Into the Dark Mist

a Fairy Tail fanfic

by Rhov

It was a dank, cold night in Magnolia, with fog creeping up from the river, slithering through the streets, and making the whole world vanish in vile mist. When Lucy looked out at the wisps, a chill ran up her arms. It was too spooky to go out alone. She glanced back into the guild hall, so bright, cheery, smelling of hot food and cold beer. She could probably ask someone to walk her home tonight, although that made her sound like a coward.

Just then...

"Test of courage!" Cana bellowed.

"Ooh, a test of courage, huh?" Natsu cackled.

"Testing courage is manly," Elfman declared.

Wendy shank down some. "Is it going to be really scary?"

Romeo patted her arm. "I'll protect you." It made the girl blush.

Juvia was already plotting it out. "Juvia will team up with Gray-sama. Juvia will act scared and grab hold of Gray-sama's hand. Oh, it's so scary. Protect me, Gray-sama! Don't worry, Juvia-chan, I won't let anything hurt you. Ooooh Gray-sama!"

Lucy had always hated tests of courage. They were purposely meant to scare people. Still, she could not act like a coward in front of her friends.

"I've got a good one," Gray chuckled softly. "According to my neighbors, there are ghosts where I live."

Levy leaped back. "G-g-g-ghosts?"

Gray had a devious smirk as he told the story in a low, haunting voice. "According to my landlady, thirty years ago, the previous owner's daughter killed herself the day her parents tried to force her to get married. Her father blamed himself, and he refused to eat or drink. A week later, they found his skeletal body in the attic. Ever since, the people all over the neighborhood see the face of a half-starved man looking into their windows, the father searching for his daughter, and a white gown floating through the air...without a head! Two ghosts, forever haunting Magnolia."

Lucy gulped hard. "A headless bride ghost?"

Levy bit her lip. "How terrifying!"

"I ain't afraid," Gajeel declared.

"Juvia wants to go," the water mage cried out enthusiastically, latching herself onto Gray's arm.

Natsu bounced up in front of Lucy. "Ya wanna come along and see the ghost?"

"What a waste!" she scoffed, shivering inside but determined to act tough.

Natsu's eyes went huge and pleading. Out of nowhere, Happy popped up and gave her the same expression.

"Pleeeeeease, Lucy!"

"Pleeeeeease!"

How could she resist these two? "Okay, fine, I'm in. But Gray, is there really a ghost? I mean, have you seen it?"

"Actually, I've seen stuff like that," Gray frowned. "It's not just old ladies getting jittery over nothing. I don't know what it is, but...I've heard rustling at my window, and once, when I looked out, I saw what looked like a man's face, with sunken eyes and starved cheeks, staring back at me. Seriously scared the crap out of me! There's something out there. I don't know what, but it's real."

Lucy cringed down, but Natsu patted her arm.

"I'll protect you, Lucy."

"You're just as scared of ghosts," she grumbled, but Lucy said nothing more. Couples were already being formed, and she would rather be with Natsu than stuck with someone who would make fun of her.

Mira sorted things out. "So, seven groups, we go in three minute intervals, walking from here to Gray's house."

Cana cheered out, "Party at Gray's house afterward!"

Gray snapped at her, "I never offered that. Besides, there's no booze at my place."

"B.Y.O.B."

"No!"

The first to leave was Gray and Juvia, since Gray had to unlock his house. The others figured he would also prank those who came next. The water mage clung to Gray, and not even a block away, he had tossed off his coat and shirt.

Next was Elfman and Evergreen, who both blushed as they wandered off into the foggy night.

Erza and Cana got teamed up together, and they went out bravely. A foggy night and tales of ghosts were not enough to scare them.

Gajeel smirked mischievously as he and Levy left. Lucy wondered if he was plotting some pranks, or if he was eager to take advantage of Levy's fear of ghosts.

Mira somehow managed to get Laxus to come along, although the death grip on his massive bicep looked painful. He grumbled about zapping anything that got in his way, ghostly specter or not.

Wendy and Romeo were next, but the little girl looked scared of all the wispy fog that cut visibility to just a few paces. Romeo patted her hand, but Charle yanked his ear before he could get too close.

Last was Lucy and Natsu, with Happy flying above. Lucy just knew that the others would try to scare them. It was part of the fun with a test of courage. At least it was Wendy in front of them. She had looked so scared going out, any pranks would probably fall to her. Poor girl, but lucky Romeo!

All the fog made Lucy suspicious. She knew Magnolia well, but even shops she loved looked scary with the dark mist swirling around. With Natsu by her side, she knew she had nothing to fear, but she did not want to act like a terrified girl. She was determined not to grab his arm, shriek, or do anything foolish. She had to act courageously.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Natsu asked after they were about halfway to Gray's house.

She was touched that he was worried for her. "It's not that scary."

"Yeah." He actually sounded disappointed.

Natsu had hoped for some pranks. He wanted to beat up whoever would be dumb enough to spook them. Also, he had sort of hoped Lucy would act more squeamish. He had imagined her gripping his arm tightly, clinging to him so close that he could smell her shampoo. Instead, she looked just fine. This was so boring, he wondered if maybe he should prank Lucy himself. He tried not to laugh as he got an idea.

"Hey, do you smell that?" he asked in a low voice.

Happy jolted. "Smell?" he squeaked.

Lucy looked around suspiciously. "Smell what?" she whispered, as if an enemy might be nearby.

"I dunno. A weird smell."

Sure enough, just that much was enough to bring Lucy a little closer to Natsu. He wanted to wrap his arm around her and declare he would protect her, but Lucy was a strong girl. She would pull away and insist she could take care of herself.

They went a few more blocks. Natsu kept sniffing and muttering "Weird smell" once in a while, but it was freaking out Happy more than Lucy. Then suddenly he stopped short. Lucy grabbed his arm, and Happy landed on his head, hiding behind Natsu.

"What is it?" Happy whispered, glancing back and forth nervously.

"There really is a weird smell now, up ahead, but … ugh!" he moaned, and Natsu covered his nose. "Nothing to be scared about."

They kept going forward, when suddenly Natsu paused again. He held his scarf up to his nose as he walked around a puddle.

"Someone pissed themselves."

"They must have gotten pranked bad." Lucy looked around. "There's an alley right here. I'm guessing the prankster hid there."

"Lucy, if you get scared, just don't piss yourself. I won't help you out if you smell like piss."

She glared at Natsu. "Gee, you're just a gentleman!"

Happy admitted, "It'd be really gross."

She shouted up at him, "Baka neko! You look more ready to piss yourself than me."

"Yeah, but I'm not wearing clothes. And I'm a cat."

They walked on, and Happy flew above, twitching as he looked at every slight noise. Lucy and Natsu were also both more cautious. As they got closer to the river, the fog got denser. They could no longer see even across the street. It was like the whole world had vanished, and it was just them, wrapped up in a misty blanket of clouds. Lucy had to walk right next to Natsu just to make sure they did not get separated. Natsu felt her warmth against his arm, and he smiled to himself.

Then they heard fluttering. Lucy bolted around, but she saw nothing.

"A bird?" Natsu asked.

Lucy pouted and listened harder. "Everything sounds weird in this fog."

"It's messing with my smell now," Natsu complained. He did not like not being able to smell through all the moisture. "Hey, where's Happy?"

"Did he get lost in the fog?"

"Happy?" Natsu shouted, but they heard no reply. "Damn. I hope he doesn't get too scared."

"Should we go looking for him?"

"I can't see and can't smell. We should just head to Gray's house. For all I know, he might have flown on ahead of us."

Natsu hurried onward. Being cold and damp made this test of courage no longer fun. He just wanted to get to the end and have something hot to drink.

"Hey, don't leave me behind too!" Lucy raced forward and clung to his arm. "I don't want to lose sight of you."

Natsu grinned broadly down at her. "I won't leave your side, Lucy."

His reply stunned her, her eyes widened for a moment, then Lucy looked away with a blush. "Idiot," she mumbled under her breath.

They heard the flapping sound again, closer now. Lucy's fingers tightened around Natsu's arm.

"I saw it," Natsu whispered.

"Was it Happy?"

"No, not blue. White."

"Charle?"

"Too big."

"A bird?" Lucy breathed.

"If it is, that's one huge bird."

Lucy's knees began to shake. She shook her head to clear out the fear. No! This was probably just a prank. Or it was a normal city noise that just sounded weird in all the fog.

"There!" Natsu whispered, pointing to the street. "My God, what is that?"

Lucy saw it now. It was not that clear in the fog, but without any doubt, there was a pale form, like a long white dress. Even Natsu's eyes bugged out when what looked like a person walked down the middle of the street, except, this person had no head and no legs. Just a white outfit floating down the road, getting closer to them.

Lucy turned and ran. Natsu wanted to fight whatever it was, but he did not want Lucy to be alone. He chased after her, then grabbed her hand before she got too far ahead. Right at that moment, Happy flew out of nowhere and collided into Natsu's chest, trembling in terror.

"Did you see it? Did you see?" Happy screamed. "It's a ghost, it's a ghost, it's a ghost," he kept repeating in terror.

"What the hell was it?" Natsu wondered. "Was it really a ghost?"

"Natsu, it was headless and floating!" Lucy shrieked. "The headless bride ghost. Oh God, it's real."

Natsu's nose wrinkled up. "Happy, you smell like piss."

"I was scared," he sobbed. "I was really, really scared. You guys were gone, and then I was alone, and then there was the ghost, and...and...and I couldn't help it. I just went."

They heard footsteps now in the fog ahead of them. Happy screamed and buried himself into Natsu's chest. Natsu leaped in front of Lucy, shielding her, and his hand blazed to light the dark night. Lucy clung to his back, shaking with fright.

"Is that you, flame-brain? You're late."

Natsu relaxed a bit as Gray came forward...half naked.

"Stupid stripper! Where did your clothes go?"

"I'm looking for them," Gray admitted. "Everyone's at my house. Poor Wendy saw something that spooked her, and she wet herself. Lucy, can you check on her laundry while I'm gone? She's soaking in the tub now. She's really mortified, peeing herself in front of Romeo."

Lucy remembered the puddle of urine and scoffed in anger. "It was mean of whoever spooked them."

"That's the thing," Gray frowned. "No one said they did it. I mean, we tried to spook Evergreen, and Cana managed to scare the crap out of Levy, but no one wanted to be that mean to Wendy. She was spooked enough. Romeo said they saw a headless ghost floating around."

Natsu and Lucy looked at one another. Then, what they had seen wasn't a hallucination from the fog!

Gray went on his way, and Natsu held Lucy a little closer as they walked on to Gray's house. When they entered, there was a small party going on. Everyone was talking happily except for Romeo, who slouched on the couch.

"I swear, I saw it," he shouted at what was probably Cana's goading comments.

"Leave him alone," Mira scolded. "Oh! Lucy and Natsu, you're done. So that's everyone."

"That was boring," Laxus grumbled.

"It wasn't for Wendy," Evergreen commented quietly.

Levy ran up to Lucy. "Are you okay? Cana got me so bad, I screamed and a policeman came to see if I was hurt. He almost arrested Gajeel, since he was trying to hold me as I went hysterical. That was so mean of them! Gajeel wanted to spook you guys, but then we heard Wendy scream and...well, we all worried about her and forgot you were right behind. Did you see anything, Lu-chan?"

Lucy realized she was still clinging to Natsu. She let go quickly before anyone noticed. "I'm not sure. It was dark and hard to see, but...well, maybe something."

Romeo spun around. "Did you see it too, then?"

Lucy wanted to deny it, but Natsu spoke quicker. "It was a headless bride ghost wearing a white dress and floating around in the street."

"What?" everyone shouted.

Romeo looked redeemed. "Then it wasn't just us."

Lucy slipped away while the others tried to ask Natsu about the ghostly apparition. She got Wendy's cleaned clothes out of the dryer and brought them to the little girl in the tub.

"Hey Wendy," she smiled, seeing how sad the sky dragon slayer looked, hiding down in a tub full of bubbles. "I saw the ghost, too. It was terrifying."

Wendy looked up. "You saw it? Did you scream?"

"I ran away as fast as I could go." It was cowardly, and Lucy knew it. Still, Wendy cheered up at hearing that she was not the only one to react badly.

Lucy returned to the party. Gray was back, deciding to look for his clothes in the morning.

"They manage to make it back to me all the time anyway," he shrugged dismissively.

Mira shook her head. "So why don't you put more clothes on instead of walking around in your boxers?"

"Juvia doesn't mind if Gray-sama walks around in nothing at all," the blue-haired rain woman sighed dreamily.

Gajeel shouted out, "Hey, let's go somewhere with booze."

"Cheers!" Cana whooped in hearty agreement.

Wendy came out of the bathroom just then, her hair still wet, but she wanted to get away from this neighborhood. Gray gave her one of his shorter coats to wear against the chill, and Romeo let her wear his orange scarf. That made her blush happily. Their large group shuffled out into the fog again. Lucy felt safer with all of her friends beside her. Amongst such brave mages of Fairy Tail, nothing could scare her.

Until...Erza gasped and let out a small shriek. Anything that could scare Erza was surely enough to terrify Lucy.

Up ahead, floating through the dense fog, was a white, headless ghost, a white gown with long sleeves and the fluttering of fabric. Then from the left and right sides, two more dark spirits floated through they air. They closed in and threatened to surround the group.

The girls ran. The guys looked after them.

"Should we run after them?" Laxus asked, cringing at the approaching ghosts.

Gajeel sneered at the spectral forms. "Levy will probably piss her panties if I'm not there with her."

"Lucy might, too," Natsu decided.

"Aye, sir!" Happy said, trembling.

"W-W-Wendy...n-n-needs me," Romeo stuttered. He felt like me might lose his bladder as well.

Elfman gulped and began to retreat. "R-running after women is m-manly." He turned and yelled, "Wait for me, Ever. I'll protect you."

The rest of the boys took off in a run, chasing close behind the shrieking girls. Only Juvia and Gray stayed behind.

"Why are they scared?" Juvia wondered.

Gray shrugged. "Who knows? You'd think they've seen a ghost. Man, those guys get spooked by the dumbest things."

"Yes. It's obvious even to Juvia what that is. But maybe because Juvia knows Gray-sama so well."

"They're just idiots."

He walked up to the floating white specter with a sense of familiarity. Soon it was joined by the two black shapes, all floating up around Gray. However, as the "ghosts" got close enough to see, the white headless shape was only his long trench coat, and the "dark spirits" were his missing pants and shirt. Gray plucked them out of the air and yanked his clothes back on.

Juvia watched with a blush on her cheeks. Seeing Gray-sama get dressed after being naked was like he had been naked just with her, and now he had to put on clothes to go out for work. Oh, how she would love to remain sprawled on his bed and watch him put his clothes back on! Her imagination went dirty for a moment.

Gray muttered, "It's a good thing you got me these enchanted clothes."

Juvia sighed dreamily, "Yes, breakfast in bed sounds lovely."

"Huh?"

She blinked away the daydream. "What?"

"These automatic-return enchanted clothes. They're a real help. I used to have to hunt all over town to find where I left my shirt. Now it flies right back to me."

Juvia covered her cheeks. "Juvia likes when Gray-sama wears the clothes Juvia bought. It's like Gray-sama is wearing Juvia's love on his body."

"You make it sound weird," he pouted. "Well, let's go try to find the rest."

"We could stay here and have breakfast in bed."

"Huh?" Really, Gray was confused about some of the things Juvia said.

"Ah! Nothing! Yes, let's find the others. Maybe we shouldn't tell them that the ghost they saw was just a coat floating back to you."

"Yeah, it'd be hilarious if they really do think my neighborhood is haunted. Maybe it'd keep everyone away and I can have more privacy."

Juvia sighed in a fantasy. "More privacy for Juvia and Gray-sama..."

They began to walk forward. Just behind them, a gray-green face appeared in the fog, a man with sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. He looked on forlornly at the two mages, then with a slight breeze, the ghostly face faded away back into the dark mist.

The End

A/N: In "Gray and Juvia's Fairy Tail Page" on Facebook, I made a reply to the question about Gray: "how does he keep finding those magically disappearing clothes?" My answer was "Magic clothes. They have built-in homing magic and will fly to Gray no matter where he is. Half of Fairy Tail is convinced there's ghost where Gray lives, but it's just Gray's white coat flying through the air in search of naked-Gray." It got lots of laughs, and people insisted I should write a fanfic on it. So, here we go. It's a ghost story that also answers how Gray gets his clothes back.