It took a few days, but finally Fairy Tail broke the charm over the giant maze. When Alzack made it through to reach Bisca in the cabin at the end of the labyrinth, the barrier lowered, and suddenly everyone could come through. By then, most of the monsters were defeated, and Erza led the way with no second guesses on where to turn along the maze's paths.
They all met up at the cabin on the snowy hill, and they saw for themselves how Lucy and Gray cuddled together by the fire, while Wendy and Romeo seemed a little closer and sat with their thighs touching. Alzack and Bisca were discussing about possibly having another child. It seemed the maze worked at bringing together couples in love.
Once they were all gathered, Wisteria led them outside, along a snowy path, to a spot with runes. She had no magic of her own, but she relied on Whitehall's runes to teleport to his castle. She brought all of them along with a cold glare in her eyes. Finally, after years of watching others suffer, she would see justice come to this madman.
They marched through stone hallways lined with tapestries that looked very old and items of heraldry from before the Fiore royal family took the throne. Finally, they came to a vast library with a fireplace crackling. In front of the fire was a large chair with a high back. As they glanced around, they saw a morbid scene. Within the library were numerous bodies, mostly women, frozen within slabs of ice, their faces trapped with expressions of pain, horror, and sadness. These coffins of ice were hung up like trophies, placed in areas so light refracted through the ice and highlighted those ghastly faces. Lucy shivered as she realized just how close she came to being one of these decorations.
"Salutations and my warmest congratulations, wizards of Fairy Tail," Whitehall said, staring at the hearth and nonchalantly smoking a pipe. "This maze was my masterpiece, and you've defeated it. Really, I don't know what else I can do with my life after losing interest in this game."
"You lose, Whitehall," Erza stated sharply. "You will face trial with the Magic Council. If you come peacefully, we won't harm you."
"Lose? Me?" He spun the chair around and gazed at the group while puffing on a long-stemmed pipe. "Do you really think you've won? You've defeated a child's game, a puzzle, a simple maze."
Gray scoffed. That labyrinth was anything but simple.
"Facing me?" He snickered softly. "Well, that's a completely different game."
Erza readied herself, prepared for him to fight.
"Oh, I won't attack you," he told the wizards. "You see..." He chuckled with a gleeful grin. "...you've already lost."
Suddenly, they saw runes lighting up all around the room.
"Did you naively assume that I would come with you willingly? Do you really think," he whispered with a crazed grin, "that you can defeat me? Here? In my own castle? You walked in here not realizing you were stepping into a whole other challenge. I have runes set up everywhere. A snap of my fingers, and you'll all die a slow and delightfully excruciating death."
Erza held still. "Levy?"
She looked around in a panic. "I ... I would need time. The dialect is strange, and the syntax..."
"Oh course, my dear," Whitehall interrupted. "It's encoded. I knew you had a runes translator in your group. Like I said, I prepared. Always think three steps ahead of your opponent. I knew Wisteria would betray me; she's been waiting for the opportunity, and you were it. I realized that your group had already solved my maze. It got boring after that. So I had plenty of time to prepare," he smirked. "I'm not going to those ninnies in the Magic Council, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."
Natsu's fists caught ablaze. "You wanna bet!" He began to stomp forward.
Whitehall smirked. "Oh, I excel in betting games." At a light swirl of his finger, Natsu stopped and began to cough while grabbing his throat. He gagged and gasped, suffocating slowly. Whitehall had a deranged gleam in his eyes. "I win them!"
"Natsu!" Lucy cried out. She began to rush to his side.
"Another step and I'll put you back in ice, my dear," Whitehall warned sharply.
The threat drove a spike of fear into Lucy's veins. The terror of that slow freezing still made her ache at times.
"Let him go," demanded Erza.
"I won't kill him," Whitehall promised. "It's not fun if you kill off the pawns before the game has even started."
"I ... I'm fine," Natsu choked. "Just ... dizzy."
"Do you know the trouble with boredom?" Whitehall asked them as Natsu fell to his knees, gasping at the minimal amounts of air left in his runes cage. "You start to think about all sorts of things," the madman went on, and he began to list them on his fingers. "Does God exist? Can you really experience anything objectively? How does gravity work? Why do cats purr? Are eyebrows considered facial hair? How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?" He smirked slyly. "What are all the ways a person can die? Suffocation is a nasty one. You know it's coming."
"Release Natsu," said Erza.
Whitehall chuckled. "Oh, my dear lady, I don't think you're in the position to be making demands. Should I remove the air from your area too?"
Suddenly, it became harder for Erza to breathe. Natsu had fallen already and looked ready to pass out from lack of air.
"I want some more fun," Whitehall said flippantly. He set his pipe down and tapped his fingers together. "Let's make a deal, shall we?"
The redhead eyed him coldly, her face as hard as steel. Quietly, out of breath, she acquiesced, "Go ahead."
"Erza," Bisca warned worriedly.
Whitehall smiled craftily. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Natsu gasped and Erza could breathe normally again.
Whitehall folded his fingers together. "You let me go, and I'll unfreeze all of these people. Not only them. I'll free everyone who has ever been trapped in one of my games."
Gray jolted at such an offer. "Everyone?"
"Yes, my boy," he said, and purred enticingly, "Everyone!"
Gray's brow tightened. "That girl I heard about when I was a kid, the one who you locked in that haunted mansion with her dead family..."
Whitehall laughed and grinned to himself. "Yes, that was a good one."
The Ice-Make wizard began to lurch forward. "You sick bast-..."
"Gray!" Erza snapped, yanking him back.
"I'll free her," promised Whitehall. "I'm afraid I can't revive the family, though. Resurrection is quite beyond my means. I'll free her and others in her condition, as well as all of these people." He waved around to the room filled with frozen bodies.
Erza carefully considered the offer. "How many people are we talking about?"
"How many?" Whitehall thought about it, hummed, and tapped his finger to his lip. "I never really keep track of these things."
Angrily, Erza shouted, "How many?"
Whitehall gave a laconic shrug. "Two hundred or so?"
Alzack's mouth dropped. "Two hundred?" he whispered in horror.
"Or maybe three hundred," Whitehall offered lightly with a playful shrug. "I'm actually not sure."
Gray tightened his hold around Lucy. This horrible man could freeze hundreds of people and not even care enough to know how many he caused to suffer. Lucy had almost ended up just another victim.
Gray sneered at Whitehall's frivolous smile. "He's holding them hostage."
"I know that, Gray," Erza said sharply, but she did not act yet. This was no different than chess, except they were a group of pawns facing a king. He could not move far, but he could move unpredictably, and he was deadly.
Natsu hated the man in front of him. Anyone who hurt his friends deserved to be punched. Just as his fists began to flame again, an armored hand reached out and clamped down hard on his shoulder. He glanced back in surprise.
"Erza?"
She merely shook her head. She had sparred with Freed before. The trouble with a runes wizard was that, if you got caught in their runes, there were usually rules before you could get out, just like how the labyrinth had rules, a timer, and punishments for breaking the rules. They were already trapped in yet another one of his games. Before they could act, she needed to figure out the rules.
"These people are innocent. It's our duty to save them if we can. If I'm guessing right," and she glared at the old man, "you could end their lives at any moment."
"End their lives?" Whitehall blinked and thought about it, as if considering this for the first time. "Umm ... yes. Yes, I could." He looked giddy at realizing this.
So, this was his game! Many lives were on the line, not just their own, but hundreds of others.
Gray realized she was hesitating. He could hardly believe she was even considering this lunatic. "Erza!" the ice wizard growled.
"We're in a hostage situation, Gray," she said, forcefully calm. "Isn't that so?" she asked Whitehall.
The old man made a sour face. "Oh, I don't like calling this a hostage situation. No, no, no. Uhhh..." He tapped his finger to his chin and looked to the ceiling as he judged his words. "We're bartering on the rules of this new game of mine, something I'm inventing as I go," he decided with a playful grin. "It's quite fun to do that, you know."
Gray's fists clenched. "You sick bastard."
Erza yanked his shoulder back. "Easy, Gray."
Whitehall was thoroughly amused by their reactions. This redhead was a tough opponent who understood how strategy games worked. She was a queen surrounded by pawns. Well, maybe this shirtless boy was a knight, leaping around in unpredictable ways. Still, that just made the game more fun.
"So, have we a deal?" he asked, staring at Erza. "You let me go, and I'll free two or three hundred people, all throughout Fiore. Good deal, right?" he grinned. "One poor, old wizard; two to three hundred innocent civilians."
Gray growled deep in his throat. He just about had enough of this man, but Erza let out a deep sigh and held her chin, thinking things over. "Erza!" he whispered harshly.
"Shut up, Gray," snapped the Titania. Both him and Natsu's emotional reactions were distractions. She needed to think carefully about her next move. "This isn't something for me to decide. You'll have to go before a court of the Magic Council, and they will decide your fate. They may decide to let you go."
Whitehall pouted at the stipulation. "No, no, that wouldn't do. I don't want to go in front of a court. No, I don't," he muttered.
Erza felt the heavy weight of this decision. It really was beyond her authority, but they had little choice. "Gray, can you unfreeze these women?" she asked softly.
He was shocked, but sadly he shook his head. "No. I tried with Lucy, and I couldn't. This magic ... it's almost like it isn't ice magic."
"Oh, it's only partly ice magic," Whitehall explained with a titter, watching their faces with amusement as they tried to solve the mystery. "There's much more to it than that."
Erza noticed that Wendy had stepped away from their group and up to one of the statues. It was a macabre scene, pain and horror captured and frozen. The little girl placed her hand on the slab of ice and peered into the frozen face.
"Wendy?" Erza asked cautiously.
"It's ... strange," she whispered, lightly running her hand up the frozen barrier. "I sense life in there but ... not time!"
"Not time?" Romeo asked, coming up beside her.
"Like he ... froze time," she whispered.
"Awww, good girl," Whitehall said, giddily clapping his hands. "You're a smart one, yes you are!"
Natsu had seen Gray freeze many things, but this was outrageous. "You can freeze time?" he bellowed.
"Oh yes, my boy, that's my specialty," Whitehall said, looking proud of himself. He looked over at the Ice-Make wizard. "You can only freeze water. I can freeze anything." His eyes went deadly seriously as he glared at the Fairy Tail group. "A-...-NY-...-THING!" he emphasized, and a sadistic smile curled onto his lips, changing this crazed carny into a diabolical demon. "I could freeze all of you, right here, right now." He grinned around at the group. "Freeze your blood, freeze your soul, freeze the very timeline in which you exist. I don't even have to lift a finger." He suddenly laughed, looking crazy again, and said in a singsong tone, "I ... can freeze time ... itself."
Erza scowled. This really did make things more challenging.
"We could sit here for years," he declared, waving his hand around at the library. "Oh yes, decades even," he said lightly, "and the outside world won't know a thing. Or," he offered excitedly, "I could freeze out there and let us sit in here. Outside, oh, maybe about half a second would pass," he calculated flippantly, "while in here, we'll all grow old, staring at one another, maybe fighting each other. Wouldn't that be fun?" he ended with a lilt to his laugh.
Erza kept a level gaze at him. "You're saying we can't even win against you."
He looked surprised again. "Oh, I'm not saying that at all. You actually have pretty good odds at killing me eventually. Of course, you could lose a decade or so of your life before I get bored of this game."
Erza and all the others who had been on Tenrou knew precisely what it was like to lose time. Romeo unconsciously grabbed Wendy's arm, not wanting to be separated from her again. Bisca and Alzack looked to each other in horror. If they lost a decade of their time, Asuka would have grown up alone!
Erza still tried to figure out some way to end this stalemate without a disaster happening to their group. "Gray, can you unfreeze something like time?"
He gawked at her. "I don't know the first thing about this sort of magic. It's not something Ur ever taught me. Freezing time—I've never even heard of this before! Ultear could manipulate non-sentient things, like buildings or plants, but..." He gritted with sad memories of Ultear. "...this sounds like you directly manipulate sentient things, too."
"More like space, as opposed to objects," Whitehall corrected. "I freeze the space around a person, including the person within that space. I just add the ice because it makes my trophies so much prettier, don't you think?"
"So that's why I couldn't unfreeze the ice," Gray muttered. "It was frozen in time."
Whitehall pointed at him and winked. "Bingo!"
Lucy spoke up, "Is this like Mavis' magic?"
"Mavis?" Whitehall asked sharply. His brow creased. They all watched in anticipation. Then Whitehall mumbled to himself. "Do I know a Mavis? Hmm, Mavis..." He looked up with childish curiosity. "Who's Mavis?"
They all sighed at his flippant attitude.
Erza answered Lucy, "I think Mavis's magic is much different. This man isn't anywhere near as strong as the first master."
Whitehall gasped. "Oh, that Mavis! I've heard of her. She was quite powerful, from what I've read." He tapped his finger to his chin, thinking something over, then shrugged wildly. "Nope! My magic's not like hers, sorry."
Erza had one last idea. "Can you teach this magic to Gray?"
Whitehall's expression was no longer mocking. He honestly looked stunned by her question. "Well, I could," he answered with a casual shrug. "Now, do I want to? No!"
Erza's sword swung out and went to his neck.
Whitehall gulped hard and backed up in his chair. "Oops! Watch the sword, missy, watch the sword," he laughed nervously, not taking her all that serious.
"Let me rephrase that," Erza said sharply, and her brown eyes narrowed into the glare that made the Titania so feared. "You're going to teach this magic to Gray!"
Her expression did nothing to Whitehall, and he blithely asked, "And why would I do that?"
Erza's eyes went harsher. "Because otherwise, I will slit your throat."
Her threat made him laugh. "Or ... I could freeze time and..."
"And I will slit your throat when time unfreezes."
Whitehall felt the chill of the steel against his throat. "Point taken," he conceded. One finger rose up, and he cautiously pressed the blade aside. "But rather than teach him how to free these people, I could always just—oh, I don't know—kill everyone!" he whooped. "So tell me, what's in it for me to even bother? Besides not having your sword through my neck, of course." His eyes hardened. "What incentive do I have?"
Erza knew she had to consider her next words carefully. This was the true checkmate move. Say the wrong thing, and they could all die. Say the right thing, and they could possibly get all they wanted: the frozen people freed, their lives out of danger, and this madman in the custody of the Magic Council. If she had time to work out this situation, maybe she could come up with the perfect solution. Instead, a solid minute ticked by.
"Erza..." Lucy asked worriedly, seeing the strain in her friend's brow.
Whitehall drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair. "You're thinking about it a little too long, my lady. You're reasoning that if you hold your sword to my throat long enough, I'll get scared and give in. Well, it's not going to work, not when I'm the one that's really pulling the strings in this marionette show." He smiled placidly. "I'm going to need a lot more convincing than just death threats, so you've got to up the ante to this bet. What incentive is there for me to teach my magic to this boy, when all I have to do is snap my fingers—" He held his hand up, as if ready to snap, yet playfully stopped and grinned at their worried faces. "—and you'll all be frozen here. By the time the magic wears off, I'll probably be dead. So," he whispered, leaning in eagerly, "why should I bother? Why shouldn't I just kill you all now? I could freeze your hearts, or maybe your lungs until you can't even breathe. It's quite the favorite of mine, to see my victims gasp for air in a futile attempt to live."
He looked positively insane with fatally sadistic glee. It convinced Erza more and more, they could not simply let this man go, but he had three hundred hostages, as well as all of their lives, in the palm of his hand. This was not checkmate. This was a pawn already pinned in a corner by a king, and the pawn was trying to connive the mastermind not to swipe clear the whole chessboard in victory.
Chess! Yes! Her mind had been thinking this was like a game of chess from the moment they entered this room. The answer was right there. Finally, the pieces came together for Erza, and she smiled as the plan spread out before her mind like a rolled up map scroll showing a battlefield to a general.
"How about we make this a game?" she asked cunningly.
Whitehall's eyes widened. "A game?" he cried out. "Oh! Well, now you're speaking my language." He clapped and wiggled around in his chair like an excited child. "What type of game?"
"A betting game. What would you like to bet?"
"Who, me?" He put his finger to his lip and hummed as he considered this. "I haven't taken a bet in ages. How about ... your life?" he grinned directly to Erza. "Just yours. Or maybe the life of that little girl over there." He smiled to Wendy. "Hello, cutie," he called out, wiggling his fingers at her. Romeo protectively took a step in front of her. "Oh, how sweet!" he squealed at the protective stance the boy had taken. "I've always been quite fond of children. I used to love having carnivals for little kids just like you. Yes, come to think of it, I have about twenty children in my collection. They're the most adorable things."
Despite herself, Erza yanked out her sword again and swung it up against Whitehall's neck. "You sick bastard!"
"Hey, hey," he warned, using his fingers to edge the blade away again. "Sword to the throat: not a smart idea. You wouldn't want me to take her hostage, now, would you?" Runes suddenly lit up around Wendy, encircling her with white light.
Erza snarled, but she pulled back the sword and angrily sheathed it.
"Didn't think so," smirked Whitehall. "So, let's make this your life," he said directly to Erza. "Your life for mine, even trade. So, what type of game is this?"
Erza replied, "You give Gray one week."
Whitehall looked confused. "A week?"
The redhead nodded. "Yes, one week! During that time, you have free reign of this castle, but you have to teach him everything you know in that amount of time."
Whitehall peered at her flatly. "You do realize that you're talking about fifty years worth of accumulated magic, right?"
"Yes," she said firmly.
"And I'm supposed to teach him in only one week?"
"That's the deal."
He eyed her as if wondering if this was some sort of bluff, but her eyes gave away nothing. "Right then," he muttered, logging this in his mind as a main rule to the game. "And, uh ... what else?"
"After one week, Gray will put everything you taught him into practice and attempt to liberate the hostages. If he succeeds, you will stand trial, and the Magic Council will decide your fate."
"And if he doesn't win this game?"
"Then I will become one of your trophies."
The group shouted in protest.
"Erza!"
"No way!"
Gray grabbed her arm. "Are you out of your mind?" he screamed.
"It's okay, Gray" she said calmly. "I trust you."
"I don't trust him," Gray screamed. "He could teach me how to pull goldfish out my ass for all we know."
"He's a game expert," she reasoned. "A bored game expert. He wants a diversion. We'll give him one."
"But it isn't even a type of magic I know," he shouted in protest. "Freezing time?" he bellowed.
It sounded preposterous. He looked around at all the frozen statues, women who were just like how Lucy had been, and he had been unable to save her. Only a silly rule of the game like "say the magic word" broke her out of that enchantment. Lucy's life had been in his hands, and he failed to make it through the maze in time. Now Erza's life was at stake.
"Look at me." Erza grabbed his shoulders and yanked him over to face her directly. "You can freeze anything."
Lacking confidence, Gray shook his head, anguished at the weight of her trust. "Erza..."
"Gray, we've known each other since we were children. I trust you with my life."
He looked up into her eyes. Even after failing the maze, Erza believed in him. He realized that, if he wanted to succeed, he needed to have faith in himself.
Erza saw determination returning to his face. "Lucy," she called over. "Can I take him away for one week?"
Lucy was shocked by all this. To lose Gray, just as they discovered their feelings for each other ... but it had to be this way. Lucy did not want anyone else to suffer what she went through, and she wanted all these other victims to have their lives back. "Yeah, i-it's okay," she said softly, "but Gray...?"
"It's okay, Lucy," he said with a smile to her. "I promise you, I won't lose again."
Whitehall clapped his hands loudly. "Oh, I like your spirit, boy! Really, I do."
Gray glared at the madman, seriously wanting to just punch him.
Erza asked, "Do you have any kind of guarantee that this will be a fair game?"
Whitehall almost looked offended. "Oh, I always play by the rules. You can ask Wisteria about that."
The girl with purple hair nodded solemnly. "He does ... but," she warned with a glare at the old man, "he makes up the rules along the way."
"Well, that is a different story..." Whitehall chuckled with an affable shrug. "I do make them up, but I follow them. No use having rules if they're not obeyed."
Despite that warning, Erza held her chin. "We'll have to draw up very specific rules. Set rules," she emphasized, "that will be inflexible."
Whitehall pouted at her seriousness. "Oh, you're no fun at all," he soughed petulantly.
"Gray?" Erza asked.
He knew there was no other way. Erza was one of the best strategists he knew. Firmly, he declared, "I accept this challenge."
Erza looked satisfied. She turned to the group. "The rest of you, return to Magnolia. Tell Master and the Magic Council about what is going on here. I think it would be best that they know about this situation."
Wendy looked fretful. "Erza, are you staying here?"
"Yes, so I can make sure he doesn't cheat," she said with a glare at the old man.
"Now, now!" huffed Whitehall. "Cheaters never win, and I'm not a cheater. I may have been called many things over the years, but never once in my life have I been called a cheater."
She ignored him. "Gray and I will stay here. Lucy, you should go back with the others. You're still weak."
"What?" she said, grabbing onto Gray's arm. "But ... is Gray going to be okay?"
He covered her hands with his own. "I'll be fine, Lucy," he assured her.
Lucy wanted to protest, but she realized that Erza was right. Even after a few days to rest, she could barely stand on her own. Besides, she would only be a distraction to Gray, and now so much rode on whether or not he could learn a new type of magic.
Gray squeezed her hand to let her know he would be okay, and then he decidedly let her go. He had a duty to do, and this would redeem him for failing in the maze. He strode up to Whitehall and stared at the small man caustically.
"You better teach me everything, and I don't want to see any dirty tricks."
"Oh, I will, boy," Whitehall promised with a smile, liking this sort of determination to win a game. "There's no fun in playing games if it's impossible for either parties to win. Teaching you fifty years worth of magic? Child's play! I can simply freeze time and teach it to you in a week. Of course, that's maybe even too much time." He grinned at Erza. "If I teach him everything in just an hour, will you let me go?"
Erza glared coldly, sensing something devious. "No!"
"Oh bugger," he grumbled. "Well, you can't blame a guy for trying." Whitehall shrugged widely. "All right, fine. One week, but I get to freeze time." Erza opened her mouth to refuse, but Whitehall insisted loudly over her, "It's the only way I can teach him everything to make this game fair. We want to play fair, right? Then I need to condense fifty years into seven days."
"I won't age, will I?" asked Gray.
Whitehall grinned madly. "Well, you don't have to. You could, if you want. A little silver in your hair would really suit you. It'd make you look like a distinguished gentleman."
"No way. I don't want to lose any more years."
"Technically speaking, it would feel like five decades, but your body won't age any differently than the rest of your friends. Only your mind. I can guarantee that, if you want."
Five decades! It would only be mental, not physical, but that still meant his mind would perceive this as fifty years apart from everyone else he knew. "Well, at least it'll only feel like a week to you, Lucy."
She was beginning to realize what this challenge meant. "Gray, no..."
"I accept!" he declared. Something lit around him, and a bell dinged, as if he was just another contestant pulled up to participate in a carnival game.
"No!" Lucy said, looking around at the lights and bells. "Don't do it, Gray. Please!"
"Lucy, it's gonna be just a week."
"But it'll be half a century for you!"
It really was a harrowing thought, but to free these people, to save so many innocent people from this madman's curse, he had to be willing to sacrifice something of himself. "I'd wait that long to get back to you," he said with a smile. "So just wait a week for me."
A tear dripped down her cheek. "O-okay." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Don't be late like last time."
He laughed at her demand and stroked her face. "I promise, I won't."
Lucy could not hold back. "Gray!"
Not caring that everyone was watching, she suddenly leaped into his arms, and Gray yanked her against him. His fingers felt through her hair, his lips tasted her, and he inhaled her sweet scent, trying to remember everything about her. The others politely looked away, and Wendy blushed brightly at the sounds of their moist kisses. Only Whitehall watched with a wistful expression.
"One thing I never built for a carnival was a Tunnel Of Love. Deary, maybe I should have. This is really sweet."
As Gray pulled back and gazed into Lucy's eyes, he realized that this ache in his heart was his punishment for losing to the maze and making her suffer through icy agony. It was only fair that he get punished for losing a game. Maybe it would be only a week, but he knew the mental perception of half a century would torment him. At least Lucy would not suffer. She would have a week to get back home and recuperate. This was a burden just for himself.
Fifty years without her voice, without her laugh, without her soft touch!
He stroked her face, and rested their noses together, gazing at her intensely. "Be safe, and get well," he whispered, slightly out of breath from the deep kisses. "When I get back to Magnolia, I'm taking you out on a date."
Lucy giggled and blushed. Here they were, kissing so passionately, and they had not even been on a first date yet.
Gray smiled to hear her laugh. He wanted to remember that sound. "I want you to pick a nice place. Can you do that for me?"
She wiped away the last tear from her eye and nodded. "I will."
"Oh, and ... uh ... just don't pick a carnival, okay?"
She chuckled, realizing they were both sick of places involving games. "Got it."
He squeezed her hands, then learned over and gave her a final kiss. It would feel like fifty years to him before he got another. Then Gray looked over to the Fire Dragon Slayer. "Flame-brain, keep an eye on her, will you? Make sure she heals and doesn't over-exert herself."
Natsu looked like he also understood what Gray was about to shoulder, "Yeah," he said, nodding solemnly, knowing he would have watched over Lucy like a sister anyway.
"All right, everyone," Erza decided. "Go with Wisteria. She'll lead you out."
As they shuffled out of the room, Whitehall wiggled his fingers and called out to them, "Toodle-loo!"
Gray rolled his eyes and confessed to Erza, "I really hate this guy. I hope I won't kill him in the process."
"You and me both," she agreed. She only had to put up with Whitehall for a week. Poor Gray would have to deal with this psychopath for fifty years!