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 15: Skin Deep

At Freed's request the guild members moved away from the table and onto the second floor. Silver, Laxus, Gajeel, Lyon and Erza remained downstairs in case things did not go as planned. Lyon's expression was laced with guilt as he looked over at Silver. He really hoped this worked, he wanted more than anything for things to go back to normal. Silver, feeling the weight of the gaze turned towards Lyon and gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. They would have to have a long talk soon. He hoped Lyon could hold on until then.

The Thunder Legion moved the table out of the way and got into position in front of the stone statue. They all appeared to be nervous but their determination was clear in their stances.

"Alright Bickslow, we'll have a very short window to do this. You'll need to grab on to Bel's soul the second you can feel it. He will try to fight you, make sure you don't grab Gray's soul by mistake or we'll all be in trouble." Freed said. "Ever, wait for my signal."

Evergreen nodded. Out of the three she was the least nervous. Her job was easy, all she had to do was break her own spell. Still, she was nervous for her teammates. Although she was sure they could pull it off, like Laxus she couldn't help but worry about how casting this spell would affect the mild mannered rune mage. Freed began to draw runes on himself as he cast Dark Écriture: Darkness. Evergreen watched his body transform within the dark aura that surrounded him with fascination. Saw how his muscles expanded and his body grew as it turned a dark gray color. His face became that of a demonic creature and horns grew out of his head making him look almost beast like in appearance. Even though Evergreen had known Freed for years and had fought at his side more times than she could count she had rarely seen him use this magic. She knew that even though it was very powerful Freed disliked it. Disliked the way it made him look and act and feel. It was also a bit of a risk since darkness magic gave Freed demonic powers and abilities, possibly enough to incite an attack from the Ice Devil if Bickslow was not able to paralyze him. If that were to happen there was a good chance that the devil would come after Freed. Evergreen could only hope that Freed was ready for that possibility.

Once he was done transforming Freed focused on collecting his scattered thoughts. One of the things that he did not like about Darkness magic was the way his thinking became chaotic and unfocused. It made him feel aggressive and violent and it took a great deal of discipline to keep himself under control. It was one of the reasons he had learned to keep to his rules, it helped instill the discipline he needed to remain in control while in that state. The first time he had used it he had hurt someone by accident and he had been determined to never do that again.

He envisioned the rune in his mind and held on to it. It was a more complicated rune than any of the other spells he used and any mistakes would make it ineffective. He had purposefully failed to mention a key factor of the spell to the others aware that they would have spent precious time they did not have bickering over it. He would have to carve the Soul Cage onto Gray's skin with his sword, this was why it was so important that Bickslow held him in place for as long as possible. The rune, coated in Gray's blood would work itself inside the body and attach itself to Bel's soul and cage it. Soul Cage, like most dark magic, required blood both from the caster and the intended subject to function properly. In his case, rather than literal blood, a piece of his soul would become darkened. Even with all the time he had spent with Bickslow over the years he only had a hazy idea as to how souls worked but he knew that Bickslow could seen them and would be able to notice the change. Whatever the consequences he could not regret helping a guild mate out of a situation, especially when it was not of his own making. All of them had come a long way from The Battle of Fairy Tail.

Freed nodded at Evergreen and Bickslow who were waiting for his signal. Bickslow removed his visor and focused his eyes on the statue, ready to cast his Figure Eyes the second Ever dispelled Stone Eyes. For now he would feel for the strong soul signature that belonged to the Ice Devil. Freed continued keeping the rune in his thoughts as he waited silently for the telltale darkening of Gray's body that would show Bickslow was in control.

Ever took off her glasses and as her eyes began to glow with greenish lights cracks began to appear on the statue. Bickslow waited patiently, his face absent of its usual cocky expression. He watched the cracks spread at first in hairlines but then all at once the statue disappeared to be replaced with a rather confused looking but still snarling human figure, flesh covered in the telltale inky black of the Ice Devil's magic.

Bickslow's eyes began to glow and soon his body followed suit as it became surrounded in an eerie green aura. His babies began to giggle creepily as they surrounded him protectively but Bickslow ignored them. He watched the Ice Devil and as soon as their eyes met he smirked cockily and cast "Figure Eyes."

His smirk wavered as he began to feel the push of the Ice Devil's will as it fought hard against him. Bickslow pushed back with as much power as he could muster but it was harder than he had anticipated. For how ever much progress he made he lost some ground as Bel fought back against his control. This was by far the strongest soul he had ever encountered and as he gritted his teeth he realized with amusement that he was enjoying the challenge. It had been quite a while since he'd had to work this hard to control another living being. He felt a small breach in Bel's defenses and quickly took advantage of it. Gray's body began to darken and Bickslow held on for all he was worth.

"Now, Freed" he grunted as drops of sweat dripped from his forehead. "Hurry, I don't know how long I can hold him."

Freed held his sword out and got closer to Gray's body. As soon as he began to carve the rune into Gray's chest a scream of pain could be heard and it took all of Bickslows concentration to overpower the writhing soul and keep the body still as Freed continued to deftly carve the intricate lines into Gray's flesh.

Freed could hear the noises of people arguing behind him but he ignored them, he didn't have time for distractions. He could see he did not have long as he could hear the strain in Bickslow's breathing as he fought to keep Gray's body paralyzed.

"Sonofabitch, that hurts!" Gray yelled out. "What the fuck are you doing, Freed?"

"Gray?" Freed asked carefully, "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me." Gray panted out. "I managed to get control while he was fighting with Bickslow. Are you going to get him out of me?"

"I'm afraid we can't do that." Freed said. "The best I can do is trap him for a while and try to give you time to learn how to get control back."

"Guys?" Bickslow grunted. "Can you get on with this? I'm starting to run low and he's still fighting me."

"I'm sorry, Gray." Freed said evenly. "This is going to hurt like hell."

"Just hurry the hell up." Gray grimaced but remained determined as always. "I'll stay in control as long as I can."

Freed nodded and continued to carve away, trying to remain impassive as Gray's initial sangfroid gave way to screams. He worked as fast as he could making sure to be concise. Once he finished and was sure that the rune was as accurate as he could make it he cast Soul Cage and placed his hand on the bloody mess that was Gray's chest as he imbued the rune with some of his power. The rune began to glow purple and as it did it seemingly disappeared into Gray's body.

At the same time Freed felt a sharp pain inside of him. He put his arm to his chest and he staggered as he began to feel woozy. The last thing he heard was a whispered "Thank You" from Gray right before a wild howl was heard. Then, at least for Freed, there was nothing more.

o-o

Gray opened his eyes and looked around, his eyes getting used to the bright light in the infirmary his vision adjusting. He looked to his right and noticed with concern that Bickslow and Freed were on the beds next to him. He focused on his chest expecting to feel pain considering something had been carved into it but to his surprise there was nothing there. He moved his arms and was happy to feel them respond to his command. It had been a harrowing experience to be a prisoner in his own body. One he did not care to repeat. He could feel a presence almost in the back of his mind and he felt a twinge of fear. He somehow had to learn how to keep that powerful devil contained but he still didn't understand how or even what his exact situation was and it scared him. All he knew for sure was that the devil was more powerful than him by an order of magnitude.

He thought about Natsu and fretted. Did Natsu know something was wrong? Had he felt anything through the bond? That thought terrified him. He closed his eyes and focused on their bond but felt nothing out of place, just the steady hum that was Natsu. Everything was fine for now.

He didn't want Natsu to break up with him, didn't want him to think that he had chosen magic over their relationship. He felt a lump in his throat as he thought of what would happen when Natsu found out about the Ice Devil. Could he really end things just like that? He couldn't bear to think about that. He had to get this devil out of him, he just had to.

He heard a nervous cough and looked to the left to see Lyon sitting in the chair next to his bed. Gray saw how wretched his brother looked and it didn't take much to realize that Lyon blamed himself for what had happened.

"What do you look so glum about?" Gray asked. "Everything's fine now."

Lyon looked at him sadly. "No, Gray. Everything's not fine. What they did to you, it's only temporary. They don't know how long it's going to keep him contained."

"So what? It's a chance, I just have to work hard to keep in control. What did they do anyway?"

"Freed cast a forbidden spell on Bel. He managed to seal his soul inside of you. It will take him a while to break through the seal but it's only a matter of time before he gets out and fights you for control.

"Bel? Is that the name of the Ice Devil? Have you been able to communicate with it?" Gray asked excitedly. If he could talk to it, figure out what it wanted maybe they could come to some sort of agreement.

"You can ask Silver, but from what I heard that's all Silver's devil would tell him." Lyon informed him. "He hasn't talked, only attacked Mira but she was able to hold her own."

"Is Freed going to be ok?" Gray asked with concern as he looked at the still unconscious figures of the two members of the Thunder Legion.

Lyon scratched the back of his head. "I honestly don't know. There was supposed to be some sort of consequence for using the spell but I didn't really understand what it was."

Gray absorbed that information and sighed. He didn't want Freed to have to suffer for what had happened to him.

"I'm so sorry for all of this." Lyon said softly as he looked at Gray with shame in his eyes.

"Lyon, don't be stupid. It was an accident. You never meant for this to happen and it's not over. I intend to fight this with everything I've got. We will find a way out, we always do." Gray said and he meant it. He might lose in the end but he planned to give this bastard the fight of his life.

"I've kept you from everything you've been working towards, Gray. If I hadn't been such a coward none of this would have happened. How can you be so calm about this? "

"You seem disappointed. Do you want me to be upset with you?" Gray looked into Lyon's eyes and saw that this was indeed the case. He sighed. "I don't know how I feel at the moment. I'm just happy to be back in control, you have no idea how that felt."

"There's no just no sense in wasting time being upset about something that can't be changed, besides I hold some of the responsibility as well. I chose to be there with you, I knew something could go wrong. We were messing with stuff we didn't understand, it was just bad luck, man." Gray shrugged.

Lyon still did not look convinced but he relaxed somewhat.

"Where is everyone?" Gray asked, surprised that his father was not there to check on him.

"They're downstairs discussing some help request from Crime Sorciere." Lyon replied. "I wasn't deemed useful so I was sent up here to keep an eye on all of you."

"Oh. Well, why don't you catch me up on what's happened since the ritual then." Gray said deciding to not get himself involved in the conversation downstairs for the moment. He listened to his brother's explanations while he waited for the Thunder Legion mages to wake up. Gray wanted to make sure Freed was ok, he had sacrificed himself for him after all.

o-o

Natsu awoke with surprise. What the hell? He wasn't dead? He quickly checked their bond and to his great relief felt Gray's quiet presence humming within. He was in his tent and for a moment he allowed himself to wonder whether he'd just had a very realistic nightmare, but when he felt the pain from where he had hurt his face when he fell he knew that wasn't the case. Happy was asleep cuddled up by his side, his little blue paw stretched out towards him. Natsu smiled at the sight.

He stiffened when he smelled the other presence in his tent. Why was Cobra in here with him?

"Just making sure you're ok." Cobra responded to the question that Natsu had only thought. "You gave us quite a scare."

Natsu immediately started making his thoughts as loud as he could and added as many uncomfortable thoughts about Gray as he could. Gray stripping down to his underwear.

Gray kissing him and....

"You can stop that, Natsu. We already know about Kai." Cobra interjected. "I really don't need to hear any more of your thoughts about Gray. That was smart by the way. I kind of didn't expect that from you."

Natsu sat up looking both confused and insulted at the same time.

"Why didn't you tell us you were pregnant?" Cobra asked curiously.

"Because you're too damn nosy and it's none of your damn business." Natsu snapped with the usual charm he expended to any conversation with Cobra.

"I heard some things the first day you got here." Cobra admitted, "I had been wanting to talk to you about them but I was ashamed."

"What things did you hear?" Natsu asked feeling defensive.

"I........I heard what she did to you." Cobra said with discomfort. He fixed his gaze on Happy's sleeping body to avoid looking at Natsu's face. "You had a nightmare and the memories flooded your thoughts."

"Oh."

"Is that how you're pregnant?" Cobra asked. Jellal had sent him to get as many answers as he could from the Fire Dragon Slayer - but he found himself needing to hear all of it. Everything he had been complicit to. Ignorance was no excuse, he had heard her thinking about Natsu. He had known that there was more to what she had told him, the fact that she removed Natsu from her thoughts should have given him pause but he had been too busy thinking about how useless he had been against the dragons to really listen to the warning bells.

"Yeah." Natsu answered. He had not expected this conversation. "How did you learn about Kai?"

"When you were about to pass out you mentioned his name." Cobra said gently. He knew better than to sound threatening when it came to a dragon's hatchling. "Once you passed out and your overly loud thoughts were not covering it up, I heard him. He was scared for you."

"He was?" Natsu asked with a pang of sadness in his voice as he thought about how confused Kai must have been.

"You can hear him? Wait a minute, what the hell happened to me?" Natsu startled as he remembered the pain he had been in and realized that something must have happened to Gray for all of that to have happened.

Cobra shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Jellal called Erza but she was with Lucy. They hurried back to Fairy Tail. We're waiting to hear back any minute."

"How did you get in touch with her in the first place? Jellal's telepathy does not extend that far." Natsu peered at the Poison Dragon Slayer suspiciously.

"They have some sort of portable lacrima they use with each other." Cobra shrugged, "It was invented by some guy in your guild."

Natsu started to get up and get all his belongings together. "I have to go."

"Natsu, even with Happy flying you it'll take you days to get back to your guild from here. You're honestly better off just waiting for Erza to get back to us. At least then you'll know what's going on." Cobra pointed out.

Natsu knew that what Cobra was saying made sense but he couldn't quiet the sense of apprehension at something being wrong with Gray. "He's my mate, Cobra. I can't just sit here and do nothing while he's hurt."

"You don't even know that he *is* hurt."

"You think I would have felt all that if he was fine?" Natsu snapped at Cobra as he stared back at him stupidly.

"How the hell would I know anything? There seem to be a lot of things you chose to hide from us, including your connection to Zeref. Why don't we at least finish our conversation and then if she hasn't called by the time we're done you can go off to find him."

Natsu still wanted to leave immediately but even he couldn't fail to see the wisdom in Cobra's words.

"Fine, say what you gotta say." he grumbled.

"Ok." Cobra took a deep breath. "Tiamat came to see me when I was in prison." He noticed Natsu tense up at his words and knew instinctively that this was not going to go well. "She had shifted into Lahar but I could tell right away it wasn't him. I imagine she didn't have a long time to observe him."

Cobra stopped for a moment and tried to think how to best explain his actions. There really was no good way.

"When she told me who she was I was interested enough that I let her take me out for awhile. Once she took the cuffs off I was able to see her thoughts. She was thinking about her fight with Acnologia and how she needed more power to defeat him. She had actually fought with Acnologia and managed to survive."

He paused to look at Natsu's face but he remained impassive, staring at him but giving nothing away. Cobra sighed and continued.

"I also heard what she was planning to do to me and I had no intention of bedding her. I came up with the idea of having her absorb my roar instead. It worked and she was able to get her Poison magic."

"I didn't know what she had done to you. All I caught was that she had some sort of design on you but the moment I questioned her she completely removed you from her mind. I should have realized....... I'm so sorry, Natsu. I shouldn't have helped her."

"You idiot!" Natsu screeched. "When she told everyone that you had given her your magic voluntarily we never believed her. Thanks to you she came after us and she killed a man we were protecting and stole Laxus' lightning. She never had any intention of fighting Acnologia!"

"We weren't able to even put a dent in those dragons after the Games, Natsu! I thought maybe she was the one we needed to get rid of that fucking plague. And I was right, she did." Cobra said defensively.

"Only because he almost killed our son." Natsu said furiously. "Otherwise she would have left use there to die."

"Natsu, why are you yelling?" a sleepy voice asked.

"I'm sorry, Happy. We didn't mean to wake you up."

"That's ok. Are you ok now?" Happy asked the Fire Dragon Slayer with concern. "You had us really worried."

"It looks like it." Natsu answered trying not to snap at poor Happy who had nothing to do with why he was angry.

"What happened?" Happy asked.

"I don't know yet. We're waiting to hear back from Erza. Do you think you can find Jellal and ask him if there's any news?"

"Aye, sir!" Happy brightened at the thought of being useful and quickly flew away.

"Natsu...."

"You know what?" Natsu waved him away angrily. "I'm beyond tired of dealing with this shit. It happened, it's over. Whatever you did you had no way of knowing what had happened unless she was thinking of it at the time. Everything worked out in the end. It's fine."

"Natsu, I really am sorry." Cobra tried once more to apologize.

"I know you are." Natsu stood up. He felt antsy and wired so he started walking towards the forest. "I need some air, I'm going to go for a walk. Please don't come get me unless there's news."

Cobra stared after him but let him go. Jellal was going to be pissed that he didn't get around to asking him any questions but he knew better than to push Natsu, he could hear his thoughts and they were screaming Stay away!

o-o

"You know damn well that the only reason you did this today is because you knew I wouldn't be here." Erza glared at Silver accusingly as they sat in the privacy of the Guild Master's Office.

"That's not true, Erza. Besides, Lyon is an adult, he is perfectly capable of making his own decisions."

"Yeah and look at where Gray is now because of it." Erza snapped at Silver. "Where were you when all this happened?"

"I was right there Erza, you think I wouldn't have stopped it if I could've? I tried. You would not have been able to do any better. It was an unfortunate accident."

"Erza, we were all there. There was nothing any of us could do." Laxus interrupted his co-guild master before the conversation could escalate. "You said you got a call from Jellal asking about Gray? Why was that?"

"Natsu has been staying with Crime Sorciere. He's been helping them get rid of a cult that has its headquarters there." Erza recounted the bizarre conversation she'd had with Jellal hours earlier.

"Jellal and Natsu were sparring when Natsu began to act strangely. He seemed to be under attack even though there no one could detect any magic working against him. His symptoms became worse and then he just collapsed. Cobra said he was screaming Gray's name in his mind. Once he was unconscious Cobra became aware of Kai and they didn't know what to make of him so they called me."

"I told you that would happen." Gajeel said to Laxus. "It sounds like he felt what the Ice Freak did. That means he definitely knows something's up."

Laxus groaned. "Great. Now what? How are we going to keep this from him?"

"I still think that's a bad call." Gajeel pointed out. "He deserves to know the truth."

"If he finds out the truth, he'll leave Gray." Silver reminded Gajeel. "He flat out said so."

"Look, Salamander's a jackass but he loves the Ice Freak. They're mates, that means a hell of a lot to us. Besides the mating bond is irreversible."

"Gray said Natsu told him there was a way to undo the soul bond. If that were to happen Natsu would have to give him up in this life and all others. Are you willing to make that choice for Gray?"

Gajeel muttered, "Flame headed idiot." under his breath.

"We all know how both Natsu and Gray can be but I think I have a solution to our problem." Erza spoke up . "Jellal is asking us for help in investigating this cult. He said they have some sort of connection to Zeref. Natsu is already there with them. We'll just tell him that he is responsible for being our liaison with Crime Sorciere."

Gajeel snickered. "I bet you Salamander doesn't even know what that means."

"Do you?" Laxus smirked at his fellow dragon slayer.

Gajeel glared at him much to the Lightning Dragon Slayer's amusement.

"Jellal said that they have not been able to find out very much about this cult. They've been spending most of their time obstructing the cult's attempts at destroying neighboring towns. If it really is connected to Zeref I think we're in a very good position to infiltrate and find out more about it's inner workings before we take it out." Erza's expression turned calculating and she grinned gleefully as she shifted her gaze to their newest member.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Silver shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Isn't it obvious?" Erza replied, the grin still present on her face. "You are the last remaining Demon Gate of Tartaros. They'd be idiots not to want you in their cult."

"We've been over this before. Zeref had nothing to do with Tartaros." Silver pointed out, not really liking where the conversation was going. "I'm also not a Demon of Zeref, I'm the exact opposite actually."

"How many people are aware of that?" Erza countered. "Besides if Zeref is involved it might get you closer to finding E.N.D. Isn't that your goal, to kill the last demon Zeref has at his disposal?"

Erza smirked, satisfied that she had gotten through to the Ice Devil Slayer as she saw Silver's eyes harden as he thought over what she was proposing. They sat in silence for a while waiting for Silver's response.

"Alright, I'll infiltrate this little cult of yours but Gray is coming with me." Silver finally answered.

"You can't take him with you." Laxus protested. "We have no idea how long Freed's Soul Cage is going to last. What if he loses it?"

"That's exactly why he has to come with me. No one here is equipped to teach Gray Ice Devil Slayer Magic and he's going to need that to fight Bel off. Mira will just have to give him a crash course in how to fight off a takeover before we go."

"I don't like it either Laxus, but Silver is right." Erza said discontentedly. "None of us is capable of helping Gray in this. He should go with Silver. The one thing that concerns me is that being in the cult will put you close to Jellal's camp. You must make sure to keep Natsu away from Gray for as long as you can. It's probably best if they don't know of their proximity."

Silver just grunted as he got up and made his way to the infirmary to talk to his son about their upcoming mission. He hoped that everything went as planned.

A/N I want to apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter out. The chapter itself had been giving me a hard time but it has also been a very hectic few weeks. Rest assured I was not lazing around. I, along with a few other FT LGBTQ+ writers have been working on getting a writing group up and going. We have called it Fairy Tail LGBTales and it is based off of tumblr at the moment, blogging under ftlgbtales. We also have a twitter under the same name.

Our goal is to try to make our writing space a fun one not just for us but for you as well. Together we all make up the Fairy Tail fandom! We are planning our first writing event in October to coincide with the release of the new anime which is scheduled to premiere in Japan on October 2nd. This event will be called When We Take Different Paths and it will consist of four different weeks. Our first week will feature wlw/femslash pairings.

We thought it would be fun if everyone was able to participate in the planning so right now we are accepting suggestions for femslash pairings. If you would like to help us out go to tumblr and send us some fanmail or reach out to us through our gmail . We will create a poll with all the suggestions we receive. The five pairings who win the most votes will be featured in our event. A link to the poll will be up on our blog on Sunday,July 15th. Please vote!