The girl would fit right in.

Scanningthe hall, Ultear was still confused on how they were going to get the place back into proper shape. Normally, she would use her magic to fix everything back to the way it was. But she was undercover and to them she only knew how to use a simple magical item. Couldn't risk the fate of the future on a little mess.

A loose wooden beam creaked, not too shortly breaking off and crashed behind the Time mage, in the process kicking up a few table and seats in the air and creating a cloud of dust. An abandoned plate of mashed potatoes and chicken flew up and fell on the mature woman, splatting her hair as gravy trickled down her twitching face.

Though she was tempted. Oh, so tempted.

"Don't worry, young one." the master laughed as he jumped down to the three bar maids. He summoned a towel from thin air and quickly tossed it towards Ultear who gratefully accepted it. "I know many a magic. As does Mira here. To you two, it may seem impossible, but to us," he grinned before snapping his fingers.

"It's simply practice."

Lifting the two fingers he snapped, the chairs and table seemed to come under a spell. They trembled in place before levitating in the air above them all. They rose up high to the second floor were they seemed to remain even after Makarov relaxed his fingers.

"I'll have to use my Titan magic to fix a couple of the beams and upper part of the building. Shouldn't be a problem. You girls can help Mira clean up the mess those idiots left. She'll be training you all on her routine of things when we close." Expanding his two arms, Makarov went to work on fixing some of the damage done around his guild. "I'll have to have Laki make some new furniture for us. And in the morning we'll have you trained on how things work during the day. Won't be long till we have three hot ladies sending out mages on their missions."

Mira sighed at her Master, "Really, Master? Well, I can't complain. It will be nice to have some help around here. I can get pretty swamped when we're busy here."

"Don't you have anyone else working here?" Meredy asked as she went to work on moping the floors.

"Yeah, a few waitresses here and there. But they don't last for long. Some can't take the craziness that is Fairy Tail."

"I wonder why?" Ultear chuckled, frowning as she picked up a bottle.

"Who's the drama queen who can't finish half a bottle of cider!?"

"Wait till Natsu and the gang come back from their mission."Mira smiled cheerfully, bringing a groan form the pseudo mother and a dreamy sigh from her daughter, "If Erza hasn't beaten the crap out of him when they return, we're sure to have a big celebration for completing his first S-class mission."

"Don't remind me! When they get back, they're getting THAT!"

"Getting what?" Ultear rose a brow in curiosity, ignoring the odd chill running down her spine. Why did THAT sound horrifying?

Meredy looked back at the barmaid as she mopped over a puddle of beer and pasta mixed together, "What makes you think Erza won't bring them back without completing the mission?"

"Trust me, knowing Natsu, there won't be anything on that island that will stop him from completing his mission."


"Fuck!"

Natsu grit his teeth as blood rushed from his left side. A thin spike of dark ice pierced from the shadows by the wall beside him. It quickly withdrew from its position back into the wall where the deadly dragon of ice lurked. The Fire Dragon Slayer had no time to worry about the newest wound to his collection as the large shadow pool split into four and spread around him. They blinked across the large temple hallway in a frenzy to confuse its enemy before two found themselves on both his left and right and the other two above and below him.

Jumping back from his spot, Natsu avoided four spikes meeting in his center in a cross pattern. The blots of darkness spread out once again, racing around their prey. Again and again he dodged the deadly assault of magic ice spikes trying to stab through him. On his left he moved his body back, stepped right to avoid the one above, moved back again from his right, and shoulder rushed the three in front of him to avoid the dragon rushing from above to tear into him. It rose up to stand on its coiled tail as he turned around to deliver a flaming fist into its cold mug, only to freeze on the spot as multiple tiny black dots popped out of nowhere to stain the walls on all sides. The ice dragon roared, signaling the dots to unleash the nasty surprises within.

"Think again!" Crossing his arms over himself, Natsu willed his flames to explode outside his body, protecting him from turning into a frozen pin cushion of needles.

The icy needles shattered in his flames wake, melting away into steam. The dragon growled, snorting before it swung its tail at the mage. The blow connected, its tail somehow withstanding the dragon flames to send Natsu flying through the halls till he crashed into the wall of the room ahead.

Natsu coughed harshly as he slid down the wall along with the rubble created from the impact. The damn thing packed a punch. A bruise was already forming along his ribs and spine. Coupled with the stabs from the shards along its tail he'd be lucky not to bleed out to death. Thank god for fire magic.

Clenching the bleeding spots he waited for the wounds to close as he watched the ice sculpted dragon slink its way towards him.

This didn't make any sense. The damn thing wasn't some ordinary crappy puppet made of ice. It thought out its attacks, it was using magic for crying out loud! And not even his flames were holding much of an effect on it. All he was getting were a few beads of water melting off it. It was as if he was actually fighting a living creature.

"Still breathing? Should of known better."

"W-What?" Natsu grunted as his head swung around for the owner of the voice. He could of sworn it was coming from-

"Even at your level, you're still a pain in my side." Eye's snapping wide in surprise, Natsu turned his attention back at the beast made of ice in front of him.

Natsu weakly smirked at the fake dragon as it set its eye's on him, noticing the red slit eye on it's right side, "So, you're not some mindless beast. Well, that makes me feel better." No, it doesn't. His body stung like hell and it hurt to move.

"Cheeky. Even in your final moments, you were always cheeky."

"What's that suppose to mean? I ain't dead yet." he grunted in pain as he willed himself to stand back up.

The dragon of ice shook its head, it's one red eye narrowing as it raised it's needle bushed tail, "Not surprised that I'm speaking, Natsu-san? And don't worry, I'll be sure to correct that." it said menacingly before swinging its tail in front of it, shooting a volley of large ice shards at him.

Natsu readied his flames to blow away the attack, only to stumbled, noticing the volley completely miss him and dig into the area around them.

"Man, for a cool looking dragon, you suck at aiming." he chuckled weakly before moving to his right to dodge a spike hiding in the shadows below him.

"And as for your question, I don't care if you can speak. It'll mean nothing when I turn you into a puddle!" he shouted as he charged at the dragon, making sure to weave through the shots of black ice shards aimed towards him.

The dragon scoffed, slamming its tail a moment later at the Dragon Slayer jumping up to punch its face. The mage bounced against the floor before he was sent back into the wall he crashed into earlier with another mighty tail swing. It once again shot off another volley of shards at Natsu, completely missing him as the shots dug into the walls and floor around him.

It opened it's maw, releasing a mist of cold air as it watched the pink haired fire mage struggle to get up again, "A puddle? Your flames are weak against me as you are now. You're still too wet behind the ears to even pose a threat to mean." it taunted, lazily swinging its tail beside it as Natsu glared at it, "In the future, you would have been a problem. But in the present, you pose as much of a threat as a cockroach. A cockroach that can produce dragon flames, but a cockroach none the less."

"What would you know?" Natsu winced as he tried to catch his breath, holding his bruising ribs in pain, "I'm a Dragon Slayer. A Fire Dragon Slayer. You may still be standing, but all ice melts before a dragons flame!"

"Fool." Again, another volley of shards. And again, they missed. Natsu growled at the action. It looked it was doing it on purpose, but for what? Why? Is it trying to create a dangerous terrain to slap him around in? Unlike the ice it was composed of, the ice it created still fell apart to his spells.

"Your arrogance is exactly why you will fall again. But not before getting in my way. So, I'll make sure to. . .change a few things before I leave this island."

Natsu frowned, "Aren't you apart of that masked freaks gang? Why would you leave when you're about to resurrect some demon?"

"That boy? He knows not what he does. But he is useful as a container. A few sweet words and some visions, and you can create a loyal puppet."

"Container? Visions?" What the hell was that thing talking about? "What the hell are you? And why is that you talk as if you know me? I've never talked to a shadow before. Or, at least I don't think so." There was that time in the odd city without sound when he was a kid. But that was a dream. And the shadow that talked to him was nice, not evil.

"Don't think much of it. The dead don't have need of thought." The dragon reared its head, preparing to bite Natsu who readied himself to counter attack.

Not noticing the rows of shadows forming a U formation above and below his form.

The dragon struck, chomping the air in front of it, confusing Natsu as he dropped his charge. The second he did was the second that a scream of agonizing pain escaped his lips as a row of fangs made of black ice bit into him from the floor and ceiling, catching him in a sculpted dragons maw. The fangs dug through the front and back of his waist, keeping the top half of his body visible to the beast from inside the sculpted maw.

Blood seeped through his fingers as they struggled to remove the large teeth threatening to tear into his insides. At this rate, he was going to die of blood loss. He could feel the puddle red beginning to form on the other side of the maw between the space of his feet.

Breath running ragged, Natsu struggled to keep his eye's open as he was held in place by the dragon's spell. He needed to think of something. Quick.

"Same look as before. Defiant. But this ends now." the dragon hissed, opening its maw again. It lowered its head in front of Natsu, rattling its tail in a frenzy behind it.

It was at that moment, in his agonized state, that Natsu took notice of the shards of ice, some the size of a small chair, embedded all around him begin to glow a pale blue. The began to vibrate in place, shaking uncontrollably in response to the noise created by dragons hiss and tail. Warning to what was to happen next.

Natsu openly grit his teeth in frustration, ignoring the trickle of blood escaping his mouth from the internal bleeding. He was done for. Their was nothing left he could do. His body was too weak to respond to his actions. The earlier assaults had drained him. And his magic wasn't having an effect on it. All that was left to do was hope to survive the next move.

'Hope!? That's your next plan of attack!? God! How pathetic are you!?'

In the glow of the pale blue crystals and the deafening sound of the dragon, Natsu suddenly remembered about the voices in his head. Well, Thraf's voice. Looked like Fasko took a break. No wonder he wasn't getting any help.

'What else can I do? I'm pinned on my legs. I'm losing blood. I'm beaten. I can't even lift my arms.' Natsu smiled tiredly, 'For the first time in a long time, I can't think of anything to get me out of this. Think you could do better?'

"Die!"

In the resounding roar that detonated the shards around Natsu like shrapnel grenades, Thraf barked out a laugh before they were consumed in the explosive mine of ice.

'Of course I could! But, you're in control, even in this fucked up state. So, don't fight it. Listen to your body. And follow me.'

BOOM!

The room they had been fighting in was torn apart. A plume of icy mist clouded the dragon's vision which it began to fan away to clear its vision. Hopefully the attack didn't shake the place up too much. It still needed the so called 'Ice Emperor' for the plans on the island. While the Fairy Tail mages were here, it may as well take care of another personnel matter. It began to slink towards the wrecked exit of the shambled room.

Gray didn't fall in the future. But Frosch deserved a better future.

"Ryu Yashi: Koto Kuro(Dragon's Palm: Soaring Claw)!"

"WHAT!?" The possessed draconian sculpture bellowed in disbelief. A flame shaped clawed palm slammed into its face as it turned to the sound of the voice with the force of a bullet. The dragon fought to stay its place, winning the struggle as the flame died. But not before leaving a cracked imprint of the attack that bleed a gush of water.

The mist parted a path towards the offender. Standing on his own feet, Natsu grinned sadistically at the single eyed glare directed at him with his palm thrust aimed at it.

A sudden change had come over the fire mage. From his hands to his shoulders, black painted over the skin, his guild mark glowing an angry orange in response to the change. Three brown scale like spots lined under the skin of his eye's that seemed to slant lazily. And the wounds on his body had closed, his whole body lingering with smoke, not steam. His eye's looked back lazily at the ice dragon without a care in the world.

"How!? You should be dead!" The dragon roared before rushing at the mage like a wild animal.

Natsu smirked, leaning on his left leg lazily as he watched the shadow within the ice charge at him.

"I'm sorry, but that idiot's not here right now." he grinned wildly, raising his leg just as he was about to be tackled.

"Let me leave you a message. Hyaku Bakuyaku Keri(One Hundred Explosive Kicks)!"

A blur of flaming kicks met the beast head on, exploding on contact in flaming detonations. The ice composing its body chipped away with every blow that made contact, turning into drops of water from the intensity of the flames assaulting it. Pausing his attacks, Natsu dropped onto a one handed handstand before slamming his heel under its maw with the force of a piston. Twin streaming flames followed the blow as it was sent crashing through the ceiling, the flames spiraling around its form in a vortex.

"And Josho Tsuin Ryu(Rising Twin Dragons)!"

Even though the flames were beginning to melt away its body, the shadow resisted the urge to escape its body. It wasn't done yet. It could still fight. These sudden turn of events weren't going to change anything!

Opening it's maw, the dragon fired a beam of ice magic mixed with shadows at the pink man as it descended back to the ground. Natsu moved his body to the side, raising an eyebrow in curiosity as he watched the beam carve a black diagonal line where his body had been. A moment later he could see why. A wall of spiked ice popped out of the line, dividing the wrecked room in half.

The dragon crash landed in the middle of the wall it had created, bellowing a roar of rage that blew back Natsu's hair.

"YOU HAVE NO FUTURE!" it roared furiously, summoning shadows all around them in attempt to stab through him. Natsu scoffed, moving all around the spikes jutting out like automated machines, smashing them into pieces with kicks, palms thrusts, and elbow bashes.

Calling off the shadows, the dragon dived into its own silhouette, passing by the Dragon Slayer in its shadow form. It moved to dive out, only for Natsu to take a step back. He lite his hand on fire, backhanding the dragon as it rose. The blow sent the dragon skidding across the floor. Growling, it fired of another beam of ice around the room in a spiral formation centered on Natsu. He danced around the carving shadows, knowing the after effects that followed once it was done. With a bell like chime, a spiral of spiked ice jutted out in the room, restricting his movements.

Natsu laughed before taking a deep breath. With a puff of his cheeks he melted away the annoying obstacle with his dragon breath.

Craning his neck while still breathing fire, Natsu aimed his spell at the dragon just as it prepared to fire off its beam again. The two elements met, clashing against another for dominance till they blew up in an explosion that covered the area in steam.

From the steam the two charged at another. Natsu came in with a rising palm uppercut, cracking its jawline. The dragon swatted the annoyance with its head, moving its head back to bite into him. Natsu knew better. He jumped back three steps, luckily missing the sculpture of jaws snapping at him created by the floor and ceiling by a hair. Rearing his palm back, he smashed the ice maw into pieces. He blocked the swing of its tail in the wake of shattered ice with the back of his flaming palm. Natsu scoffed as he watched blood trickle down his black palms before aiming at the slender body of ice. He fired off another palm shaped flame at the dragon only to growl as it moved aside.

He backed away quickly, dodging the pillar of ice summoned under his feet. It rose its tail, jabbing it at his direction. He grinned, swerving to his left as he balled his fist.

"Ryu Yashi: Taiho Suiryoku(Dragon's Palm: Cannon Thrust)!" Gathering a ball of dragon flames that spun around his fist the size of a soccer ball, Natsu aimed at the center of the dragon before throwing a mighty punch.

His aim straight and true, the ball of orange-red fire punched through its center, freezing the dragon in its place. The ball continued on its path, flying off further into the temple where it blossomed into an explosion of smoke and fire.

"What was that about, 'No future'?" Natsu grinned widely as he watched the sculpture begin to crack at its center.

"DIE!"

Gathering the last of its energy within its sculpted body, the dragon fired off a massive laser of ice and shadow magic straight at the dragon slayer. Its width and diameter towered the pink haired mage and brought along with its wake the rubble of their fight along with leftover shards of its tail. But even in the face of the spell, Natsu looked on lazily with a wide grin.

Taking a deep breath he simply ran straight at the beam with a maniac opened mouth grin before being consumed by the deadly blast. The dragon was stunned by the action, even more so when it could see a faint outline of the mage laughing wildly inside of the spell that should of frozen his body solid before being crushed by the shadows. For a faint second, it could of sworn that Natsu's face had been replaced by a demons hollow round wide eye's and cracked mouth.

"ONE!" With the blast dying away a moment later, Natsu jumped up above the puppet sculpture before coming down with his right palm slamming the top of its head. A large explosive forced its head down before it found the mage landing on one foot and spinning in place for moment. "TWO!" Stopping in place he used the gathered moment slap the side of its head with the back side of the same hand, severely cracking its entire body with the force. Another back hand followed shortly that had its body on the verge of collapsing on the spot as another explosion blossomed on its face.

"THREE! AND FOUR MEANS DEATH!" Natsu cackled before cracks seemed to spread around said arm, glowing an angry orange-red as dust spiraled around him.

"Hakai Yashi: Karyuo Zen'no Tsume Suiryoku(Destruction Palm: Fire Dragon King's Almighty Claw Thrust)!"

With a mighty thrust, Natsu shot a palm designed after a dragons out of blazing flames at the stunned ice dragon that towered them both. Its sheer size destroyed the ceiling above them, raining burning debris as it roared straight at its prey. The dragon could do nothing, it had no other way out now that it exhausted the last of its magic. A powerful force was also holding it in place as the spots that were assaulted began to glow an angry orange-red. Like a magnet the spell came barreling towards it, destroying everything in its path at the powerful attraction calling it.

It was as if a mighty being was about to squish it like a bug.

The massive palm of dragon flames connected. And within the wake of flames, the dragon's body began to crumble, bit by bit. A second later and the entire temple felt the quake of the flame dragon kings palm detonating in a royal display of a giant quaking explosion. Flames flooded the lower half of the building level they resided, scorching everything in the red waves. Natsu simply stood by as he was engulfed, his bodies makeup being of a dragon allowing him to feel the flames as nothing but a breeze.

'The whole temple must of felt that one.' the Dragon mage thought idly as he waited for the aftermath of his spell to die away. He looked down at his right arm for moment, noticing that it had begun to tremble in a seizure like fit. He scoffed, going back to his target without a care.

Didn't feel it anyway.

Eventually his spell died away. He wasn't even standing in a room anymore. The very wall he stood in front of was nothing but smoke and burning rubble of what was left over, leaving a gaping hole a half a mile wide. The ceiling wasn't even a thought. It was practically gone. He could see some of the upper level with the new view.

"Interesting."

That didn't sound good. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Natsu moved his head to the sound of the voice, only to stop with a furrowed frown. All he could see was rubble.

A slight movement in the rubble revealed that wasn't so. A tendril made of shadows rose up from its grave, lifting up the crumbling remains of the ice dragon's skull. It's one slitted eye looked back at him with interest.

The shadow caught Natsu by surprise. It laughed.

"Do you think destroying this body will stop me, Dragneel?" It chuckled before shaking its head amusingly.

"But, you have caught my interest. You do not fight like the man I've come to kill. Your style suddenly shifted from what I know of you. It has surprised me." It mused to itself.

What happened? Why the sudden change? It should of finished him off like that. He had put up a fight, sure, but he was losing. He was a moments away from death. It's almost as if he became another person. The Dragon's eyes suddenly widened in surprise in a moment of realization before grinning.

So, that's it.

It chuckled hauntingly at Natsu before it's skull began to slowly turn to powdered ice.

"AMUSING! But my time in this puppet is done. I must return to the boy before my presence fades. So, know this, fellow traveler. The time line favors its original course. We are both running against the clock. So, we'll see who's future will take over. Or we'll meet another in the same tragedy as before. Be ready, round two is coming up shortly."

It's eerie chuckle slowly faded away as its head did, leaving Natsu with a wild grin.

"To think, that dumb ass would follow those two here. Things might get interesting around here." he cracked his neck, wincing as he was reminded to the state of his body.

That last attack was alright, but it should of leveled the entire building. But what did he expect. This body wasn't tempered to handle the strain of his spells. He wouldn't be surprised if his arm was left broken. He shrugged, not caring about the damages.

"Natsu's not going to be happy about this. Oh, well. If I hadn't stepped in he'd be dead. A mildly fucked up body isn't too bad. Just wish I had a drink around here. Where the hell is Cana when you need that drunk chick?"

Moving out of the wrecked battle field, 'Natsu' was ready to finish off the second ice prick he knew and be done with this little chapter of his life before a sharp pain stopped him in his tracks. He clutched his head as a splitting headache comparable to a nail being driven into his skull with a hammer attacked him.

"N-Not n-now!" he began to sweat before falling on his knee's. He grit his teeth as the pain seemed to grow stronger with each passing second.

Kyrios. That damn righteous bastard.

He looked down with a hint of sadness in his eye's as his body trembled with a pained smile.

"I-I g-guess now's not t-the time. Not u-until I s-see Heaven. T-then I-I'll s-save him. For Y-Y-You."

With his consciousness fading away, 'Natsu' was able to have one final glimpse of his own mind.

Of stern brown haired women with a sword sheathed in her belt. A white bow tied in her long hair. An odd choice of clothing for a swords woman. And a stoic, yet gentle smile.

'Tch, stupid Mermaid.'


(Before the battle of dragons.)

It had been quite a while since Natsu had left his little team and things were simmering down. The group had some time to rest and collect their thoughts after the little uproar created by the elephant in the room. Or giant demon encased in ice that couldn't die and was in the process of being resurrected in the room.

Lucy and Cana sat across another as they wasted their time by playing a card game the brunette had requiped from her bag. And Gray, well he decided to stay as close to Deliora, sitting silently as he tried to keep the memories of the past at bay. Which wasn't working. No matter what, the memories played in the theater of his mind. Only making his cold anger grow colder.

The tension in the cavern was as thick as the ice freezing the demon in the past. Which made Lucy grow a bit nervous. She wasn't use to seeing her friend in such a state before. Granted she had only known him for a few weeks, but she was sure he wasn't so cold.

She sighed, knowing better then to bother him. He was going through his own issues at the moment. He'd calm down eventually. Maybe once they'd finish with this mission he'd be better. All they had to do was wait for Natsu and see what he could gather from his little scouting mission. Though that still left fighting the people responsible for the demons curse. After all, it couldn't be moons fault that the villagers had become the way they were.

At the sudden thought of Natsu, Lucy felt her eye twitch as she watched Cana draw another card from the deck in front of them.

"You got any five's?"

"Goldfish."

"God Dammit!"

"I still don't get it." Lucy mumbled as she laid her head against her palm, watching Cana take an aggravated swig of her slowly dwindling beer supply and draw another card.

Cana looked back at the blonde with confusion as she wiped her mouth, "What's not to get? You call a card out, you match the pairs till you have nothing left in your hand, you win. I know your blonde, but I thought you were smarter then that." she chuckled.

She puffed her cheeks with an embarrassed blush, "That's not what I mean. I get Goldfish, what I don't get is the whole Natsu thing."

Seeing that her friend still had no idea what she was talking about she continued.

"I know that Natsu's not bad looking, in fact he's actually pretty cute when wants to be. But I just don't get how someone like you could fall for him when he's so. . ." she trailed off before Cana answered for her.

"Natsu?"

"Yup."

Cana chuckled before laying down her cards on the stone slab they were using as a table.

"You're right. Natsu can be a handful. I've known the idiot since he joined the guild a long time ago and he hasn't changed much since then." she crossed her arms against her chest as she looked back at the past with a wistful smile on her face, "He's loud, arrogant, can be pretty stupid at times, has zero manners, makes a rock look sharp, and is easy to anger. He's like a child. But, behind all that, he really hasn't changed since back then."

Now it was Lucy's turn to look confused as she frowned in lost thought. Cana chuckled lightly before clearing things up for her.

"You see, Natsu, since he was a child, always thought that he was alone. You know about his dad, right? Well, since he's never known his real parents, Igneel was everything to him. His only family. And that family one day disappeared without any reason. No good-bye, no nothing. Even when he came to Fairy Tail he still thought he was alone." she smiled sadly as she thought back to the days of yesterday.

Natsu was always smiling when he was a little kid. But behind that smile, their was sadness. Loneliness. A fear to get close to others. It was probably the reason why he was always fighting with others. It was a way for them to not get too close to him. No one would want to be friends with some annoyance that only wanted to pick fights with them.

"But, it wasn't long till he began to fit in with us all. Before he began to actually connect with everyone in Fairy Tail. And once Happy was born, that lonely little boy that sat outside in the rain by himself became nothing but a shadow. He hasn't changed, but it's because he hasn't changed I can still see that shadow. I know Natsu's deeper then he lets on. We don't hang out much, in fact this missions the longest we've ever spent with another, but me and him share a sort of shared connection between us. Even if he doesn't notice it."

"Shared connection?"

"It's something I don't like to talk to others about. Sorry." Cana grinned weakly.

She liked Lucy. Really, she did. But she wasn't yet ready talk about Gildarts just yet. That was a touchy subject. No one else knew about it either. It was her little secret.

Lucy nodded in understanding. After all, she had her owns secrets too.

"So, what? Is that why you love Natsu?" she tilted her her head in curiosity only to rear back as Cana let loose a mighty laugh.

"Love? Hah! Not by a long shot!" she held her stomach as she tried to calm down her laughter. Wiping her eyes of the tears in her eyes, Cana looked back at Lucy with a humored grin.

"I mean, sure, I like the guy. He's handsome and has some qualities I'm looking for in a man, but love is long way away from where we're at. I'd like to get to know him a bit more before I jump into bed with him."

Natsu was a fine man. But she wasn't head over heels for him. She just wanted to see what it be like to date him. And the betting pool spiced things up. She wasn't even sure he loved her either. The whole nonsense with the love letter was merely a push. But, who knows? Maybe if they had some time to spend with another their relationship could evolve into something amazing.

Till then, she was just going to continue with her shameless flirting for shits and giggles. It was fun watching him blush. He looked cute.

At that news Lucy smiled as she shook her head. She should of known better. No one fell in love that quickly for no reason. Still didn't explain the reactions of the other girls, but they probably had their own reasons too. Poor Natsu though, had to go through all that chaos because of one little letter.

"I guess that love letter has gotten everyone mixed up, huh? Oh, well. At least it's given you the chance to connect with Natsu more. Who knows? Maybe you two might just fall in love one day." she winked.

"Meh." Cana shrugged before downing the last of her beer, a small wistful smile hidden by the lip of the bottle, "Anything is possible."

It wouldn't be too bad to have the fire breathing idiot as a boyfriend.

Away from the two talking girls, Gray gagged. Anything Natsu related was disgusting. Who would want him when he was around? He was way cooler. Literally.

"GRAY! LUCY! CANA! HELP!"

A loud cry from Happy snapped all three of the Fairy Tail mages out of their thoughts as they snapped their necks to the exit of the cave. Looking on they were surprised and horrified to find the fluffy flying cat in a bloody state. His hair coated by dried blood from all the cuts on his body along with the nearly shredded little backpack on his person. Tears were streaming down his face as he flew straight into Cana's embrace, wailing as he tried to stop the tears.

"Hold it, Happy! What's going on?!" Cana asked as she patted the little blue cat with worry.

And where was Natsu?

"It's Natsu! We were attacked by some dragon made of ice and this weird looking guy with a mask with ice magic! They caught us by surprise and the next thing I knew I woke up to Natsu being bitten by that weird wannabe dragon!" he sniffed, still trembling at the memory of his friend in pain.

"Shit! Should of known that idiot would attract trouble along the way." Cana cursed silently. The guy had a talent for that kind of thing.

Lucy nodded her head to her friend's thought before catching the sound of knuckles cracking by her. Turning her head she could see the ice mage looking down with a face of frustration shadowing his already cold composure.

'That idiot! I should of known he would of gotten into some mess like this! He can never go a minute without causing trouble!' Gray grit his teeth as his thoughts grew worried over his rival. As much as they fought, he didn't ever wish for anything bad to happen to him. The thoughts were quickly banished though without a second of pause as he shook his head and calmed down. This was Natsu they were talking about. Idiot, he may be, but he was harder to put down then the dragon that trained him.

"Tch, serves the idiot right." Gray scoffed before turning his attention back to the glacier housing the towering demon, "So he'll get a scar or two out of it. It's his fault for pouting and leaving the group instead of waiting like the rest of us. He'll come back, no need to waste our time helping him. "

"But what of he's seriously hurt?" Lucy said in worry, catching Gray's eye as he tilted his head towards her. She looked down, biting her lip in the face of his cold stare before shaking her to look back at him with fire in her eyes.

"We don't know who we're facing here. Just because Natsu's strong, doesn't mean he won't need help. And from what Happy's telling us, Natsu's not fine. And all we've been doing is wasting time around a demon that can't do anything."

"Can't do anything!?" Gray's eyes were open in sudden anger as he took a step forward to his friend. Deliora, frozen or not, was still a threat. "If you haven't noticed yet, the people of this village are demons! They've lost their souls to a fucking curse that so happens to of sprung up on an island that houses Deliora! That's no coincidence! And you still think it can't do anything!?"

"So what!? We're just suppose to sit here, guarding a demon in ice, while our friend may be in trouble!?" she shouted back, standing face to face with Gray as they argued in the face of the frozen demon.

"Then you three can go help him! I'm not taking my eye's off this monster for one god damn second!"

"We can't just leave you here by yourself!" Cana stood by Lucy as she nursed the injured Happy in her arms. She frowned, hating the madness running through her child hood friend at the moment. "What if you get attacked? What if you need help? We're a team! We don't abandon our friends in the face of danger. We stand together!"

The tension between the mages was running high once again. And it didn't help that a beam of purple light had begun to shine through the ceiling above Deliora.

"What the hell?" Gray frowned as he watched the light begin to envelope the glacier in its ominous glow. His face suddenly morphed into a deadly fury as he began to notice a little detail sliding down the demons prison.

A droplet of water from melting ice.

"NOOO!" Moving with purpose, Gray moved into his Ice Make stance and molded a cannon barrel with his ice magic.

Intresting note about magic. It can be directly affected by the mages emotions. Causing normal spells to increase in strength by ten fold. And when an ice mage creates a cannon in deep rage state, you best believe that you better get out of the way.

"Aisu-Maku: Taiho(Ice-Make: Cannon)!"

Several well sculpted automated cannons sprung up around the Ice mage as he hefted his own armed cannon on his shoulders. His mind clouded by rage, Gray didn't waste another second as he fired off his weapon at the ceiling above Deliora where the light originated. The first blast seemed to active the others as they began to bombard their targets, raining ballistic shells of cold ice magic at the ceiling. The shots carried on as the ceiling was left with a giant hole, continuing their paths of destruction and creating more openings till they were set free to fly outside the temples confines and detonate into plumes of cold air.

Dropping his weapon to shatter as it fell to the ground, Gray began to cast another spell, his eyes set on the opening he had created for himself.

"Aisu-Maku: Kaidan(Ice-Make: Stairs)!"

Slamming his fist onto his palm, Gray molded a flight of stairs to shoot through the gaps above Deliora and the beam of magic shining down upon it. He quickly took off, disregarding the shouts from his friends as he rushed his way up the stairs to the lights origin.

"Dammit, Gray!" Cana shouted angrily before taking off to follow her friend.

Lucy sighed as she watched the two disappear through the first level of the temples basement. Unlike her, they were full of stamina. And she'd only been an official mage for a while now. Her legs didn't have the muscles to match them pace by pace.

"Maybe I should help Natsu?" She hummed to herself in thought. Someone had to help the guy out.

A massive roared echoed throughout the bottom of the temple, shaking the cavern they were in and causing the young woman to tremble in place as the sounds of explosives shook the ground.

Maybe he had things covered.

"It's alright, Lucy." Happy sniffed as he shook her arms off him. She looked back sadly at the flying ball of fish loving fur as he floated in front of her. The poor little fella sure had a number done onto him.

"I'm sure Natsu's going to be fine. He's a Dragon Slayer. He was trained for this kinda stuff!" he cheered happily, ignoring his own fears for his friend.

Lucy smiled gently at her little friend. He was still worried. That grin wasn't fooling anyone. But as long as he had faith in him, nothing could go wrong.

"Right." she nodded before turning her eyes to the ice sculpted staircase a few feet from her. "He'll be fine. Right now we gotta help Gray. Seems he's finally lost it. And not in a good way." A sigh escapted her. Didn't mean going up that thing wasn't a problem in itself. She wasn't exactly physically fit as the others. And running outta breath before battle was a death sentence. She was too pretty to die a sweating mess, dammit.

"It's okay, I got ya!"

Sensing his friend's dilemma, and noticing those sticks she called legs logging her around, Happy quickly dug his claws into the fabric of Lucy's back shirt before summoning his wings. And without a further notice, took off like a jet to follow his fellow guild mates, ignoring the tears flowing out the blonde's eyes.

Thank god their was no one below them. They would caught a free peek at her frilly panties. Though, when she thought about it later, their was one someone who did. A demon of destruction. Now isn't that a frightening thought to ponder over.


George was having a nice day.

As follower of a cult that hated demon life, especially the demon known as Deliora, his sole mission along with his fellow cultists was to eliminate the threat of demons by performing special ceremonies. For many a years they had done their duty fighting the threats of demons in the corners of Fiore and other nearby islands within. Some looked back at them with odd looks, especially at their choice of attire; in his opinion flowing purple robes and creepy masks were the shit. Some called them crazy; he called them stupid. And some called them intolerant; he called them intolerant.

For awhile, it looked like that almost all the demons had been eliminated. Their weren't too many sightings of them anymore. And the last sighting had already been taken care of by a guild of mages.

Normally, he'd be pissed that their work was being taken from them by mages. But for the last year he'd been riding on cloud nine as he and his cultist friends had been working on taking out a big demon. And not just any demon, the demon of misfortune and disaster, Deliora.

Wait till the chicks heard about this.

Now, they weren't exactly exorcising the demon. In fact, they were setting it free from its prison. Which didn't sound good on paper, mind you, but they were assured that this Reitie-sama or whatever had the power to kill the thing right before their very eyes. Many of the hardcore cultists in the group had deep, bone marrow cutting, grudges against the behemoth, so they were overjoyed at the thought of watching the demon that had taken away their families and friends killed before them. George, personally didn't have a grudge against it. He just wanted to be part of something girls would dig. And hating demons was simply because of all the stories his mommy told him at night had left a bad impression on his life as an adult. Which he vocally went off about at every bar.

No one told George that girls didn't dig crazy.

The process of thawing the demon took a long time. Had to gather this light from the moon called Moondrip. But, eventually, their fruits of their labor was coming along. One more day, one more day and he'd be off to the bars of the next island, presumably after they killed of the rest of the demons inhabiting this island, and spout his adventitious tale of demon slaying. Then he'd totally get some. What some was, he didn't know, but he knew he wanted some.

So today was a good day. He had a good nights sleep, after checking underneath his bed, and having a friend stay an hour to look for demons as he sleep, washed off the odd black smudges on his face he found on his face every morning, swore they reminded him of marker and writing he couldn't make out, ate a good meal and made chit chat with the female cultists and brushed off their advances, which some laughed at when he told them he was lying, which he was, and got ready for the ceremony.

And here he was, casting the light of the moon on the demon along with his brothers and sisters as they awaited for just enough of the light to gather and set the demon free.

Yup, today was a good day.

"Aisu-Maku: Ransu(Ice-Make: Lance)!"

"Wha?"

The cultists performing the Moondrip ceremony suddenly found themselves being bombarded by several stems of lances sculpted out ice. The lances mercilessly tore through their group, nearly gutting a few of them before they panicked and broke the ceremonial circle to avoid the deadly assault by the unknown assailant jumping out of the staircase that was right in front of them.

Seriously, how the hell did they not notice that?

Unfortunate for George, he didn't move away from the assault. Why? Because he was too busying eying the gaping hole that was in front of them that housed the ice staircase.

"No, seriously. How the hell did we not notice that?" he mumbled to himself, unaware of the raging demon behind him, "And did a beam of snow or ice shoot out in front of us? Maybe I shouldn't of eaten that mushroom from Frank."

"You're in the way."

"Eh?" George blinked in confusion before turning around, only to catch the faintest glimpse of cold blue eye's staring back at him as a large ice hammer nearly the size of his body was swung at him.

Never mind, fuck his life.

"Aisu-Maku: Hama(Ice-Make: Hammer)!"

With a mighty swing of his sculpted hammer, Gray sent the odd cultist flying off the temple, watching as he became nothing but a twinkly in the sky. If he wasn't so consumed in rage, he would of laughed as the man screamed 'Why me?'.

But he was, and soon turned his attention towards the rest of the cultists looking back at him with weapons armed at his presence. Had to give them an example of what would happen should they continue to fuck around with him, but it looked like they didn't give a shit.

Too bad for them.

"I'm only going to give you all a few seconds to think of an answer that won't make me cut you stupid shits into cold fillets of blood soaked meat before I do just that." he said coldly, his hair shadowing his face but still leaving his blue eye's to look back at them with cold rage.

"So, please, fucking answer me this, why the fuck are you trying to unfreeze Deliora?"

"That's none of your business, boy!" One of the cultists hissed, before lifting the odd crescent shield attached to his arm at the raven haired youth. Having enough, the cultist reared the shield back before sending it off like a boomerang at the mage in an arc.

Gray sighed as he watched the shield come at him like a buzz blade. Idiots, he gave them a choice. So much for being the nice guy. He didn't even have to look as he caught the buzzing shield in his right hand before freezing it.

Oh, well. Too pissed to act like one anyway.

"I'm so sorry, but that's the wrong answer." His arm glowing with ice magic, Gray quickly crushed the frozen shield in his hand before swinging it in front of him. As he swung his magic molded a row of spikes to stab the cultists. The cultists dispersed, dodging and weaving the blades of ice stabbing out of the ground before them as they went to attack the intruder.

Gray moved back as one of them got through his attack and went into his personal space with the shield boomerang inches from his face. He moved to the right as the cultist came back with a front swing, molding a sword of ice to fight back. He swung the blade vertically, grunting as the attack was blocked by the weird crescent shield, brought back his left fist and swung, blocked again only to move his sword above himself to cut into the man occupied with blocking his fist. He ignored the blood spilling onto to him as he crossed sword and shield with another robed freak. Gray swung right, the cultist blocking the blade and pushing him back before moving to slash at him with the sharp end of the shield. Gray counter swung his sword to move the attackers momentum away from him, leaving him open for a red gush of blood to open up across his chest.

Another cultist ran to his side, throwing his weapon to fly around him an a one eighty arc. Gray's eye's picked up a faint glow of magic on the woman's hand, realizing that he was in for a surprise. The shield blurred into a buzzing disk and began to move around him erratic. The woman jumped back from an up swing of his sword and motioned her hand around him in several odd patterns. He quickly caught onto her game as he was forced to spin around and block the buzz blade aimed at his back. It backed off, flying up above him only to come barreling down to saw him in half. Gray jumped back, grunting a second later as a cultist got in a shot, slamming into his back with a shield bash.

That hurt. Not enough to wound him, but enough to annoy his already angry thoughts.

"Aisu-Maku: Yari(Ice-Make: Spears)!"

Slamming both hands clutched to the sword down onto the ground, Gray created several dozen spears of ice to stab through the ground around him, catching many of the cultists off ground. Many were unfortunate to get caught in the spell and found themselves nearly punctured to death as the spears dug into their bodies. They dropped to the floor in pain as blood pooled around them.

Four of them were quick enough to evade the spell and went to work on avenging their fallen brothers and sisters. Two of them stopped by the Ice mage and swung their weapons to cut through his sides. Gray swung aside the right shield slash, kicking the man away and weaved through the left slash from the other side, sliced through the robes of the women and quickly thrust his blade into the man he kicked away a moment earlier as he ran to cut into him.

Watching the two drop to floor, Gray moved to block the buzz saw shield cutting through the air to his head. He swung it back and quickly caught the fist aimed for his face.

"You little heathen!" the cultist spat before jumping back. He ran back to Gray swinging his leg at him. Gray scoffed and aimed to counter with swing of his ice sword. But the buzzing shield came back with a vengeance. It aimed for sawing his right arm. Caught in between two attacks, Gray quickly improvised and spun on his foot, swinging his sword in a complete three-sixty.

"Hiya Sekai(Cold World)!"

As he spun on his foot, his sword unleashed a cold gale around him, freezing everything in his personal space to ice. The cultist was frozen stiff in his kicking position, losing his balance shortly before falling back. The ice encasing him shattered, leaving him knocked out as he suffered from second degree frost bite. The crescent shield simply shattered, its remains glistening in the moonlight as its owner trembled in fear a few feet away from the cold mage.

What the hell was he? The woman felt a chill run down her spine as the Ice mage fixed her with a glare that froze her beating heart. All around her, her fellow cultists were laid around in bleeding heaps, some groaning in pain, others not saying a word as their eerie silence made her fear the worse. This was no ordinary mage. How could one person take out fourteen people in the span of three minutes?

"I warned you I'd fillet you like cold pieces of meat."

The woman felt the cold fear of the man standing in front of her want to suffocate her into a statue. She didn't even see him come up to her. Too occupied with the slaughter of her friends around her to see him move again. She quickly rose her weapon up, only to watch in horror as the man in front of her caught her hand. He didn't blink as he froze the hand wielding the weapon into a jutted mess of deadly sharp ice.

"Please," she begged behind her cultist mask, trembling as her fear replaced the pain of her right hand being frozen, the man staring back at her without any emotion on his cold sculpted face, "No more. Please, don't kill us."

"I gave you a choice. You didn't listen. All I wanted were answers. Now, answer me, or you'll find yourself without a hand to fight back with." Gray threatened coldly, his words terrifying the woman to the core. He gripped the frozen hand, his eye's not caring as cracks began to spread around the woman's hand.

"We're just trying to destroy Deliora!" she cried, her shoulders slumping as she fell to her knee's. She sobbed, the pain finally hitting her as he put pressure on her hand.

If he could get any angrier then he was, then a cow could jump over the moon. And then shortly float off as it burned off into a juicy stake at the velocity it was soaring at.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF IDEA IS THAT!" Gray snapped. At this point the rage, the hate, fear, installed into him by Deliora's presence had finally consumed his being. He didn't care what happened to these cultists. They were doomed to die by Deliora's release anyway. It wouldn't what he was about to do.

Rage. It is a powerful emotion. Coupled with hate, it becomes what turns ordinary men into demons. Monsters. Far surpassing what things go bump in the night of our childhoods. And any ordinary man can fall into such a state. His past, which he thought he had left behind, had finally reared its ugly head back. And readied to swallow him back into the hell he had seen as a child. Only this time it would trap him in the nightmare until it spat him back out a monster.

Gray gripped the hand harder, finding himself relishing the pained look on the fool wanting to release Deliora from his sensie's prison.

"It was better off back on another continent. Left alone for the rest of humanities days. But if you idiots desperately want to see a demon," the woman on her knees sobbed in pain, the pressure on her frozen appendage wishing her that he'd get it over with already, "I'll show you a demon."

"Shomei Hibana(Lightning Spark)!"

A loud snapped entered Gray's ear before the rage filled world before him shattered in the pain that shortly followed. Lightning coursed though out his body, shocking his system as he fell to his knees. His focus had slipped from the woman's hand, the ice freezing it shattered as few sparks hit her.

From behind the spiky raven haired mage, a brunette in a short opened orange coat ran towards the two accompanied by a busty blonde and what she could of sworn was a flying blue cat. In between the brunette's hand she could make out two tarot cards designed after lightning and fire.

"What the hell are you doing, Gray!?" Cana shouted angrily. She stopped behind her friend, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around roughly to look at her. His face was pained and confused as he tried to focus on the normally chilled drinker.

"Wha?"he blinked several times to clear away the fog in his head before finding himself pulled up to Cana's angry eye's.

"Have you gone mad!? Look at what the hell you've done!" she shouted in his face as a vein pulsed on the side of her forehead.

Gray was confused. It was like a switch had gone off in his head. He had lost sight of things in only few minutes. But as he looked behind the Cards mage, he knew that something dark had consumed him once again.

Several robed men and women laid around in beaten heaps. Many with blood pooling around them. Spikes of ice and sculpted spears jutted out everywhere around them, their tips painted an ugly red. Some of them looked like they weren't breathing. Looking down he found a sword of ice clutched in his hand smeared with blood, a drop trickling down with an ominous plop.

It was with that sound that his attention was brought to the soft cries in front of him. Looking up, he found a woman just like the people behind him on her knee's just like him clutching her right hand to her chest. A closer look revealed that it suffered frost bite. The woman's mask fell off as the bindings weakened, revealing a tear streaked dirty blonde haired woman who looked back at him with pure fear. Her green eye's trembled with tears running down her dirty face.

He did this. He hurt someone beyond the usual knocking out. Someone he had no idea was either good or bad. He could of killed her. He could of killed them.

Gray got back on his feet and stepped back from the fearful woman as Lucy quickly went to the side of the poor woman in hopes of helping her. He looked down at his hands, dropping his weapon. His eye's blurred as tears began to gather and cloud his vision.

"W-What's going on with me?" he once again dropped to his knee's as a tear ran down his cheek. Cana looked back at him with an angry yet sad look. As much as she wanted to scream at him and smack him around for what he had done she could see the guilt on his face. It looked like he was ready to fall apart.

This island had one hell of an effect on him. It was like a demon had consumed him and taken over. This wasn't the Gray she had grown up with. He wasn't as hate filled as back then. It made her regret not taking Natsu back to the guild. For god's sake! She had to hit him with a lightning spell to snap him out of it.

Cana shook her head as she examined the mess he made. Even though some of them looked dead, she could catch the slight rise of their chests as they breathed. They were hurt. Bad. But they'll live with some treatment. Had she not gotten here sooner-

She shook the thought away. It was a horrible thought to play with.

Right now they had to find Natsu and get back to the village to gather their thoughts. They should also get some of the really wounded back with them. The woman being calmed by Lucy could use some treatment on that hand of hers.

"Look, I could go off and tell you off for what you did, but right now we got to move on. That girl you hurt is only one of these people that could use some help. And Natsu need's our help too. So, snap out of it and help us." Cana huffed before lightly punching the Ice Alchemists shoulder. He looked back up weakly at her sad smile. "Besides, the light that was shining down at Deliora has stopped. There's nothing else for us to worry about."

"You'd think that, but no."

At the sound of the voice, Cana turned her attention towards the voice only for eye's to widen in alarm at the wave of sharp pointed ice trailing its way towards them. She acted quickly and brought out the tarot cards of fire and wind to her hand.

"Rensho(Hot Streak)!"

A strong gust of wind blew a trailing streak of hot fire to intercept the wave of deadly ice, meeting head as burst of steam blew up between the two elements. The steam slowly parted, revealing the armored man that had attacked standing before them.

"I must say, watching Gray try to slaughter all these cultists was more enjoyable then I thought it be. Enjoyable, but still sad. So, as his former brother in training, I thank you for snapping him out of it." the suited man had a small smile on his face as he spoke to Cana, removing it as quickly as it came.

"But you have all ruined the ritual. And that does not make me happy."

"Who the hell are you?" Cana narrowed her eye's as she readied a few more cards.

A slight crack caught her attention as she tilted her head back, only to be surprised at the look on Gray's face.

His face was sweating and he trembled at the sight of the man before them. And a look of shock was painted on his face. It looked like he was reliving a memory.

For fucks sake, what the hell was with it with this damn island!

The past really was playing before him on Galuna. Deliora was one thing, but this?

An old friend, someone who was like a brother. His old rival.

Reitie ignored the woman before him as he moved for his helmet. He took it off, brushing back white-gray hair as he smiled at his old friend.

"It's been a long time, Gray."

Gray was ready to drop to his knee's again, but stood strong as he glared back at the man before him. The same dark narrowed eye's, slicked back hair, and smirk like smile. The past was truly coming back to haunt him.

"Lyon?"


Chapter 6, Complete!

Whoa! Was this a dozy.

The Future and the Present can not be distinguished from another at this point. What comes to be today will be the past and the road ahead will be the future. A shift has hit the island. New events have sprung up. And history had been bent over and plowed mercilessly!

God, I need to get out more. I never talked like that before. Reminds me of another author.

The next chapter will be up when I get the time to write again. I work five days strait tomorrow. 9-8pm. Thank god for the free coffee. It lifts me up and brings me down just right.

I hope to get to the other stories soon. It took me along time to get my laptop to work with me. Could only finish two chapters in the span of, what, two months? Yeesh, that sucks. I need that new laptop. Then days off wouldn't be a problem. Other then my piling video game collection. I will. I will catch them all.

I got to get some sleep. My eye's are heavy and my brain is acting stupid again. Thinking about Pancake Slayers and such. Though that one idea of a pink haired mage fighting a red T-rex like monster of ancient times also known as the Omega that can conjure molten blades around has grown on me.

One day.

Remember, read and review. It's common courtesy, dammit.

NeoShadows fading in and out.