Frost

38

Just like in Magnolia, the news about Gray spreaded quickly in Margaret. From the first kid who saw the ice mage—a big fan of his—to the next wizard sharing passing the news on to another, this news was the biggest news in a few days. Gray Fullbuster was in Margaret. Currently, Mirajane was standing right in front of them with her mouth wide open, fighting over the urge to cry about Gray. She thought it would be all laughs and cheering, but she hasn't seen him in so long, and she hasn't realized how much she has missed him.

"You're really back . . ." Mira managed to say. Natsu smiles and wrapped an arm around Gray's shoulders.

"We're looking forward an all-you-can-eat. You wanna join?" the dragon slayer asked.

•••

Mira watched as both boys in front of her slammed on almost four plates of food each. They were stacked up high on the table covered in leftover sauce and bones from meat. The waiter assigned to their table watched nervously as the two boys sprinted across the restaurant for another plate. Mira always wondered how neither of them ever really got full. She was still on her first plate.

When the boys came back over to the table, it was no surprise that they were stacked with food. "I don't think I can eat anymore after this one," Natsu exclaimed when his mouth was full of chicken. Mira wasn't sure about it, because he was still eating as if he hadn't eaten for a year. Gray scoffed and said, "Please, I could keep eating for days! You're such a wimp!"

"Oh you want to bet? Fine, I'll keep eating and show you who's boss! I bet you'll stop eating before I do!"

The two argued back and forth, all though Mira thought the topic of this argument was pretty unhealthy. But this used to be normal. It was as if the she, Natsu, and Gray were back at the guild hall, and she was serving them their food. Except their guildmates weren't here and it was just the three of them eating out together. Now, she couldn't even remember the last time it was just the three of them. It was her chance to actually get to talk to the two boys alone.

"So, how long have you been, um, visible?" Mira asked, and it stopped their commotion. Natsu was practically on top of Gray, his hands in Gray's mouth, while Gray had his thumbs in Natsu's eyes. The ice mage shoved the dragon slayer off of him, and he sat up in his seat and continued to eat again, only this time more slowly.

"I honestly don't know. I was down there long enough to a point where I got dehydrated enough to almost pass out and eat my own ice. So maybe about four days? Three?" Gray thought about it for a little more, and Natsu stared at him as he did. Mira began to contemplate on whether or not Natsu was just as hungry as Gray. And Lucy and Happy weren't with him, which obviously shows that they had split at some point. The dragon slayer was also quite dirty—even more so than Gray. She really wanted to know how Natsu found Gray if no one else was with him. She thought over Gray's response.

"What do you mean 'down there'?" she asked.

"I was stuck in a tunnel system," Gray replied, taking another bite of his torn-up chicken leg.

"Yeah, and I got lost down there. I wasn't even the one who found him!" Natsu said.

Mira blinked a few times and watched as the two boys continued to slam their food. She didn't want to interrupt them, for if they were lost in a tunnel system then they definitely had to have been hungry. Especially since they both ate large portions of food for every meal, they could be in this buffet for days. Mira was surprised at how both of them were able to stay physically fit every time they ate.

She began to wonder who found Gray and how the two winded up together. She didn't want to interrogate the two boys because they might not even be in the mood for questioning. After all, Natsu and Gray were just wandering in an underground cave.

Mirajane watched as the two boys ate their food with a smile, enjoying the time she had with the both of them before they go back to the guild hall.

•••

"It's empty," Asa stated as he stared into the room with just two bookshelves and a desk. On top of the desk was a moldy sheet of paper, probably due to the moisture in the air. All three of them cringed.

"Was there supposed to be something down here?" Happy asked as he took a look at the bookshelf that was furthest away from the entrance of the room. He was scared of whatever might walk through the doorway. "Yeah. It was for the victim of the potion. I placed this note down here for him to tell him to stay in this room, but I'm assuming he didn't read it because it's absolutely disgusting and he's no where to be seen," Asa muttered. Happy nodded, and he flew over to the note. It was unreadable, and it almost made Happy puke just by staring at how moldy the paper was. Asa then said, "I was supposed to come down here to take him home, but now I have no idea where he could be."

Lucy was leaning against the wall by the entrance, her eyebrows furrowed and her arms folded across her chest as she watched Asa wander around the room. He wasn't looking at anything in particular, but he was just walking around, and it was kind of weird.

"Do you happen to know who the victim is?" Lucy questioned. She was thinking of Gray, for he may be the mixed up victim. If Asa was a beginner with potions, it would make sense. Maybe Gray offered to help him, and it just so happened that Asa gave Gray the wrong potion, leading up the Gray being invisible for months and waking up in the tunnels. But then again Gray could be in a completely different location, and he could be back at the guild hall while she and Happy are stuck in the tunnels with some stranger. Asa blinked before shaking his head.

"He looked a little familiar. I don't know."

"Can you describe him?" Lucy asked. Asa thought about it before nodding his head. He then said, "Well, only a little bit of him. I remember his bright pink hair and green eyes. He was absolutely wild, and I assumed he was very drunk because the words he said were hard to understand, so I wanted to give him something that would maybe reduce the headache he might have gotten in the next morning. Turns out, my only invisibility potion went missing. I think he took it after I injected him with the syringe because it was on the table. He probably took it because I told him what I injected him with, and he might have wanted a spare I guess." Asa continued to talk about how he should color code his potions.

Lucy didn't understand. He was talking about Natsu? Unless he was talking about some other guy with pink hair and green eyes, he was definitely talking about Natsu. "No way . . ."

"Natsu didn't turn invisible, though. Gray did!" Happy exclaimed. Asa blinked, and he furrowed his eyes. Lucy thought about the situation. It was strange how Natsu took the invisibility syringe and Gray ended up with it. But as she thought about it more, it kind of made sense as to how it happened.

Maybe she should have a talk with the dragon slayer when she sees him next time.