Fairy Tail 1. Carnage & Creation

**Chapter 1 – Carnage And Creation**

It was unlike anything she had felt before. The pain was so searing, so intense that she couldn't even figure out how to scream out right now. It seemed to continue on for an age, and then she finally hit the ground with a heavy thud and the pain of the impact. Her strength was so drained that she doubted she would wake up after she lost consciousness.

She vaguely heard the screams and cries of terror around her as she laid there, dazed and barely conscious as everything happened around her. With a growl of anger and self-hatred that she barely pulled off, she tried desperately to move so she could get up and keep fighting. It was useless and she couldn't even let out the scream of frustration that she felt like letting out.

Soon, the blood loss was too severe and she slipped into unconsciousness...

* * *

It was a normal day at Fairy Tail in the beautiful city of Magnolia. The sun was shining, Mirajane was serving drinks to everyone, Natsu and Gray were butting heads as Happy ate a fish, while Erza and Lucy were rolling their eyes and the Master sat on the bar, not exactly sober, chuckling away.

Without warning, as it always was, everyone started to feel drowsy for no particular reason. The less powerful succumbed to the sleep magic quicker, where as people like Erza, Gray, Natsu and the Master stayed awake just long enough to see Mystogan walk through the front door, carrying something before they all fell asleep. The Master usually wouldn't be affected at all, but he had probably had to much to drink, and just let the spell lull him to slumber for the next few minutes.

The young masked man carefully placed down what he was carrying on one of the unoccupied tables as everyone snored around him. Before he left, he decided to take a mission while he was here, and he leapt gracefully up to the second floor and with only a moment's deciding time, he took a flyer off the board and left just as quickly as he had came.

After a few minutes, everyone came to, some faster than others and it took them all a moment to notice the girl laying on the table, who had clearly been severely injured. There were deep lacerations on her arms and legs, as well as a large slash across her back. Her clothes were torn and stained with blood, and she was bruised so badly that most of her skin was purple or blue.

Short, black hair covered her head, and was singed and it seemed that some of the dark locks had been forcefully torn out. Her left cheek had scratches on it, and her bottom lip was swollen and split. Her wounds had stopped bleeding even though they looked fresh, as if they had happened within the last few hours, and she was barely breathing but everyone in the room was for some reason afraid to approach her, as if she might just die if they touched her.

The Master was the first to react, knowing that Mystogan brought her here for a reason and without even knowing who she was, he immediately went over to her and quickly looked her over. He called Gray over, who was there in a flash, and the Master quietly asked him to freeze the girls body. With confusion, and worry about her being thawed out and whether it would kill her or save her, he trusted Makarov's words and very gently froze the girl who only looked to be around 20 or so years old.

"Reedus. Please take her to Porlyusica for treatment. I fear this girl may not survive her injuries, so you must make haste." he said quietly, and Gray took the responsibility of carrying the girl out to Reedus' magical pig drawn cart and gently putting her down in the back.

With that, Reedus left, and everyone went back inside, wondering what exactly just happened. Why did Mystogan all of a sudden turn up, and better yet, why did he bring a half-dead girl back to the guild? Everyone tried so hard to think about if they recognised the girl or had even just seen the girl somewhere, which would help them figure out what was going on.

"Master, what was the last mission that Mystogan took?" Mira asked with her usual soft, sweet voice, hoping that might give them some leads.

"He was going to take care of a dark guild..." he stopped briefly and the solution seemed to come to him before he spoke with an enlightened tone, "that had been attacking villages to the east! She must have been a victim of the attacks. Mystogan wouldn't have brought her here for nothing. There must be something important about her." Master spoke as if he was thinking out loud, although everyone was listening to his words.

All of the guild members felt so angry that a dark guild would do such horrible damage, and chances were that there was countless people that wouldn't be able to see the light of the next day, as well as the innocent civilians that would have been just as badly injured as the mystery girl. Although the nice mood everyone had been in wouldn't return, they were all glad that they might be able to help the girl.

A while later, Reedus returned to tell them about what Porlyusica had said about the girl's injuries and her prognosis. He told them that Porlyusica had said she would need to get rid of all the dark magic out of the girl's system before she could truly be on the mend, and hopefully her wounds wouldn't get the better of her until that time. She had mentioned that Gray's freezing her helped significantly as it slowed the progression of the evil magic breaking down her immune system to nearly a complete stop, which Gray felt a burst of pride at hearing.

The painter said that she didn't say for sure either way whether the girl would survive, just that it would take a lot of work and a lot of will to live from the girl for her to pull through and fully recover. As horrible as it was to not be sure of whether the girl would live or not, they all seemed to have a feeling, though no-one spoke of it, that she would be okay. Porlyusica had said that when the girl began recovering her magical power, it would help as well.

When Reedus mentioned 'magical power', the Master and Erza looked at each other knowingly. It was obvious that there was something very special about this girl. None of them saw any guild marks on her and obviously she was so depleted of magical power, they couldn't even feel it from her, but it answered the question of why Mystogan had brought her back here.

So, they went on with their business, and even though for the rest of the day no one brought up the incident, it was in the back of everyone's mind...

* * *

**One Month Later**

Gray sat high up in a tree in the forest, and sighed long and deeply. Even though everyone was still thinking about it, he seemed to feel like he was more worried about the girl than most of the other guild members. Maybe it was because he felt how frail and destroyed her body was, saw up close the horrific damage done to her, and felt her fractured and broken bones, her bruised and lacerated skin. He felt her broken ribs as he placed his hands on her stomach to freeze her body gently as he could. The sight of the girl in that state had kept him awake at night.

He hoped that since she had survived this long, that it would mean that she would pull through, but as he looked through the window of Porlyusica's house from the all too conveniently placed branch he had sat on for the last few hours, he could see that she still looked so sickly, and painfully gaunt. The older woman had tried to shoo him away several times, since he had visited every second day or so, but he had been allowed to stay since he had quickly come up with the excuse that Makarov had asked him to check up on the girl.

Porlyusica's gasping drew his attention, and his head snapped back towards the window to see that the girls eyes were cracking open. Before he even realised it, he was on the window sill, as Porlyusica quickly looked over the girl for any signs that she might be on the mend now that she had regained consciousness, hopefully meaning that the dark magic preventing her from healing had been dissolved from her system.

Before either Gray or Porlyusica could react, they noticed the girl was crying. When she started trying to move and get up, Porlyusica yelled at her to stay still, and that she would open up her wounds if she moved too much. The girl flinched, but listened and stopped moving but continued crying with so much pain in her bloodshot, vibrant blue eyes, that Gray felt so sorry for her.

Porlyusica mixed up some medicine for the girl who didn't resist to drinking down the mix of ingredients that would help to heal her, even though it tasted absolutely foul. She continued crying quietly for the next little while as Porlyusica mixed up more medicine, and eventually sent Gray to go back to the guild and get Reedus, so they could take her back to Fairy Tail, saying that there wasn't much point in her staying there now that she had regained consciousness, since it would only be the girl's will to live that would heal her wounds and the strength of her magical power.

Gray bolted back to the guild, running in the front door, yelling out that the girl had woken up, putting a smile on everyone's faces, and they were all glad to hear that there was still hope for her. Reedus sprang into action straight away and within an hour or so, the mystery girl, back to being unconscious was placed into the clinic at Fairy Tail with a large bottle of medicine beside her bed and some written instructions from Porlyusica on how to treat her.

* * *

A few more days passed, and the girl woke up again while Mira was getting ready to wake her anyway so that she could take her medicine. She had been healing very quickly, and her wounds had completely closed up thanks to the medicine from Porlyusica. The mystery girl had recovered so much so that she actually looked nearly normal now. Most of the bruising and smaller cuts and grazes had gone completely and it revealed quite a pretty girl underneath.

The beautiful woman with the pale hair smiled kindly, and decided that it would probably be best to tell her where she was and that she was safe. She was certain that the girl would be a little concerned with how she got where she was, and she hoped that she would at least talk back a little.

"Hello. It's good to see you awake at last. I'm Mirajane. This is the mage guild Fairy Tail. One of our members brought you here so we could help you. Our friend has treated you the best she could and made medicine for you. Do you remember anything, like your name, or where you are from?" she asked kindly, not wanting to scare the girl, but wanting to try and figure out if the girl had lost her memory.

It took a few moments for the girl to get used to speaking again, and her voice was weak and raspy from lack of use over the last few weeks and from her throat being so dry. Finally she managed to sit up and organise her words as best she could in her head before saying them aloud.

"Akashio. My name is Akashio or Shio... I'm from...from..." all of a sudden, the girl's expression went from bewildered and pained to horrified and she put her head in her hands and rocked back and forth slightly before screaming so loud that Mira had to cover her ears. It got the attention of everyone in the guild and mostly everyone rushed to the clinic door, wondering if everything was alright.

Gray was the first in the door, and Mira told everyone to leave her be for the moment, and that this was not the time. Mira sat down on the bed with her, and the girl clung to her dress and cried for almost an hour before she eventually calmed down, and apologised for the scene she had made. Gray watched quietly from the corner of the room as the woman's eyes became unfocused as she recalled memories.

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" Mirajane asked, not wanting to bring back painful memories, but she needed to know what happened to the girl. What if she didn't have a home to return to or any family to be with?

"My village, it was attacked. I'm not sure who it was, but I know they used magic. They destroyed buildings, crops and just laid waste to my village. I don't think anyone would have survived because I watched them kill the people I had grown up with. I don't recall too much, but I do remember feeling a huge surge of strength, and I must have killed some of them, because I do recall falling down, and seeing them dead on the ground before I lost consciousness." the girl recalled, her gaze inward as the images flashed behind her eyes again and again.

"Then that's why Mystogan would have brought you back here. It sounds to me like in the heat of the moment, you unlocked your ability to use magic. He probably thought we'd be able to help you heal and train you." Gray spoke up, making Akashio's pained gaze fall on him.

"Mystogan?" Akashio inquired not knowing his name for obvious reasons.

"He was the guild member I mentioned earlier, the man that brought you back here so we could help you. He would have also destroyed what we think was a dark guild that attacked your village." Mira answered, telling Akashio what she didn't know.

"He took them all on, by himself?! That's impossible! They were so strong." she exclaimed in shock, not believing that one man could take on that many people, and win.

"Mystogan is one of our strongest members. There aren't many people as strong or stronger than him. Although, he is socially inept, and barely any of us ever sees him. Only a few people even know what he looks like as well. But Mystogan is very strong, I have no doubt he could take a whole guild down by himself if he put his mind to it. He's done it before." Mirajane explained to her while the other woman shook her head in disbelief.

No one spoke for a few minutes as Akashio stared at her lap in silence, wondering what on earth she was going to do now. These people had mentioned her ability to use magic being awakened, and that they could train her, but did she want to use the same powers that those horrible people had used to slaughter so many people that she held close to her heart. For some reason though, something was telling her that she had already awakened her abilities with magic.

For at least 5 minutes, she was deep in thought and laid out the pros and cons. The good parts would be that she could defend herself, she could help people and protect people who couldn't protect themselves, much like she couldn't before her power awoke. The bad part was that she would have the strength to kill and hurt people, and maybe the people she loved would hate her for learning the arts that had killed them.

Mira was the first to break the silence. "Well, you are more than welcome to stay here, and we'd welcome you into the guild with open arms and help you develop your skills as a mage, but it's your choice. If you like, you could just stay here and help out anyway. We'll leave you to rest for a while. Let me know if you need anything."

Both Mira and Gray took their leave, and Akashio sat quietly, thinking over what Mirajane had said, and wondering whether it would be the right move. For the moment, she knew that she couldn't go anywhere yet, since she was still on the mend, so she decided to put off the decision until she was in shape enough to leave if she chose to.

A breeze came in through the window, and she jumped after seeing a masked man crouching on the window sill. She gauged that the masked man was the person called Mystogan, and he watched her silently for a moment before he spoke very quietly.

"I'm glad you are recovering so well. It seems I made the right move in bringing you here. Also, I'm sorry I couldn't save the other villagers." he said it as if it was just an idle observation, and then his tone changed to reveal a hint of sadness as she struggled for a second to find her voice before she responded.

"Thank you and don't worry, it wasn't your fault.. I would have been dead if it wasn't for you. I have a question to ask you...What did I do before I lost consciousness?" she asked hesitantly, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer to her question.

"You killed 6 of the enemy. I watched you as I took care of the others. I will tell you now though, the numbers there only equaled to a quarter of the true size of the dark guild. But you showed extreme potential. So much so that the force of your magic power made those wounds on your body. It was not your time for the magic inside you to awaken, or to awaken so violently." he was quiet for a moment as he watched her expression sober, and she sighed before looking back at him. "Now I must go. Again, I am sorry for your loss." he bowed his head slightly and leapt down as Akashio yelled out thanks to him again.

She laid down in the clinic bed, so many thoughts running through her mind. The young woman decided to get some sleep and continue her healing process...

* * *

The next day Mirajane woke her to give her some medicine. As per usual, it tasted horrible, but she had figured out very early that it was the thing keeping her alive, so she took it without a complaint.

"I don't know if this means much to you, but I have a few seeds for some flowers. If you like, I can show you to our garden and you can plant them, to honour the people in your village." the older woman said quietly, hoping she wouldn't upset Akashio, but thinking that it was the least she could do for her.

Akashio sobbed softly but smiled at the gesture and hugged Mirajane tightly, thanking her over and over again for her kindness, her care and just being generally wonderful. Mirajane left the girl some clean clothes of her to change into for when she went to the garden and left the seeds and a small shovel for her to use whilst planting the seeds.

After she changed, she went outside the clinic door to the main room of the Fairy Tail hall. A man was leaning against the wall with his back to her, but she knew she had seen him before. He turned around and smiled at her, though she could see that he felt sorry for her behind it.

"I'm Gray Fullbuster..." he paused and took a breath before continuing, "And you are Akashio?" Gray asked, and watched Akashio simply nod once in response. "Would you like to go to the garden?" Again, she nodded only once. "Follow me then."

Mirajane watched as Gray walked next to Akashio, and smiled even though she had planned to show Akashio to the garden herself, it seemed like Gray still felt terrible for the girl and was happy that he was kind enough to show her to the garden.

Gray had spoken to Mirajane early one morning when he came back to the guild after not being able to sleep all night after seeing Akashio's injuries up close. He told her about how deep the red colour of her flesh was, and how he could see the white of her bones in some of her deeper lacerations, and the feel of broken ribs beneath his hands.

He had seemed very haunted by the memory, and had helped Mira set up for the day to distract himself, but he still was a little out of sorts for the next few days afterwards until she had asked the Master to send him up to check on her progress only to find out he had been doing it already.

"I, uhh...I'm sorry about what happened to you and your village." Gray said awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't upset the girl, even though he much rather scream and beat up the guys that did this sort of thing all over Fiore every day.

She gave him a small, heartbreakingly sad smile in return but turned her head back towards her feet again afterwards as they walked towards the Fairy Tail gardens. Akashio was clutching the packet of seeds and the trowel so hard that the parts of her hands that the bruising had cleared up on were white with the force of her grip.

When they arrived, Gray showed her a large, free patch of the garden where she could plant the seeds, and it took her about half an hour before she was done. Before she realised it, Gray handed her a full watering can without actually looking at her, and walked away to let her have a moment to herself.

Her moment lasted about ten to fifteen minutes, and Gray was sure that all of Magnolia, heard her screams of anguish, despair and rage.

It only stopped when she passed out from exhaustion.

Gray carried her in his arms back to the clinic where the members of the guild watched sadly as the girl went behind the door and disappeared to get some more rest. The young ice mage decided to stay a while, since it was quiet in the clinic and watch over Akashio for a while.

Eventually, he fell asleep on the spare bed right next to Shio's...


	2. The Healing Process

**Chapter 2 – The Healing Process**

Over the next few weeks, Shio visited and tended to her flowers every day and cried here and there, but she was gradually coming to terms with everything that had happened. Her wounds began to heal more and more, and her deepest wounds were gone after a few healing sessions with Wendy.

Shio was so impressed with the young girl's abilities and asked her a few questions with a voice a little louder than a whisper and Wendy told her about Grandine and just rambled on for the time they had together, hoping that Shio would feel more comfortable with someone talking to her so she wasn't on her own.

"There you go. That should be nearly everything. The traces of dark magic have been erased and your own magical power has been restored so you should be fine to be up most of the day, but just take it easy for the next few weeks." Wendy said with such a sweet voice that made Shio _almost_ smile.

"Thank you so much, Wendy-san. You must be extremely strong." Shio nodded slowly as a sign of respect and amazement while she got up off the bed and stretched out, feeling much better.

"No, not really. I just back everyone up. There are many others here that are way stronger than me." the young girl responded shyly, but she was grateful for the compliment and blushed lightly over it.

Shio followed Wendy to the main hall, where Natsu and Gray were fighting and Gray went tumbling in mid-air so close to Shio's face that she could feel the air blowing past her and watched him land up against the bar, upside down and half-naked.

Everyone watched in awe and happiness as Shio actually snorted from suppressed laughter quietly, before chuckling quietly at the ice mage. The main hall erupted like a volcano with happy cheers and laughter and everyone crowded around Shio and wished her their best, telling her how happy they were to see that she was doing well. Shio was overwhelmed by how kind and generous everyone had been, letting her stay with them for so long and not asking for anything in return.

After a few minutes some guild members approached her and the Master who had been incredibly kind to her, and Mirajane said that they would pay for a room for her in the Fairy Hills apartment block until she got set up and decided what she wanted to do.

The girl started crying, and everyone went quiet, until she lifted her head up. The huge grin on her face was the most amazing thing they had seen from her, since her tears were out of happiness. She thanked everyone for being so wonderful through her tears and sobs, and Mirajane hugged her tightly while some other guild members smiled and some cried out of happiness as well.

The rest of the day and night were spent celebrating in true Fairy Tail style. There was plenty of food, drink, fights, jokes, laughs and even an improptude live show from a few of the musically talented members of the guild, and Lucy summoned her spirit Lyra, who sang some beautiful music.

Everyone was very surprised when Lyra began singing a song that even Shio knew, and with a shy voice at first, she began to join everyone in singing, before getting louder and louder and everyone noticed almost straight away how beautiful her voice was, and stopped singing one by one and eventually it was just Lyra and Shio singing, but when the song ended, Shio realised and went silent, drawing back into herself before an unfamiliar face came out of nowhere and put his arm around her shoulder then complimented her on her singing.

"Loke, what are you doing here?!" Gray shouted and tugged him off Shio, before punching him in the stomach in a typical Fairy Tail male greeting.

"I could hear you guys partying all the way from the celestial realm. I was wondering who the new lovely lady was." Loke chuckled knowingly as Gray put himself between Loke and Shio.

Shio just chuckled and seemed flattered by the attention, and then introduced herself to Loke. The lion man tried to start talking about how he was a celestial spirit and how 'exotic' that was, and how strong he was, but Gray butted in about half-way through a sentence that would have ended with Loke asking Shio out on a date, and squished Loke's face with one hand, stopping him from speaking, grabbed Shio's hand, pulling her through the crowd and outside to where there was a full moon out.

"Sorry. He was going to ask you out if I let him continue and I didn't really think it would be...uh...appropriate." Gray fumbled and trailed off, not knowing what to say any more.

"That's okay. I didn't really mind. I've already been asked out a few times tonight anyway. I've never received that sort of attention before. It's kind of nice to know that everyone likes me." she chuckled lightly with a bit of a flush on her face.

"Well, as long as no one is bothering you, I guess.." Gray scratched the back of his head and gave her a lop-sided smile while she looked up at the moon. "Do you think you are going to stay here?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Um, I think I will. I've thought about learning magic, and I think it might be exactly what I need now. My village is gone and there isn't anything left there for me anyway. Besides everyone is so amazing here and uh, you guys must be a force to be reckoned with." Shio said with awe in her voice and chuckled.

"Hm, you haven't seen anything yet." Gray said as his chest puffed out and pride filled him. "We have taken on the world and impossible odds more than enough times and won." he continued and let the pride flow through his voice. "Do you want to see something cool?" he asked with a mischevious look on his face, making Shio wonder what he would possibly have up his sleeve.

He put his hands together for a minute before smirking proudly at her and opening up his hands to reveal a little ice sculpture in her likeness. Even though she was currently wearing a shirt and pair of shorts, the sculpture had her in a beautiful flowing dress and a happy smile on her face. She laughed in amazement. Gray looked behind him and the sculpture disappeared, but his dark smirk kept Shio interested.

"Watch this." he said quietly with a smirk that made her flush lightly.

She nodded and shivered all of a sudden from a sudden temperature drop, only to look at Gray and see him strip off his shirt for whatever reason and put his hands on the ground. Ice began to form on the ground and her eyes followed it to see a pink-haired man who she had met weeks ago named Natsu slip head over feet about 30-40 metres away.

Natsu roared and melted the ice with his flames, making Shio's eyes as wide as saucers in amazement, recognising him as the Fire Dragon Slayer that Wendy had mentioned. Gray pulled one arm back to make a fist on top of his other hand and Shio watched carefully.

"Ice Make: Bow." he spoke quietly and continued, "Ice Make: Arrows."

He pulled back on the bow with an arrow ready to be fired as Natsu came hurtling towards them, screaming louder than a bat out of hell about how he was going to get Gray back for making him slip. Even though Shio was a little worried about Gray hurting Natsu, but when he fired the bow, then again for a second, third, fourth and fifth time, she saw that she was just firing at Natsu's feet, making him hop and skip to avoid the freezing arrows.

Shio was laughing and Gray was laughing, and by the time that Natsu got to them he had run out of energy and laid down on the ground in front of them, puffing and panting. Just as Natsu got back up and went to start the chase, Gray took a hold of Shio's hand and ran off, twisting and turning down the nearby streets until they could no longer hear Natsu yelling out into the night.

They doubled over, trying to catch their breath whilst laughing as well. Shio could not believe how much fun she was having here. Everyone had been so amazing to her and helped her through her grief and let her become one of them.

"I think we should be getting back. This is pretty much your party." Gray said with a still breathless voice.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Thanks for a good laugh though." Akashio chuckled again, still catching her own breath, being in much worse shape than Gray, who was shirtless in front of her. Not that she would complain or anything. She was certain that it was because she was still recovering, not affected by the half-naked...attractive...man. No. Not at all.

When they got back, Master found them straight away and yelled loudly across the hall for silence. Meaning everyone was silent as the grave and nearly wet themselves out of fright. Master definitely knew how to scare people, that's for sure.

"I would like to make an announcement to the lovely young lady who we are happy to have here with us after she went through something no one should have to go through and came out the other side stronger than ever before." Master turned to her and smiled. "This is my formal invitation to you, Akashio. Would you like to join Fairy Tail and become part of our treasured family?"

The entire hall waited for her answer with baited breath. She hadn't even spoken to Mirajane about staying or not staying yet, so it was really only Gray that knew she had planned on staying here to learn magic and become part of Fairy Tail. She looked at him and saw him smirking knowingly at her.

"I think that learning how to control and use my magic will help me protect those that cannot protect and defend themselves. Also to protect my wonderful new friends." she stopped speaking and looked confused for a moment. "No, wait...my wonderful new _family _called Fairy Tail."

Everyone cheered so loudly that she had to cover her ears but she laughed happily all the same. Mirajane walked up next to her and asked her where she would like the guild mark. With not much thought, she looked down at her body, and the shirt she was wearing that was a little too small for her showed some of her stomach, and her hips. She pointed to her right hip, and Mira put it just above the waist line to her shorts and she grinned happily as the purple symbol was added to her body, and her soul.

The party found an even more exciting reason to continue and it kept going until all hours of the night. It only took a few more hours for Cana to be passed out with her head on the bar, Master to be snoring, Macao and Wakaba to be stumbling home, Romeo dragging them along, and people seemed to be pairing up here and there as per usual.

Alzac and Bisca were walking out the front doors, holding each other close. Elfman was sitting at one of the tables with Evergreen and she was touching Elfman's hand, and even Natsu was sitting quietly while Lucy dozed lightly, laying her head on his chest while Natsu gently ran his fingers through her hair.

Shio was looking around at people waving goodbye, stumbling off in the direction of their home, and people asleep at the bar, tables and on the floor as well. She had a few drinks herself, and was feeling quite a buzz, but these guys were on a whole other level. Her village used to have festivals here and there, but this was out of her league.

Nonetheless, she had so much fun anyway. Wendy was walking over to her and she was surprised that the young girl was still up. Her ponytails moved along with her stride and she grinned happily when she got closer to the older woman.

"Would you like me to show you where your new place is?" she whispered, since Shio was standing next to a sleeping mage who was slumped over the bar, who she quickly recognised as Erza with the long red hair and armour.

Shio simply nodded in response and waved goodbye to anyone who was still awake, most waved back or just grinned back at her, and she scanned the room for the ice mage who she had taken a bit of a liking to, though she didn't really want to admit it to herself, but she couldn't find him.

After giving up, guessing that he may have fallen asleep somewhere or gone home, she followed Wendy for the walk to Fairy Hills. It was absolutely beautiful and she couldn't have been happier. They walked inside the large dormitory, hearing people sleeping, some much louder than others.

On the second floor, Wendy turned to a door and gave her a key. Shio thanked her several times and Wendy just smiled happily and bowed before saying goodnight and heading off to her own room. Shio turned the key once it was in the lock and hoped that everyone hadn't gone to too much effort for her.

The light was already on when she opened the door, and her eyes went wide as saucers as she saw the result of everyone's kindness. There was a small kitchen that she wouldn't use because she couldn't cook at all, but it was there anyway with food items, utensils and little bits and pieces. Over the other side of the room there was a small sitting area and since it was in front of a large window, she guessed that it would be lovely to watch the sunset from.

A small seperate room was next to the sitting area, and she approached the open door to find a sort of en suite waiting for her. The bed was huge and looked like the biggest sleep trap and had a pair of pyjamas laid out on it, and the small bathroom through another door was shiny, clean and just perfect. There was open drawers with clothes in them and a note from the Fairy Tail girls who had given her some of their own clothes.

The whole place was just perfect, and she grinned happily and laughed to herself and turned back around to shut the front door so she could get some sleep. A familiar face was waiting at the front door, giving her a lopsided smirk that did funny things to her insides as he leant against the door frame.

"Are you part of this gift?" Shio blurted out without thinking, and when Gray's eyes widened, she quickly continued. "I can clean, so I'm hoping you are going to be my cook, since I can't make anything edible."

"Sorry to disappoint. But I have just realised how late it is and if you let me sleep on your couch, I'll cook breakfast for us when we get up." his smirk widened as he watched Shio almost drool at the thought of breakfast.

"Deal."

Gray took the key from the lock on the door and shut it behind him, tossing her the key which she fumbled a few times before getting a good grip on, inwardly thinking how stupid she must have just looked.

When she lifted her head up, she noticed that he wasn't even paying any attention to her failed attempt at being coordinated and had stripped off his jacket and shirt, and was already making himself comfortable on the lounge with his eyes closed.

Her eyes lingered for a moment but when he shifted a little, the young woman quickly did a full 360 turn on the spot, remembering to turn the main light off. It was right next to the door which made it easy for her to find and she headed towards her bedroom, not even thinking to shut the door, even as she found the pyjamas in one of the various drawers, and changed into them.

Now that she was here, she didn't quite feel like sleeping yet and tip-toed past Gray's temporary bed and over to the kitchen, using the light of the moon to see find the fridge, and get herself a bottle of water. As an afterthought, she grabbed out another and put it gently down on the coffee table in front of Gray but stopped to look at him unchecked for a moment. Her eyes fell on his Fairy Tail mark, but didn't go past the rest of him.

"I'm not asleep, you know." Gray spoke and made Shio nearly jump out of her skin in fright and she dropped her bottle of water which connected with Gray's head with a thud.

"I'm sorry!" she apologised a few more times, but Gray just chuckled and sat up on the lounge. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to drop the bottle on your head, I was just looking at you...y-your Fairy Tail mark." she swiftly corrected herself so he wouldn't get the wrong idea, even though it was kind of true anyway.

"It's okay. You don't need to worry so much. Seriously." he chuckled at her antics and watched as she sat down on the small single seater next to the lounge he was making a bed out of.

"Sorry. I'm just frazzled. All this is amazing but I just don't know where to start. I feel like I'm still not here." she trailed off, with two fingers on her right temple as she shook her head.

"What do you mean not here?"

"I feel like I'm going to wake up and the destruction of my village, coming here and meeting everyone will all be a big dream. Either that or I just died from my injuries and I'm stuck in some sort of weird limbo. I feel like this is all still surreal."

"That makes sense. Everything has piled on you at once. You are still grieving and so you should be. Because you are still mourning for what you have lost, your mind and heart is still in your village, not here. Before you start your training, you need to give yourself time for this. You will know when you are ready to start fully using your magic."

Gray's words just made sense to her and it was like a little light bulb slowly flickered on in her mind. He was right. She could still feel that physical ache in her chest whenever she thought of the friends and family she had lost and the life that had gone with them and the village.

It was just going to take time for her to adjust. She had been here at Fairy Tail for a little over 3 months but that was still a small amount of time considering all that had happened. Two weeks of that was spent in practically a coma in Porlyushica's care and afterwards it was mostly a daze up until she could be up for more than a few hours at a time. It had been a hard process but she knew that Gray was right.

"Not just a pretty face, are you?" Shio smirked at the young man and chuckled when he smirked back.

"Of course not. You don't get to become one of the stronger members of Fairy Tail without having some intelligence. Though I don't know how much can be said for Natsu..." he trailed off and they both burst out laughing enjoying the moment while it lasted.

"Yeah, I think it may be a fair bit of luck on his part. And Lucy is pretty smart, so I'm sure she covers for him and makes up for his lack of sense."

"You couldn't be more right. Our team works well though. Erza is good for plenty of things beside fighting. Lucy is smart, as you said and her spirits are very resourceful. Natsu's brute strength never fails and Wendy's abilities are really helpful and impressive."

"What about you?"

"Me? Well I'm just an all rounder. Good at everything."

The smirk he had on his face made Shio a little weak at the knees and she was glad she was sitting down for this. She didn't know how much about relationships and all that since she had never been involved with anyone.

In her village, her parents had organised for her to marry some guy from the next village over but she had only met him once. He was an asshole. Her parents wouldn't let her back out since they made a commitment but she couldn't figure out why she had been forced into it instead of letting her live her life.

As angry as that had made her, she missed her family. She didn't have many friends aside from a girl a few years younger than her who was the daughter of the village chief. Magnolia was such a different place to all that. Her village was small with a few hundred people, not much technology and small houses with the bare essentials.

The size of the Fairy Tail hall could have fit at least 3 or 4 houses from her village inside it. Her apartment now was the most luxurious thing had ever seen, let alone had free reign of.

Gray noticed that Shio's thoughts had turned inward and he watched as memories passed behind her eyes and her fingers fiddled with one another as she contemplated her short comings.

"There is always a silver lining, Shio. Everything will be okay." he abruptly spoke without thinking and she simply smiled at him in response. "Now go get some sleep. I'm sure you need it."

"Goodnight and uh, thank you."

"Night."

* * *

The next morning she awoke to the smell of breakfast being cooked. It smelt amazing and she didn't bother getting changed before coming out of her room and into the kitchen/living area. Gray looked absolutely gorgeous standing half naked in front of the stove, cooking up some bacon and preparing two meals.

He turned to her, smiled and said good morning then continued to make breakfast. It only took a couple of minutes for him to finish and serve up bacon, eggs and toast with a glass of juice each. After the first bite Shio was in heaven.

"This is amazing, Gray-san. Thank you so much." she mumbled with her mouth half full.

"Thank you for letting me crash here. It's still only fairly early so no one will be at the hall yet unless they are still there from last night."

"Are you going to go back there today?"

"Yeah. We have a mission to go on and we organised to leave today so we should be gone for a few days so I'm meeting up with everyone at the hall. You can look after yourself in the meantime, right?"

"Hah hah. Very funny. I'll be fine. I'm going to go to the hall soon anyway so I'll see you before you go."

After a bit more conversation, Gray finished off his breakfast and left her be, though he did rinse off his dishes and clean up most of his mess which made life a bit easier for the slightly hungover girl. She showered and got changed into some clean clothes that looked like they belonged to Levy. They were a bit frilly but nice and Shio was just happy to have something to wear.

The young girl headed over to the mead hall of the guild and smiled seeing Mirajane there still cleaning up from last night. Shio began to help and it went much quicker with the two of them doing it and it helped Shio figure out what she would be doing working here up until she was able to go on missions and make money off them to support herself.

When everything was done, Mirajane said that she was going to help her train and get her used to using her magic so they came out behind the bar and sat down in a small space on the floor. Shio remembered what Gray said last night and felt like it wasn't such a bad time to start. She needed to learn how to use her magical power before she could start learning spells and abilities.

Mira ran her through how to begin using her magical power by concentrating and it took Shio about a half hour before she got the hang of it. Without being sure what sort of magic she used, it would be hard to tell how to properly utilise it until she learnt how to control her magical power and just give it a go.

People began slowly coming back in to get some food from the bar and Mira said for Shio to go to the training grounds and continue on with her meditation. She was sitting with her legs crossed and concentrating very hard until she heard someone approach her. Her eyes opened to see the Master looking at her with a bit of confusion on his face.

He sat down with her and told her to continue and try to release more magical power. With a nod Shio kept going even though she was starting to get tired. It only took a few minutes of pushing herself harder before there wasn't anything else for her release and she stopped, catching her breath while the master looked at her, still seeming perlexed about something.

"You are coming along well but something seems a little off to me. I'm not sure what it is so rest for today and I'll do some research."

He strolled off leaving Shio sitting on the ground wondering what could possibly be wrong. Was she doing it incorrectly? Why did something feel off to him?

Before her train of thought could continue she headed back inside to see Gray, Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Wendy and Charle saying bye to everyone. Gray noticed her and ran over to her, letting her know that they would be gone for a few days and to continue her training while they were gone. He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled before turning away and going back to his group.

Shio smiled and bid them all goodbye and watched them walk out the double doors before her eyes spotted Master talking to Levy about something. Her anxiety increased and she just heard Levy say something about going to the Fairy Tail library and having a look. Mira got her attention and asked her to give her a hand since there was more and more mages pouring in now, some wanting food and drink, others getting a mission and Shio pushed the unsure thoughts from her mind and helped out the best she could.

A few hours later it was quiet again and Mira told Shio to head home and get some rest but to keep trying to increase her magical power so she could start to master her magic style. Instead of going straight home, the girl wandered around the town for a while. She visited the garden and 'spoke' to her family and friends for a bit before she eventually made her way home the long way, familiarising, herself with the city a bit more.

She felt a little bit empty after visiting the garden and she was trying not to spend all her time there since it just seemed to make her despair every time. The pain was fading but when she was alone and had nothing to do, it sat at the front of her mind, and brought her down.

So when she got home, instead of showering and keeping her busy with tidying up, cooking, and so on, she practised even though she was worn out from earlier. As she sat there, concentrating, air swirling around her from the force of her magical power, she felt a sudden sharp pain in her arm and at the same time, her minds eye showed her an image of a demonic looking creature. It snapped her out of her reverie and when she looked down at her arm, she saw a small gash that began to bleed, but the blood did not continue to well up and go all over her arm. It just stayed there.

She looked around, wondering what could have possibly caused that and was left with no explanation. The warm, red liquid stayed in the wound on her arm and she grabbed a small cloth from the bathroom to hold over it. It continued to sting and she could feel the throb of the blood flowing towards the wound though she did her best to keep the pressure on it. Even though the cloth was covered with blood, and she felt light headed, the amount of blood that she would have lost from that sort have wound just didn't appear. It was weird.

After a few minutes the blood stopped appearing and she showered before bandaging it up herself, still confused as to how it happened. It was very odd but she gave up on figuring it out and tidied up her small apartment and cooked herself something to eat before settling in for the night.

As she slept, the image of that demonic creature haunted her dreams and turned them into nightmares...

* * *

Several days later Akashio was tidying up the mead hall at the Fairy Tail guild. It was early in the day and Mira would be arriving soon to take over from her. She was collection cups and mugs and placed them in the washer before stopped to get herself a drink of water.

The doors to the hall creaked open and she was surprised she didn't hear the ruckus with them shut. Natsu and Gray were arguing as per usual and Lucy was rolling her eyes while Erza ignored the two men. Happy, Charle and Wendy were trailing tiredly behind them.

"Welcome back. How did the mission go?" Shio asked them, smiling at their return.

"It was fine, except for these two butting heads constantly." Lucy shook her head and laughed exasperatedly, before sitting down at the bar and requesting a cold drink and Erza sooner joined her.

"Shio!" Gray's voice sounded out and got her attention and she came out from behind the bar with a cold drink of water for Wendy who looked thoroughly worn out.

Gray put an arm around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder, then proceeded to complain about Natsu before sighing loudly. Shio was surprised at the sudden physical contact but wasn't going to deny it from the man she definitely had a crush on. She offered to grab everyone else a cold drink and pulled herself away from Gray and got the clean mugs before she served up one for everyone.

Moments later, Mira walked in the front doors and smiled at all of them. She approached the bar and got ready for the day, grabbing Wendy's empty cup on the way through and suggesting that they all head home for some rest.

Wendy quickly departed and Charle followed suit. Natsu and Lucy headed back to wherever they were going with Happy flying behind. Erza begna the stroll back to Fairy Hills and thanked Shio for the drink. Gray was the straggler and waited for Shio to finish so he could walk out with her. She went to the garden quickly and tended to the flowers before heading in the direction of her home, making conversation with Gray about the mission.

"Isn't your place in that direction?" Shio asked, pointing down a small street in the large city.

"Yep."

"So, why are you going this way?"

"Cause I can."

"But why?"

"I'm walking you home."

"It's okay. Just go and get some rest."

"A-are you sure?"

"I'll be fine." Shio gave Gray the sweetest smile she had, grateful for the gesture. "Thank you anyway."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then." Gray turned in the direction of his place and began to walk away, but turned back just enough to smile at Shio who waved at him before continuing home herself."

He strolled casually back to his one bedroom unit he called home. It was cheap on rent and nothing fancy, but that's how he liked it. Simple. The mission was really easy and loads of fun, but his mind kept going back to Shio. Her actions lately had seemed a little odd. Almost like Juvia before Lyon had won her over, somehow...

But Shio seemed really sweet and shy. She was a very nice girl and he was glad that she hasn't perished from her terrible injuries. He could still see the sadness in her eyes, even when she was smiling and hoped that her time with Fairy Tail would help her overcome the hardships she had faced.

Natsu had mentioned that he had a feeling Shio had a crush on the ice mage when they were travelling towards their destination the other day and even Lucy had agreed. Gray had just thought they were teasing him like they always did about Juvia. But when Erza had casually made her input, he had a feeling that it wasn't just an odd obsession or a crush.

_"I think she genuinely likes you Gray. She is a nice girl but probably a little too shy to admit to anything." Erza spoke so calmly that Gray didn't know if she was being serious or taking the piss as well._

_"She had asked about you a few times when I was doing healing sessions with her." Wendy spoke up, her young voice standing out as always._

_"No way. She has barely gotten a chance to get to know anyone aside Mira, the Master and myself. She is just familiar with me is all."_

_"And you can't say that you don't like her. I've seen your wandering eyes, Gray Fullbuster!" Lucy added with a very amused look._

_"Yeah. Even I can notice that." Natsu laughed and looked very obviously down at Lucy's chest, as if that was what Gray had done and his words and actions were enough for the ice mage to get cranky._

_"That's it. Enough about Shio. I'm not convinced and until I am I don't want to hear about it."_

He had definitely checked her out a few times. But he was a normal, red blooded young male who was simply noticing how attractive Shio was once all her injuries and bruises had healed. Okay, maybe he had walked behind her for a bit on the way home to look at her bum in the small, tight fitting shorts she was wearing, but there wasn't any harm in that, right?

The ice mage shook his head and sighed. He guessed that he would just have to wait and see what happened...


	3. Ebb And Flow

**Chapter 3 – Ebb And Flow**

Several weeks had passed since the big party, and Akashio had been following the instruction of Mirajane and also of the Master. He had still not gotten back to her about his researching whatever it was with her magic and increasing her control over it. She still wasn't sure about what was her magical abilitiy/abilities, but she had noticed that every time she used her magic to an increased extent, she would get random odd wounds.

They were just simple cuts that would almost heal completely in a day or so. It was very weird considering she had never done anything like this before, and she hoped that it wasn't the same with everyone, and that she wouldn't have to keep patching herself up all the time. Also, there was the weird thing with the blood that she couldn't even explain at all.

"Shio-chan! Shio-chan!"

Shio turned around to see Levy running towards her and the Master trailing behind her. Hopefully they would have some answers for her. She still had a bandage over her forearm that she needed to cover a rather deep cut that she had gotten from nearly exhausting herself to the point of passing out.

"Shio. I have figured out what was keeping me on edge when I could feel your magical power. Your village used to be part of an ancient city and there was supposedly great magic that one child in each generation inherited. It has been a few hundred years since then, but the old magic is incredibly strong. I believe what you have is this power. Was there any odd buildings near your village?" the Master spoke to her with a frown on his face, furthering her concern.

"There is...was a small building at the top of the mountain my village was located on. But we weren't allowed to go up there. We didn't use magic either. No one did."

"That building is probably the one described in this book. It was the place where the child chosen from each generation was taken to receive their power. The ability was one to control demons, though at the cost of the user's blood." Levy made her input, but the same frown that the Master had was on her face as well.

"I believe that is why you gain wounds from when you are using your magical power excessively. It also explains the images of demons you are seeing when releasing power and when you are dreaming. Possibly also the lack of blood that comes from your wounds as well. It's being taken as payment." the Master hoped that the girl would understand all of this, and how hard it would be for her to use magic without harming herself.

"So, what do I do?" she asked, confused as to what would happen from now on.

"The better control you have over your magical power, the less you will receive injury. Also, it states here that you must learn the demons names to be able to summon them and gain control over them. There is one creature per person and there are three stages to the control. There is a summoning stage, the second is a partial transformation, and the third is unknown. The page was ripped."

"Okay. But I'll have to learn how to use this to my advantage at some stage, won't I? Shouldn't I do it as quickly as possible to figure out how to use the summon and get control over it?"

"Yes. The less injury you get each time you use your magic, the better." Levy nodded as she spoke.

"How can I learn to summon the creature then?" Shio was starting to lose more and more faith the more the Master and Levy spoke.

"That's just the thing. We don't know how. But Levy had the idea that maybe you could go to the building at the top of the mountain and see if there was anything left behind." Master was hoping that this wouldn't upset the girl, as hard as it may be for her.

A few silent minutes passed, and Akashio weighed up her options. It seemed that things would get harder before they got easier. But she understood that this seemed to be what fate had in store for her, and what Gray had said about her having time to get past everything was definitely going to come in handy. It would be the time where she could really say goodbye to her village and everything it used to hold for her. She was scared of having to do it alone.

"I don't have to go there on my own, do I?"

"Of course you don't. I'll go with you."

A familiar voice spoke from behind her and she spun around to see Gray looking at her with intense eyes. He smiled wistfully at her, but there was a hint of sadness in it, knowing what would lay in wait for them at what was left of her village. She nodded at him in return, taking a deep breath as she absorbed all the information she had been given.

"There you go. You already have a companion. I suggest the quicker you leave the better. The more knowledge I have, the more I can help you." Master was glad to see that someone had already offered to help and nodded in approval. "Leave first thing tomorrow morning, so go home and get some rest Shio. I know you've worked hard today."

"Thank you, Master. We will return as quickly as possible."

Shio thanked Levy as the Master walked away and she wished her and Gray the best of luck before walking over to the table Jet and Droy were sitting at, both looking pleased to see her. Shio knew that she had been working very hard to research her magic at the Master's request, so she hadn't seen them very much. There was another certain someone who had an affinity for metal that had been missing her as well, even if he didn't realise it himself.

"You don't have to accompany me you know. I don't really have anything to pay you with, obviously." the young girl said to the ice madoushi.

"I actually have a delivery mission in that area. I just have to pick up a package and drop it off to someone in Magnolia, so it's not like there is absolutely no reason for me to go." he explained simply, shrugging lightly.

"Oh okay. So it's not like you just wanted to spend some time with me or anything." Akashio laughed as if she was joking, but if Gray were to say yes, she would have flushed so red she would look like a tomato.

"I didn't mean to offend you." Gray looked at his feet when he spoke, his eyes downcast.

"Anyway. If we are leaving tomorrow, I guess I should get us some supplies. I've still got plenty of stuff in my new place so I'll pack up some of it. I think from here it should take us about 2-3 days to get back to my old village."

"Yeah, okay. Would you like to leave at dawn? If so, I should just crash at your place so we can leave first thing."

"Sounds good. I'll meet you back at my place."

Shio strolled out of Fairy Tail, waving to Mirajane on her way out, after letting her know what was going on, though she probably knew anyway, and thanked Levy again for her help. She didn't know what would be laying ahead on this trip or what she would discover. She was already scared about her magic and the consequences of it usage. This would just be another thing she would have to overcome though.

At least she wouldn't be on her own...

* * *

The next morning she woke up and got Gray up, then they ate a good breakfast before leaving. They would be travelling for quite a while after heading out of the city and towards her old village. Shio was quite nervous about being alone with him for so long, but also about what was going to happen. She was worried she would annoy him, or disappoint him, though it's not like she could possibly be any more useless than she already was, so that probably would be pretty hard.

Gray had planned for them to stay overnight at an inn about a day and half worth of solid travel away, so they would at least be halfway there by the time they stopped. It seemed like a good plan, so they headed out, ready to face whatever was ahead.

They didn't say much when they travelled, only a bit of light conversation when they stopped for food and water on the way, but every time Shio would just smile and not say anything since she felt too embarrassed to actually have a conversation with the ice mage, who just talked quietly about random things to do with magic and the magical world to keep Shio informed. She was happy to sit there and hear him speak.

When they came to the village that they planned to stay overnight in, it was starting to get dark and they headed into the lobby area. There was a older woman behind the reception desk who smiled happily at them and welcomed them both to the inn.

Gray did the talking since Shio was a little too shy in his presence to do it herself, but when the receptionist said that the only room they had available was a double sharing room, Shio found even less of a reason to speak.

"I don't mind sharing a bed. Is that okay with you, Shio-san?" Gray turned to look at her, and though his face was innocent, Shio's mind ran off with her and she blushed but nodded.

The receptionist seemed to pick up on Shio's crush on her travelling companion, and definitely seemed to enjoy making her feel more embarrassed. "I'm sure the young man can keep his hands to himself, unless you don't want him to, that is!" she chuckled loudly and Shio's face felt so hot, she was sure that there was steam coming out of her ears.

Gray didn't seem to notice Shio's horrible embarrassment, and instead smiled awkwardly and thanked the woman after she handed them their key and pointed to what door their room was through. Shio felt as if all the water in the her body had just been evaporated, so when she got into the room, she opened up the fresh bottle of water from her pack and drained it completely, though she was still blushing madly.

"Shio." Gray's voice caught her attention and she turned around only to kind of regret doing so.

He had already stripped off his jacket and his shirt, and was laying across the bed on his back, and looking over at her. The young woman turned straight back around and 'hmm'-ed in response to him, hoping that he would just let her stand there and contain herself for a minute while he spoke.

"Which side of the bed do you want?" he asked casually, and yawned as he stretched out, making Shio glance at his muscles moving and rippling out of the corner of her eye.

"I don't mind. Whatever side you don't sleep on." she managed to keep her voice fairly level, though the Shio inside her brain was doing triple-back-somersaults.

Gray just groaned in reply, and she grabbed some fresh clothes to sleep in from her pack and headed through to the en-suite shower and bathroom. She hoped the shower would cool her heated blood down, and she shivered slightly as she stripped off her clothes and stepped under the water, which was still a bit too cold for her.

The past few hours had driven her almost mad with attraction, and she wondered idly if Gray had noticed and was just ignoring it for the sake of professionalism, or the worse option being that he just didn't have an interest and was hoping she would give up on him.

Lucy had already talked to her about Gray and Juvia and how Juvia had ended up giving up on him for someone that already cared, which happened to be Lyon. Lucy doubted that Gray just simply didn't like Juvia, because he did consider her a friend, but she mused that maybe he was just put off by how forward the water mage was. Shio hoped that she wasn't being forward, but she supposed that she wasn't exactly stalking him, or calling him 'Gray-sama'.

She felt a little sorry for Juvia though, since she was such a beautiful and kind woman. It seemed that all the Fairy Tail women were really pretty with amazing 'features' if they could be called as such. There was Mirajane, whose looks spoke for themselves. Erza's beautiful long hair and figure made men desire her, and women desire to look like her. Not to mention Cana, Lucy, and Evergreen. That was just a start.

When she looked around at all the women, she felt very inconspicuous though Loke's visits had become more and more frequent since all he wanted to do was 'lay her down by a fireplace' and proceed to do something else that she didn't hear since Lucy had pushed him over and told her to run before the Zodiac spirit kidnapped her.

She sat with her arms wrapped her around her legs and her chin on her knees, while she sat underneath the cascading water, contemplating her fate. Would she her heart give out since it barely seemed to slow down in Gray's presence? Or would she make a fool of herself and blab about her crush to him?

"Oi." Gray's voice echoed through the tiled bathroom and made Shio jump up so quickly that she hit her head quite hard on the tap on the way up. "Sorry, I just wanted to see if you had fallen asleep in here or something. I just wanted to shower before I fell asleep myself."

"I haven't been in here that long, have I?"

"About 40 minutes."

"Oh...s-sorry. I didn't realise. I'll be out in a minute."

With a deep breath, she got up and turned off the tap, and dried herself before wrapping herself up in her towel and grabbing her clothes and heading out so Gray could go straight in. He shut the door behind him, and other than the sound of the water, Shio was in silence. With a sigh, she changed into her clothes, and sat down at the small table in the corner of the room, looking out the window.

She rubbed her head, and groaned when it stung a bit, and she could feel a bump forming. Why did she have to be so jumpy around Gray?! He only had to look at her and she would become a pile of goo on the floor. It wasn't that he was just that attractive. Well, he certainly is that attractive, but it was more than that.

It was the times when she couldn't move due to the amount of dark magic in her body, and because of her terrible wounds, and she would see him sitting on the tree outside the window, looking at her occasionally, making sure she hadn't died in the last few minutes.

It was the way he spoke to her. How he didn't just constantly tip-toe with his words to avoid upsetting her. Sometimes he never spoke at her because he didn't need to. He was just able to express himself in the right way.

It was the ability he had to be both care-free and serious when he needed to. Some people were either one or the other, so to find that Gray could tell when a serious attitude was needed and to be able to have fun and silly sometimes was awesome.

It was the love he held for his friends. Fairy Tail was important to everyone in the guild, but Gray's pride in everyone and the care he had for the guild was amazing. He got worried about people, he got angry when guild members did reckless things, and he got scared when his friends were in danger.

And it was all the rest. He understood honour, and respect. He was considerate to all, and helpful, not just to her, but to everyone. He was brave and courageous, but not in a reckless way. Well, maybe a little reckless sometimes, but he had come out the other end still kicking every time. It was also the mystery that got her. He never talked about himself much, like where he was from, his family etc.

She sighed again when the thoughts started making less sense because she was tired, and with a small yawn, she fell asleep.

In the meantime, Gray was standing up in the shower, one hand on the wall in front of him as the multitude of water droplets kept landing on his head. He figured that Shio was in here thinking about things, and he seemed to be doing the same.

It was odd travelling with her. Not bad, just different. He supposed that he was just so used to travelling with Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Wendy and Erza that he didn't really think about going on missions with anyone else. Their team worked well, and it was just feeling a bit funny with them not around.

He was enjoying it though. Natsu wasn't around to fight with him, Lucy wasn't here to be all mushy with Natsu, Wendy to be shy, Happy to flirt with Charle all the time, and Erza wasn't here to scare the shit out of him. Shio didn't do any of those things. She was quiet, even though that was because she was shy, and he had a hunch she was shy for a different reason. Every now and then he would see her blush, or smile in a funny way.

Though things with Juvia were very different, since she was much more forward about it, he was starting to think that maybe the guys were right. Maybe Shio was crushing on him. But the thing was, was that he was beginning to get the idea that maybe he was returning her feelings.

She was so sweet, and genuinely kind. She gave respect to everyone she met, and always tried to act in a fair and honourable manner but firm when necessary. When she spoke to him, she wasn't just speaking to him because she thought he was 'cute' or 'hot' like most of the girls in Magnolia did, simply because of his reputation. She was talking to him as a person, not a piece of meat. It amazed him how she could be so self-sacrificing as well.

Over the past few weeks, she had been trying to help Wendy out with whatever she could, to pay her back for healing her for so long. She had tried to do the same for Porlysucia but the older lady chased her away, saying that it wasn't necessary and that her being out of her house was payment enough.

It wasn't that she was trying to suck up to anyone either. She spoke to everyone the same, whether it was a strong, s-class member of Fairy Tail, or someone who wasn't well known at all. She respectfully spoke to everyone as if they were on the same level. Gray believed that it was because she came from a society where there wasn't anyone who was higher up than anyone else, aside maybe a town leader.

Also, her looks were something of note, to say the least. She had overheard Shio talking with Mirajane about how outshone she felt by all the other women in the guild. Though everyone seemed to look at her and find her attractive anyway. It was odd to find someone who was such an exotic beauty as well.

Her hair came down to her shoulderblades and was a deep purple colour, that looked almost black. Her eyes shone a bright gold colour, that got darker when she was tired or upset. She still looked a little thin from loosing so much weight while she was bedridden, but her high-set cheekbones made her look a little bit gaunt in an odd light anyway. She was a thin girl to begin with, but she was slowly building up more lean muscle, and was getting stronger and gaining more stamina every day. Shio certainly knew how to work hard. That was something Gray could really appreciate.

He was definitely tired from the travelling though, and he started to feel himself become more and more drowsy. After he dried himself and got into some clean clothes to sleep in, he came out of the bathroom to find Shio fast asleep in the wooden chair looking like she had been staring out the window.

The man smiled at how peaceful she looked and lifted back the covers on the bed before gently picking her up, bridal style, and placing her down then pulling the covers over her. He hopped in on the other side and yawned before rolling to face toward Shio and slowly lose himself to sleep.

* * *

Morning came and Gray awoke early to find Shio curled up next to him. He didn't dare move, lest he wake her. Instead, since it was still fairly dark outside, he went back to sleep, listening to Shio's even breathing.

Later on, Shio woke up and nearly crapped herself when she found that she had moved towards Gray during the night. She hoped he was asleep the whole time and wouldn't know since she would be mortified if he found out.

"Morning." Gray's voice sounded out tiredly from next to her as soon as she tried to move away from him so she could get out of bed.

Her response was a yelp and to jump so much that she nearly fell out of the bed backwards, but Gray grabbed a hold of her arm just in time. She stared at him blankly for a moment, then righted herself and quickly apologised before running off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Gray chuckled lightly and shook his head at her as she dashed off, guessing that she was quite embarrassed. Honestly, he found that he had rather enjoyed her closeness. It had helped him get back to sleep earlier, and it wasn't a lust based thing either. It was comfort. It was nice to know that there was someone by your side.

The madoushi knew that Shio had still been having nightmares of the day her village had been attacked and he was hoping that she hadn't woken up terrified and then moved closer to him to feel like she was safe. The young woman came out a few minutes later, and seemed to have calmed herself down and tidied up. He went in after her and Shio began to get changed while he was out of the room.

Akashio found a slightly tatttered shirt that was very comfortable for travelling in, and pants that had plenty of pockets so she could easily access anything that she would need. Since she wasn't well versed with her magic, she had been carrying two daggers around just in case she needed to defend herself against anyone or anything. Luckily she had not needed them...yet.

After Gray came out, he got dressed as well and they were ready to go after they packed up their things. They stopped at a small cafe for breakfast and ate a hearty meal so that they wouldn't have to stop for a while. The next city was a few hours away and they still had a lot of travelling left to do.

Soon enough, they were only a few hours from Shio's old village. As they got closer to her village, she started to withdraw into herself. Gray noticed this and left it be. There wasn't much point in trying to make her feel better or ask her what was wrong since this wouldn't be over for a while yet and he hoped that closure would be something that she got out of this as well as some more answers about her magical ability.

He also had to admit that he was curious as to what sort of power she may possess. Most ancient or older magics that didn't exist any more or were too rare to find were hard to find information for a reason. Most of them were incredibly dangerous to targets and some to the users as well. It seemed that this magic was outlawed because of the risk of damage to the user considering the state that Shio had been found in and also because it wasn't the dark guilds doing, but the force of her magical power exploding from her body.

It was good that she survived though. It definitely said a lot about her will to live. They finally reached a large hill where Shio noticed charring marks on the ground, where the grass had been burnt to black. She stopped and looked down and Gray stopped a few steps ahead of her.

Since he was a bit taller, he could already see what was on the other side of the hill. As his head turned back towards Shio, she could see the look on his face meant that she would not like what she was going to see. She had hoped that the village would have at least been cleaned up, bodies buried and that she wouldn't see things that held so much sentimental value for people strewn on the streets.

Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath before taking a small step dorwards, feeling like her brain was subconsciously fighting her feet to stop them from moving forward. Her arm stretched out as she imagined a rope, so she could pull herself forward with it, trying to resist and defeat her fears.

Just as she was about to grab onto the imaginary rope, her eyes snapped open to see that Gray had taken a hold of her outstretched hand. He did not smile, or say anything to her for comfort or support. His eyes were hard and his mouth turned downward in the corners. She knew that this would be a difficult time, but she was happy that he was here.

So she took a step forward.

And another.

And another.

The last step she took revealed what was left of her village. There was no bodies sprawled in the street, but there was burn marks from fire, things that people had used as weapons against the attacking mages, such as sticks and a few kitchen utensils like knives. Nothing but the remains of houses that used to be homes filled with life.

She continued forward and Gray kept a tight hold of her hand and walked beside her. Her grip was strong and her brow tightly knit, and even though her eyes were blank and showed no emotion in their depths, he could see her body shaking slightly and feel the blood running through her hand. He could swear that he was able to hear her heart hammering in her chest.

It was a sad scene, knowing that people had called this place home before it had been destroyed. He could see that the home most intact was over the opposite side of the village and was almost naturally hidden from being build in a small space within the small mountain that loomed over the village, casting hideous shadows on the ground. He only saw it for a moment before it was hidden again and he began to lead Shio in the direction of the house.

Shio did not protest and simply followed him, still grasping his hand, her grip strengthened by her intense emotion. They found the house was still in ruins, even though it was in better shape compared to the other ones. They stepped inside to see if there was anything left seeing as there was no longer a door.

Most of the valuables would be gone, but there was books on the shelf that looked older than the previous village leader that lived in the house before it was destroyed. She let go of Gray's hand and picked up one book and opened it to see what it was about since the writing on the binder had faded too much for it to be read. She hoped that they may have some information that might help her figure out her power. As the book opened she saw a glint of light the next thing she knew a large knife slid out from the book and landed on the floor, so it stuck out like a sore thumb against the burnt wooden surface.

Shio bent down and grabbed it by the handle and picked it up from the floor, then began to inspect the blade after drawing it from it's sheath. The design of it was old, like nothing Gray or Shio had seen before. The handle was wooden and had some odd symbols carved into it. The blade itself still looked as sharp as the day it was made and the metal had a menacing dark colour to it that made Gray a little nervous.

Gray took it from her to try and identify the symbols on the handle and Shio looked at the book again, seeing those same symbols on the pages that was open on as well as a small hole in the handle. She shut the book and put it in her pack and grabbed the other few and carefully put them in as an afterthought.

Behind the books, there was a tiny box hiding in the dark corner of the bookshelf. She pulled it out and wondered why it felt a little heavy. Gray spotted her with the box in her hand and he looked on curiously as she opened it to show a small jewel on a chain that had the same dark colour to its metal as the knife. The jewel itself was black as the ace of spades, but almost came to life once she touched it.

It turned to a pale gray colour and got brighter when she pulled it out completely. A tiny folded up piece of paper was inside the bottom of the box and Shio sat down on the floor to gather her thoughts before looking at it. Gray placed the knife down as he sat with her and the jewel on the chain stopped glowing and went black again as she put it down.

The small piece of paper had writing on it and Shio read it out aloud so Gray would hear as well.

_"To whomever finds this note,_

_I hope you are the one who can use the items to their fullest extent. The one who used to be called 'Kisan-Aralyn' or 'Summoner of the Unknown'. The jewel is a talisman to help you with your ability and to protect you from the effects of what your ability brings forth. If it glows when you touch it, then put it on as soon as possible._

_In the book that was in front of this box, there is a knife. It took me a long time to track it down, but I found it a few years ago when I made a secret trip up the mountain to the temple at it's peak. The knife and the jewel on the chain is made of a metal called 'Kisanium' that has not been found since the two items were created. The knife is a weapon against what you may summon and ordinary enemies and will become stronger and more deadly as you become more proficient with your talents._

_But please, travel to the temple as there is another piece of the puzzle left to be found._

_You must find the jewel that belongs in the hilt of the knife, but only the Kisan-Aralyn may retrieve it with a payment of blood._

_Do not succumb to the power._

_Control it and use it for good, or it will destroy you."_

Shio sat in silence looking at the talisman, the knife and the note. Neither her nor Gray said anything for a few minutes but Gray eventually moved first. He picked up the talisman, noting that it did not glow when his skin grazed against it, and put it on Shio. He draped it around her neck, watching it come to life and glow white this time, then did up the clasp at the back. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shifted next to her.

"Let's go."


	4. The Enigmatic Spirit

**Chapter 4 -The Enigmatic Spirit**

Before they left the village and begun to head up the mountain path, Shio took once last long look at what used to be her house. She really didn't want to go back and see it up close, to face all the memories that she had been haunted by for what seemed a hundred lifetimes. Stepping out of her front door, after hearing screams, to see people being chased down in the street, children running away with their parents trying to protect them. People getting killed in their homes, and those who were already dead. With a deep breath, she tore her eyes away, and followed Gray.

Shio knew that it would only take 2 or 3 hours to reach the top but she was scared about what she would find in the temple and what it would mean for her. Only the sounds of birds and the wind was in the air. Neither travelling companion spoke as they walked, climbed and jumped to reach the temple. Shio could see the overhang where the entrance was, but kept having to adjust the angle of their ascent since some parts of the path were so dilapadated that they were barely able to get through it. It was clear that no one had been using this path for a very long time, and she wondered the condition it was in when the previous village leader traversed through it to reach the temple.

As they reached the entrance, Gray helped Shio climb up since the only part of the rock that didn't crumble and fall apart under their hands was so high up that Gray had only just been able to pull himself up. He used his strength to help her up and they collapsed in exhaustion at the entrance, the overhang shielding them from the heat of the afternoon sun.

Since they had only stopped once after leaving Magnolia, their energy was in short supply, and there was still more to come. It would be dark in a few hours, and they had hoped to get to the temple, do what needed to be done and get back to the last town they had passed by before Shio's village and sleep the night before heading back to Magnolia, and to Fairy Tail.

Shio got up a minute later, leaving her pack where it was on the ground, taking only the note, the knife and the book it was in. She noticed the symbols carved into the rock at the entrance and headed inside, Gray trailing behind her, readying himself for a fight. It was dark inside, but light from the outside came in through a few holes in the rock, allowing just enough light for them to see properly.

There were symbols all over the walls, and Shio opened the book to find mostly all of the written in there just as they were on the walls of the temple. Gray looked around at everything and made sure that there wasn't anyone or anything hiding in the dark corners of the temple. It was eerily quiet and Shio scanned through the book to find out what she would have to do.

Glancing at the floor, she noticed that a drawing of a small circle with what seemed to be the symbol for 'Kisan-Aralyn' that kept popping up everywhere in the centre of the ring. She guessed that she was supposed to be seated in the middle of it and sat straight down. She felt like the knife had something to do with this, since it was shown below the drawing of the ring and as she pulled it out of the sheath with shaking hands, she felt it slightly cut the tip of her pointer finger.

A small bit of blood welled up and she stared at it blankly, watching the blood come out of the cut from her veins, and eventually drip onto the floor beneath her. Gray whirled around when a small amount of light appeared on the circle and watched as the talisman glowed and the knife along with it. A part of the rock on the floor just in front of Shio shifted to reveal a hole that had another jewel just like the talisman inside it. It was a perfect size to be placed in the hilt of the knife and Shio hesistated for a moment before picking up the jewel, seeing how it glowed and pushed it into the space in the handle. It fit perfectly.

The light faded and Shio turned to him with a bit of a confused expression. She felt her magic power swirl inside her and Gray could sense it increasing. But before he could ask what was happening, or think of what to do, silhouettes appeared around Shio. She screamed and Gray rushed for her, but in an instant, they were gone, almost like Shio had absorbed them.

All was silent for a moment.

"Are you okay?!" Gray asked softly.

"Yeah." Shio responded quietly, almost in a whisper. "But I feel...strong. It's weird. I know how to release my magical power now, but I feel like it I only use a little bit of energy, I will be able to exert more power. Like using my power will be easier." Shio explained and looked down at her hands, observing the dried blood on her finger and feeling the power in them.

She decided to see what would happen if she did release some magic. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath before feeling her magical power create pressure in the air around her and feeling the stagnant atmosphere of the temple shift. The talisman around her neck glowed bright and Gray could feel how exponentially her power had grown in just a few minutes. It seemed like she was right in her analysis of what had changed. She didn't break a sweat even though she released a fair bit of magic.

He wondered what the consequences would be of having such a large increase of power so suddenly, though he was definitely impressed. Once Shio stopped her output completely, she heard something from the corner of the cave. Gray heard nothing but noticed her expression of alarm and prepared himself for a fight with the unknown.

Instinctively, Shio grabbed the kisanium blade, and turned towards the sound. She stared into the darkness and waited.

And waited.

Then it appeared. It was just a dark shape at first, but once it came out into the gradually fading light, she could see that it sort of looked like a dog or wolf shape. Except it was huge. She didn't dare turn away from it to see if there were others in the corners of the temple, lest it strike in that moment.

"Gray, can you see it?!"

"See what?!"

"Never mind. Use your ice make floor in front of me. Quick!" Shio's spoke quickly and with terror.

Gray didn't worry about why he was doing this, and swiftly formed the ice on the cave floor and Shio watched as the creature of darkness did not seem affected by it at all. She cursed, guessing that since only she could see it, only her attacks could destroy it. It leapt at her with long claws, and she ducked out of the way and used the blade to swipe at it in return. It spun out of the way and went to swing at her again and she wasn't quick enough to dodge it, so she used the blade to block the attack.

Sharp claws were still inches from her face and creatures size and muscle won and put scratches down her cheek but no more than that since Shio got a surge of power, probably resulting from her fight or flight response, and she resisted just enough to stop another strike with the knife. She jumped back and centred her weight before she did a push kick to send the dark being reeling backwards before she stepped to the side, just out of it's way and stabbed it in it's side. It howled high and long, and Gray was able to see the creature form fully so he could see the wolf-like creature before it disappeared again, becoming dust on the wind.

In shock, Shio panted and tried to catch her breath while Gray rushed over to her. "Are you alright?! What was that thing?!"

"I don't know, but I feel different again."

She closed her eyes and regain her composure then concetrated, releasing a small amount of magic into the air around her. The wolf creature appeared after a moment and Gray became ready to attack but watched carefully since it did not make a move to hurt either of them.

"Well done, Kisan-Aralyn. You have beaten me and gained the ability to summon me. My name is Faelan, the direwolf. At the cost of your energy, you may now summon me to assist you in battle. You will know how when the time comes..." the creature now known as Faelan disappeared and Shio's magical output stopped.

She looked to Gray in shock and breathed deeply. All of a sudden she felt very light headed and faint. Next thing, darkness clouded her vision, and she passed out.

Shio woke up a little while later, just as they were walking into the village that they had planned on staying in for the night. The lights roused her from her rest and she squinted for a moment before looking up at Gray, who stopped walking and put her down when she squirmed out of his hold in surprise._ He must have carried me the whole way here..._ Shio thought to herself and smiled in her mind.

"You okay?" he spoke quietly, but she could hear the concern in his voice loud and clear. It _may_ have made her heart skip a little bit.

"Mmm." was all she could manage at the moment, but she nodded enough for Gray to be satisfied.

They continued walking towards the inn, Gray almost hovering behind Shio, just in case she was to collapse again. He was terrified that she might have been wounded in her fight to tame the wolf demon. Immediately, he checked her over again, and looked for wounds or signs of trauma, but when he could find nothing, he guessed that she was probably more mentally drained rather than physically injured. He stayed behind her anyway.

While her feet did drag, and she walked slowly, nevertheless, she stayed upright and went straight towards the inn, which was so big that you could see it from the edge of the city. Even more so with the big, flashing sign over it. The sign flashed all the colours of the rainbow, and Shio stared at it blankly as it transitioned through the various different colours. Her neck craned further backward as they got closer to the inn, until she heard Gray's voice from next to her.

"Shio."

"Um, yeah?"

"Are you sure you are alright?" he asked with a furrowed brow, the scar that you could only just see underneath his hair twisted in an odd manner.

"Yeah, just spaced out. I'm still adjusting to how my power feels."

"You must not realise that you are releasing your magical power right now. That's probably why you are feeling funny. It making the air heavy."

The young woman stopped and switched on her spatial awareness to figure out that Gray was right. Without realising it, her magical power had been leaking out since she had woken up. It was more than likely because she was not used to having such a sheer amount, and was unconsciously getting rid of the extra power.

She strained a little to control if for a moment, but quickly got the idea of how to cease her output and stopped it completely. Both of them noticed straight away how much easier it was to breathe after she had stopped. Gray walked beside her and looked over to her just at the right moment, to see a cut form on her neck.

Shio winced and grasped at it, her hand getting blood on it in the process. Gray was surprised to see it just appear, but he knew that it was her ability causing it, not someone attacking them. He spared no second thought to tear his shirt off and rip off part of the material before he gently tied it around Shio's neck to slow the bleeding so they could at least get to the inn without her passing out again.

"Your body still needs to get used to your power. That's why your injuries were so severe when you were found by Mystogan. The force of your power exploding from within you was what did most of the damage to you. I'll patch you up properly when we get to the room at the inn."

They kept walking and only a minute later stepped inside the lobby of the inn. It was a huge place, with fancy artworks all over the walls and decorative pieces of furniture. A large, thick-browed man was behind the desk, but he was very pleasant to them and got them a nice room with two single beds and personally showed them the way to the stairs.

When they got in their room, Gray told Shio to put her stuff down and sit at the small table in the corner of the room. He got a few small first-aid items out from his pack and wet a handtowel from the bathroom to clean her wound with. Once he came back, he practically cupped her face with his cool hand, and used his thumb to turn her head away from him so he could see the cut.

Pained sounds escaped Shio's mouth while he gently dragged the damp cloth over her wound, and he muttered an apology, but did not stop his work. He placed some gauze over the top once it had stopped haemorraghing and then put a large, waterproof wound protector over the top which stuck down firmly.

He nodded when he was done, and Shio smiled shyly at him.

"Thank you...Gray-san."

"Just Gray is fine." he smiled back at her, and even though it was a bit of a lopsided smile, Shio still thought it was simply adorable.

"Okay. Thank you, Gray."

"No problem. Would you like a shower first so you can sleep sooner?"

"If you wouldn't mind." she nodded, and grabbed some clothes from her pack and showered. Quickly this time around, making sure to not start contemplating life while washing her hair.

The wound on her neck stung, and she knew it was from her magic output earlier. She hadn't even noticed how heavy the air had become until she had got herself under control.

It was hard for her to pick up on these things for the moment, since she was still not well-versed in magic use.

After she showered and put on clean clothes to sleep in, Gray showered mechanically being much too tired to really take notice of what he was doing. When he came out, Shio was sound asleep in bed, her face calm and serene. Her magic wasn't being released any more but he could still recall the feeling of the huge change in air pressure she could bring about with just a small amount of magic. He could already sense the great, sleeping strength within her and hoped that this was the start of her becoming a strong independent mage of Fairy Tail.

As he laid down to sleep, it was a most welcome feeling and he derifted off to sleep, dreaming of shapeless creatures made from shadow.

* * *

The next morning, Gray awoke at a fairly normal time. They still had a while before check out for their room, so he left Shio to sleep and went out to get them some breakfast from some sort of take away joint. He left a note just in case his female companion woke up before he returned and went on his way.

The city was slowly coming to life at this hour. Shops were opening and he could smell food on the wind already and just followed the smell to the next street over and attempted to decide on what to eat. Unfortunately he didn't really know what Shio's preferences were, so he got a few different things and took them back to the room. He also picked up the package that he needed to take back to Magnolia, which was another reason that he wanted to stay overnight in this village. Shio was still sound asleep and Gray was still feeling tired himself and almost felt like going back to sleep, but he gently shook her, knowing that by now, she would have to be hungry.

She groaned loudly, cranky at being roused from her sleep and swatted lazily at Gray's head when he leant over her to see if she had opened her eyes. He dodged easily and chuckled at the young woman, listening to her breathing as he unpacked some of the food so they could eat and be on their way.

Even though she didn't fall back asleep, she was still nowhere near as well rested as she could be. The exhausted and drained feeling still lingered in her mind and in her muscles from all the changes to her magic and power yesterday. They both ate silently together, Shio not knowing what to say as well as being too dmned tired to think of things to speak of, and Gray was just simply being quiet because he wasn't always the most talkative and extroverted person.

Gray checked them out after a while and they started the journey back to Magnolia and to Fairy Tail. There was a small forest that they had to head through while they were still a distance from the town. To make matters worse, upon exhaustion, and a lack of mental power and patience, it started raining as they made their way through the forest.

All of a sudden, Gray felt something odd. He looked over at Shio who was wide-eyed, and staring at something to her right, and she had dropped instinctively into a fighting stance. Gray prepared himself for a fight and watched the trees and the ground carefully fr signs of danger, whether it would be people or creatures.

Abruptly, a man appeared on one of the tree branches and looked scared as he rushed them, knife in his hand, faster than Gray had expected him too. Just as he was about ready to use his magic, the jet black wolf named Faelan flew past and grabbed him by the leg and took him to the ground with barely any effort. Gray looked at Shio to see that she was standing motionlessly, watching it occur but she was actually looking through the eyes of Faelan so that she could attack and defend accordingly.

Faelan stood on his chest, and he was so heavy that the man could not move and the creature growled low and loud, baring his teeth, his red eyes burning brightly with aggression. Shio went to storm over to the man, and Gray tried to stop her out of fear that the man may have magical ability, but she twsited her wrist out of his grip and kept going. Gray watched as Faelan got up and moved next to the man seamlessly as Shio approached him.

The mysterious attacker did not let the wolf out of his sight, still hearing his breathing and feeling his malicious presence. Gray's female companion placed her booted foot onto the man's chest so he would know to continue staying still.

"Why have you tried to attack us?!" She spoke in a low pitch, almost turning into a growl and when the man did not respond, Faelan did not make contact, but threateningly bit at the air next to his head. He yelped quietly in fear, and was clearly intimidated, and Shio could feel him begin to shake with terror underneath her foot.

"I haven't eaten in five days. I didn't plan on hurting you guys. I just hoped I could steal some food and run away. I have no money or anything to give you in return. I am so sorry!" the man began to break down and both Shio and Gray could see how thin and gaunt the man was, and they couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"You could have just asked. We don't need anything in return if that's what you are worried about." Shio removed her foot and Faelan moved back to sit down, but neither of them dropped their guard. The man wouldn't be able to tell, but Gray could. The wolf's red eyes stayed on the stranger, making sure to keep an eye out for any possibly movement that may mean an attack was imminent.

Shio opened her pack and pulled out a few bits and pieces of food that they had leftover and handed them to the man, who thanked them and apologised continuously and told them about a dark guild attacking his village that was several days away from them. Gray couldn't contain his anger and hit a tree with the side of his tightly-clenched fist, and Shio asked the man many questions about the guild that attacked them. Mystogan had not destroyed the entire guild that had destroyed her village, and she had developed a lot of ideas about what she would like to do to the people in charge if given the chance. The three companions went on their way, heading back towards Magnolia as the man yelled at them that he would never forget their kindness.

Gray was a little confused and angered by all of the previous proceedings, but he knew that he was impressed by how quickly Shio had reacted. She had noticed that man before he had, and was ready to act before the ice mage had even figured out what was going on. He also noticed that Shio did not have any open wounds from summoning Faelan. She kept him with them, just in case anything else was to happen, and they all kept their eyes peeled and on the lookout for any signs of danger.

The ice mage was still a little bit cranky that Shio had been the first one to react, but mostly because she had approached the man. She would have to become more cautious in a world with magic. People had some weird and wonderful powers and it was dangerous and reckless to do something like that without knowing the extent of someone's power. He did understand that if she hadn't noticed, things may have ended badly for them though.

"Shio." he spoke out aloud before he realised it. "Please, don't do that again."

"Do what again?" She stopped walking and looked directly at him with her head tilted to one side, and had an eyebrow raised in question.

"Approach an enemy so easily. If he had a type of magic that required bodily contact for it to work, you may have been in real trouble..." he looked straight into her eyes, and exhaled deeply before he continued. "It scared me." he trailed off quietly, and looked down to stare at his feet with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry if I worried you, but I felt no magical ability from that man. That's why I wasn't afraid." Shio spoke casually, but she was really quite flattered.

"What do you mean by 'felt no magical ability'?"

"Well, I can feel an...aura of magical power from you. But I can't feel it from normal people. I couldn't feel anything from the hotel receptionist, or that man before. It's like a life force almost, but I can't feel it from civilians, only mages. I've really only just figured out today why you have a different 'feel' to you." she stared straight into his dark eyes as she spoke, and she smiled a little when he couldn't think of anything to say.

"You get that from me." the creature in their group spoke up so that both of them could hear it, not just mentally via the bond between him and Shio. "It's part of your ability. Once we become completely synchronised as partners, we ca actually combine our bodies and fight as one. Then you can have all the sensory advantages that I do, such as hearing, smell and increased speed and strength."

"I didn't know that we could do that."

"Of course you didn't. That's what I am here for." The large wolf grumbled but rubbed his head against Shio's hand. It seemed that he was starting to like her. "It will take a lot of practice before we are able to do that though."

"We have so much to tell the Master. I can't wait to get back. I also can't wait until I'm in my own bed. I'm still exhausted." Shio looked at Gray with a tired smile. He could see how drained she was considering how dull the colour of her eyes were. He smiled back at her anyway.

"Then let's keep moving."

* * *

Once they entered the city, they made their way straight to the guild to report in. Shio's head began to hurt a little after getting a small taste of the strength emanating from the guild on one side of the city. They made their way up there and went in through the double doors. Everyone greeted them on the way in, but seemed a little confused at the sight of the huge, black direwolf walking along Shio.

The Master was sitting on the bar, drink in hand as per the usual. He spotted them and smiled, glad to see that everything was okay and that they had returned safely.

"Master." Shio greeted him and bowed her head in respect a little, which made him chuckle lightly.

"No need for that, dearest. We are all family here. Tell me, who is the new addition?" Makarov indicated towards the direwolf next to her, sitting and staring into space casually. She nudged him gently to get his attention andhe snapped out of his reverie and gave her a funny look.

"This is Faelan, the direwolf. It seems that he is my summoning creature. There is so much that I have found out, but so much that I still don't know. But I can feel the strength of magical power that I have now gained. It's...it's a little frightening."

"Tell me everything." The Master hopped down from the bar and the two and four-legged beings followed him and sat down in a 'quieter' corner of the guild hall.

"Well, we made our way to my old village. It was...decimated. There was nothing left." she exhaled shakily, and Gray placed his hand on her's that sat on her lap underneath the table. She looked up at him and he nodded for her to keep going. It gave her the courage to continue. "We went to the home of the previous village leader, and found this book. I was hoping Levy would be able to read it as I don't know how." Shio pulled out the book, the knife and the handwritten note and revealed the necklace underneath her jacket.

"We found the knife and this note as well, and it told us a little bit more about myself. Apparently I am 'Kisan-Aralyn' or something. I still don't really know what that means just yet."

"If I may fill you in a little, I can tell you what I know." Faelan spoke up, and though he was quiet, for a wolf he was certainly able to command the attention of all three of them quickly.

"You are now bonded to me, as I am to you. We are one and the same. I have my own thoughts, morals personality, and it's the same for you. We can fight, or work as one. We must earn each other's respect, and that's how we learn to work as a team. Currently, you are able to summon me without much effort. You have already instinctively expanded on how we work together. In the forest, you looked through my eyes to see the man and used that to act accordingly. When you get used to that, you can use my senses and I can use yours."

"You mean you didn't let me look through your eyes then?" Shio asked, being under the impression that what had happened was controlled by Faelan, not herself.

"No, you did that. You just didn't realise it consciously because of our bond. You will be able to train yourself to tune into my hearing, my sense of smell and my sight whenever you need to. Anyway, the second stage of working together means that you are able to use a partial transformation to gain extra strength and speed. You will get sharp claws and teeth, extra musculature and agility. That takes a lot of time to do, but considering how quickly you are already instinctively developing skill, I would say that we can work on it very soon."

"And the final ability? Do you know anything about it?" Master spoke up, recalling that the book said that there was an unknown third skill.

"I do. I am sure that you have all heard of the old legends of the supernatural creatures that wander the country side, destroying all in their path." The wolf waited for a response from the mages, which was a small nod from all three of them. "Those stories originated from the Kisan-Aralyn who was able to use the third skill. There has been no one else to use it before them, or since, because it combines the bodies of the summoner and the creature. I believe that the creature and summoner ended up fighting each other to the death because they disagreed over how to use their power. I don't know much else than that. I really only began my existence when your magical power awoke."

"Do you think we will be able to develop the bond to do that?" Shio asked, doubting herself considering that only one other person was able to do it previously.

"That I cannot be sure of. We may be able to one day, or we may not. It depends on the strength we build together. But you need to know one very important thing..." Faelan looked like he was almost frowning, and his tone became deadly serious. "You have probably noticed how you don't bleed when you get wounded from using your magical power."

Shio was hoping that the wolf would be able to tell her about this. The way he spoke already gave her an idea of what she would be in for.

"I use your blood as payment for the power I give you. Your blood allows you to live. You can live without arms, or legs. But blood is everything. It fights sickness, and keeps your body working properly. If you are drained of power, you must regenerate the supply of blood so that I can keep providing you with strength. Previously, this would mean that the Kisan-Aralyn would have to use the blood of others to sustain their power, and I daresay that you will not be any different."

"So how did you awaken the ability to summon Faelan, Shio?" the Master asked, trying to ignore the gravity of the previous statement and distract Shio from it too. Her expression was dead-panned for another moment after he finished speaking until Gray nudged her and she continued on with her recollection of the previous days happenings.

"After we left the house where we found the knife, we made our way up the mountain and to this small cave, that is nearly at the top. This same symbol was carved into the rock at the entrance. I am guessing it means Kisan-Aralyn, because it keeps appearing everywhere." She pointed out the strange symbol on the front of the book that they had found.

Master nodded and made small sounds of acknowledgement as she went through the memories that she had, Gray filled in on the parts that she was unconscious for, while Faelan made various inputs here and there. He was big enough to sit on the floor next to the table and be at the same height as the Master. If it wasn't such a serious moment of discussion, Shio would have laughed.

The wizard saint looked deep in thought for the duration of the story and occasionally glanced at the large furry creature sitting next to Shio. Eventually Shio began to get more and more drowsy and Faelan suggested that they go and get some rest. While it didn't take very much effort or magic for him to be summoned, Shio was already exhausted from the last few days, and Shio had planned to keep him with her constantly so that they could get to know each other and work better together. Also, because he was pretty awesome. She had always wanted a dog, but now she had a direwolf instead. One that talked and fought with her.

The Fairly Tail Master asked that Shio leave behind the book, the knife and the necklace and the note for Levy to look at, but Faelan explained that she could not remove the necklace because it was protecting her from the negative side to her ability, loosing blood consistently and getting random wounds here and there. It also helped to lessen the consumption of power required for him to be around, so the Master just asked for her to return to the guild when she was well rested.

Shio thanked him, and waved to Mira on her way out, intending to head home to shower and go straight to bed, even though it was only early in the afternoon. Gray walked with her to make sure she got back to Fairy Hills okay, even though she reminded him that Faelan was with her and that she would be alright, though she was flattered and appreciated the gesture anyway.

The raven haired man looked like he was about to drop dead with exhausting as well, and Shio shyly suggested that he could crash at her place so he didn't have to walk all the way back to his place on the other side of town. The young woman went to unlock the door, and had to remember how the contraption worked since she was just so out of it, and after a minute the door swung open and Gray stared into space and reluctantly agreed to stay, hoping he wasn't being a burden, but he was so damn tired that and doubted she really minded anyway.

She was kind enough to let him shower first, and she waited patiently whilst sitting on the floor next to her bed, where Faelan was laying down dozing lightly. Gray didn't take too long and he thanked her and sat down on her bed for a minute while he put a shirt on, and in the mean time Shio tried not to blatantly stare at the half-naked man on her bed, and scampered into the bathroom to have a quick shower herself. She didn't dare take very long in case she fell asleep standing up, only to fall over and split her head open on the tiled floor.

When she came out, she found her human companion laying flat on his back with his legs dangling off the edge of the bed, sound asleep. It seemed that he was more worn out that either of them realised until presented the opportunity to go to sleep. Luckily, she managed to rouse him just enough to get him to move and get under the covers so that he wouldn't be freezing during the night and he could sleep comfortably. She laid down next to him and gave Faelan a quick scratch behind he ears before joining her two nakama in sleep...


End file.
