Disclaimers: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima. All Forgotten Realms Concepts and Characters Belong to Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The concept of the Soulbond has been modified from the video game Drakan, a property of Surreal Software . Kai Dragneel belongs to me.

Chapter 9: Preparations

Gray lay on his bed looking at the portrait of himself, Natsu and Kai that he had commissioned Reedus as he thought about Natsu and what he might be doing at that moment. He was scheduled to return in about a month and Gray couldn't wait to see his flame-brained mate again. He was startled out of his thoughts by a sharp knock on his front door. He waited for his father to answer but then remembered he was still at the guild with Gildarts.

He got up grudgingly and opened his door to find Lyon at his doorstep.

"Hey man, where did you go off to?" Gray asked curiously as he let the silver haired wizard in to his apartment. The last time he had seen Lyon he had told Gray that he was coming back home but when he had arrived his brother had been nowhere to be found. That had been two days ago.

"I came here for a while but I couldn't focus so I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. I didn't think to leave a note since I was planning on coming right back." Lyon frowned as he remembered the long night. "Once I started walking I just kept going and next thing I knew I was in Margaret Town. Since I was already there, I figured I might as well spend some time at the guild before I headed back."

"So did you decide what you're going to do?"

"Yes, I want to do it. I'm going to become an Ice Devil Slayer like Silver. You can have the wife and the kids and I'll be the badass uncle." Lyon teased knowing how it irked Gray when he called Natsu his wife.

"You know, he's going to be back soon and he's going to kick your ass when he hears you call him that."

"I look forward to it, I can't wait to see his face when he realizes that I'm a slayer too." Lyon grinned in anticipation. "After I kick his ass I'll start calling him that all the time."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Gray eyed Lyon with amusement, knowing it would not be that easy to defeat the Fire Dragon Slayer, especially when he was angered. "So what's next?"

"I asked for a leave of absence from Lamia Scale, I think the next step is to take the writings to Levy. Silver wants to make sure we do everything correctly, he's worried about something going wrong with the summoning. He'd mentioned getting Freed's help as well for the summoning circle."

Gray nodded his understanding and started to head back to bed when he heard Lyon call out to him. Gray turned and saw that Lyon looked scared. He looked at his bed with longing but decided to join Lyon on the couch. He sat down next to him.

"What's the matter, are you not sure?"

"No, that's not it. I'm just a little nervous. Like you said, it's a big step." Lyon looked at Gray intently. "Do you regret not doing it?"

Gray shook his head. "No, I don't. I spent years thinking that what I wanted the most would forever be beyond my reach, now that I have it I'm not going to just give it up. Certainly not for more magic." He smiled at his brother. "What about you, what is it you want the most?"

"Sadly, I still want to surpass Ur. All this time and I haven't gotten a better goal."

"Well, this would probably do it, I think. Silver was able to freeze a whole village to defeat one demon, Ur was able to defeat Deliora but only at the cost of her life. I'm sure with Devil Slayer Magic you could take out a demon like him quite easily, that's what it's for after all."

Lyon nodded in agreement. He was still on edge and he was suddenly hit by a wave of nostalgia for when he and Gray had been children training under Ur. He had felt alone and scared back then too until Gray had come into their life. The prospect of what he was about to do had him scared once again even though this did not make him wish to change his decision. He wanted that comfort back. He was about to change all that he was and he needed a bridge to who he once was, before it was gone forever. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Gray looked at Lyon with interest. He could see the fear in the man's eyes and it made him curse Lyon's need to prove himself stronger than anyone else. Still, he had adopted Lyon as a brother of sorts and he wanted to help him in any way he could.

"Can you be there with me when I do it?"

Gray was taken aback by the request. He had not expected the loneliness that he heard in Lyon's voice and it made him sad. It also made him a little mad at Juvia for being so caught up in her unhealthy obsession with him and his father that she was unable to really see Lyon. Then again, he knew better than anyone from his own experiences with the water mage that you could not force love.

He had not really been planning on being a part of any of this, but looking at how scared his brother was he could not find it in his heart to say no. He smiled at Lyon reassuringly and patted him on the shoulder, "I'll be with you every step of the way."

"It's not like I need you to be there or anything, but thanks." Lyon said looking a little guilty for asking this of Gray but he also sounded more confident.

Gray chuckled, amused by his brother's discomfort with showing weakness of any kind. "No problem, that's what family does." He searched the other's features carefully wanting to make sure that his brother was okay before getting up from the couch.

"I'm going to bed now, I had a long day. Your room is ready as usual." Gray smirked pointing at the couch Lyon was already sitting on.

"Ok, I'll just wait up for Silver."

"Suit yourself, good night." Gray made his way back into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He looked at the portrait one last time, he liked Natsu to be the last thing he saw before he went to sleep. He awoke to an empty apartment and he made his way to the kitchen to prepare the cup of coffee that turned him into a civilized person in the morning. He saw a note from his father next to the percolator telling him that he and Lyon had already left for the guild. Gray made himself some breakfast and got himself ready. Today was going to be an interesting day.

When Gray arrived at the guild he found Silver and Lyon sitting at a table with Levy and Freed. They were all poring over some manuscripts that were laid out on every available surface of the long table. Levy was mumbling to herself about the finer points of the language she was trying to translate. Every once in a while she would ask Romeo to get a tome for her from the guild library to corroborate her translation.

Freed was analyzing the rune circle that they would have to create in order to bind the devil they were summoning. He couldn't say that he agreed with what Lyon was going to do but he was fascinated by the complex intricacies of the runes involved. He had never seen anything like it. There were so many rules and one mistake could spell disaster for everyone.

Jobs had finally started coming in and the request board once again was covered in requests for mages. Now that they could all go out on jobs again everyone's morale had begun to rise and a sense of normalcy was slowly seeping back into the guild. Erza had taken the opportunity to leave on a job with Lucy two days earlier and they were all glad. Not only would she not approve of their current course of action but she had needed a break from the responsibilities of being Master and Laxus had finally had to stay and be in charge for awhile. He was frankly interested in what was going to happen. He wasn't familiar with Devil Slaying magic and thought this process was interesting, much more so that having a lacrima implanted inside your body. This also meant that Freed was available to help them with his considerable knowledge, which was rather serendipitous.

Laxus had forbidden that they attempt the summoning inside the guild pointing out that they had just finished rebuilding it so an area had been set aside behind the guild. They would be using a space that the mages often used to train or spar. Considering that it was used regularly by Erza, Gray and all of the dragon slayers they felt comfortable that it would be able to withstand whatever powerful magic was released during the summoning.

"Lyon" Freed called out to the Lamia Scale mage. He waited until the man approached him and handed him a light pen. "I want you to start practicing drawing this circle."

Lyon looked at the light pen nervously not ready yet to begin this step. He looked at the complicated circle nervously. It consisted of two interlocking circles.From what had been explained to him one side would contain a large number of protective runes meant to keep him safe from attack. This was where Lyon would be standing when he chanted the incantation that would summon the devil. The other would be full of runes meant to bind the Ice Devil while their contract was negotiated. The area in the middle were both circles intersected would contain the runes that described the rules of the summoning including the type of creature being summoned, the plane of existence it was being summoned from as well as a large number of rules that made Freed eerily giddy with excitement. Lyon had never met anyone who enjoyed rules as much as the green haired rune mage. This area would also contain a wall of Lyon's ice that would serve as a portal through which the devil would travel into their plane of existence.

Levy noticed his trepidation and tried to make him feel at ease. "Don't worry, Lyon. In order for the circle to work it has to be drawn in a special chalk and you have to recite the summoning spell. Freed just wants you to practice."

"She's right. These are very complex runes. I'm going to go over them with you and explain what they mean. Every one of them is important, they represent the conditions of the summoning. For example, you see this one here?"

Lyon looked at the rune that Freed was pointing at and nodded.

"That's the one that keeps the devil from killing you. You might want to get that one right."

Lyon looked at Freed horrified and the rune mage laughed at him. He could also hear the laughs behind him that come from Evergreen, Bickslow and Laxus and was decidedly unamused. "Relax, I jest. The one that means that is actually over there." He pointed to the rune that was at the very center of both circles. All other runes in that space seemed to expand out from it. "I do recommend you get it right, though."

Gray hid his laugh behind a cough and decided to go over to Lyon to offer some support. He slapped him on the back and said. "Don't worry, Freed's just messing with you. He's the best we have when it comes to runes. You're in good hands. I'm sure he'll check your work before you do the real one too."

Freed nodded. "Indeed I will. We're all here to make sure this is as safe as it can possibly be."

"What does the first one you showed me actually mean?" Lyon asked Freed.

Freed looked at it again and replied "That one just describes that you are summoning an ice devil."

Lyon calmed down somewhat and began to listen to Freed with interest. When Gray felt Lyon had relaxed enough he made his way over to his father who looked about as nervous as Lyon.

"What's the matter with you?" Gray asked.

"I'm just worried that something will go wrong and it will be my fault."

"What are you talking about? You've done this before haven't you?"

"Kind of? The old man did most everything for me. He had been an elder of his tribe and had been responsible for helping the young men through the rite. That's why he had all the documents on him. All I really had to do was the incantation." Silver admitted.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Gray smiled reassuringly at him. "You won't let anything happen to him.Besides if something goes wrong can't you fight the devil with your magic."

"I'm not sure." Silver said honestly.

"What do you mean?"

"Meritos is bound to me by contract and he will follow it to the letter but there is nothing in our contract about fighting other devils. He is happy to go after any demon or perceived threat but I don't really know what he would do if he was up against another devil. It's never come up before."

"Well, that's just great." Gray said sarcasm oozing from every word. "Did you tell Lyon that?"

"I didn't think it would help." Silver said seriously.

"It's going to be fine Dad, it has to be." Gray said as he sat at the table and looked at all the documents on the table with interest.

Lyon practiced drawing the summoning circle until Freed was satisfied with his progress. They all took a break for lunch and then returned back to the table. Levy handed a piece of paper to Lyon and let him look through it before he gazed up at her with an confused expression. "What does this say?"

"This is the incantation that will match the circle. I had to put it together using what I could find of Infernal, which is the common language for devils. It's actually not as uncommon as you would think. Apparently devils like to be summoned so they leave tomes lying around that mortals can use to call on them. There were more than a few in our own guild library." Levy wrinkled her nose in distaste before she continued.

"A few things, most devil contracts require you to sign your soul away. Once you die, your soul is bound to the 9 Hells for eternity."

"Absolutely not. He is not doing that." Gray yelled in outrage, repeating the words Natsu had said to him months earlier. He quickly turned towards his father. "Did you do that, Dad?"

"No, I would never do that." Silver assured his son. "I told you, I want to be back together with your mother. I would never agree to something that would jeopardize that."

Even through his nerves Lyon had to smile at Gray's reaction to Levy's words. It was not that long ago that he had reacted similarly when he had first heard of the Soulbond.

"Calm down, Gray. We just need to make sure that we do *not* summon a contract devil. We will make that part of the incantation. The contract we are looking for is called Infernal Slave. We will negotiate for the service of the devil. He will be bound to do Lyon no harm and he will follow his orders for as long as he lives."

"That sounds a little too good to be true." Gray noted, "What does the devil get out of it?"

"Well they get to stay on this plane and---" Levy tried to explain when Silver interrupted.

"They're playing a long game. They will try to corrupt your soul with every decision you make. If you're not careful you will end up in the 9 Hells just as surely as if you had signed a contract." Silver said seriously.

Gray looked at this father horrified. Was this what his life was like? What about all of his acts of revenge, or the things he had done for Tartarus while under Keyes control? Did those count?

"Don't look so worried kid. I told you, I would not do anything that would jeopardize meeting up with your mother again." Silver smiled at Gray, trying to reassure him although he saw him now stare at Lyon.

Gray couldn't believe Natsu had been so right. He now knew for a fact that he wanted nothing to do with Ice Devils or their magic. It sounded more like a curse to him. How could he have even considered putting his relationship in danger for this! He had more than half a mind to talk Lyon out of it but to his dismay although Lyon looked scared once again he did not seem to be deterred.

"Lyon--" Gray called out but Lyon did not let him speak.

"I understand how you feel, Gray. It was how I felt when you were explaining the Soulbond to Natsu. I get it now and I'm sorry I tried to talk you out of it at the time. I want to do this and I would really appreciate if you were a better brother than I was back then."

Gray looked at Lyon with sorrow. He wished Lyon's life was in a better place so he did not feel the need to go through with this but he had promised that he would support him and so he would. He tried to smile but even though he failed Lyon still heard the sincerity when Gray said, "I will be with you every step of the way. It's what I promised, it's what I'll do."

Lyon hugged his brother gratefully and then quickly shoved him away. "Let's keep going."

Levy continued talking and then it was time for Lyon to practice the incantation. "Lyon, I marked the words of power that you are not to say while you practice. The incantation will not activate until those words are added so you can practice as many times as you want."

Lyon nodded his understanding and began to say the words as Levy corrected his pronunciation and brought out a metronome so he could practice the rhythm he needed to maintain. They were readu to proceed tomorrow. On his last try Lyon accidentally spoke one of the words of power and it managed to sneak its way into the first level of hell known as Avernus. That one word reached the ears of a very desperate creature who could feel the power behind the caster. He immediately began plotting.

A/N I'm not sure how long until the next update. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes with timelines and the like. Let me know what you think, as always your comments and reviews help me get inspired to continue.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed or commented on the last chapter. A shout out to Puck100. Eclipsing Paradise, SilverWhiteDragon and suitupsammy on fanfiction and Stella Formidante on AO3 for your kind words. From the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate it!