Note: I was kind of under the impression that after Tartaros killed off the Council, the new Council was made of the Wizard Saints or something like that. I didn't care enough to look them up and it suited my purposes to keep them relatively nameless and faceless, so... Yeah, I'm aware of that and changed it on purpose.
Chapter 2-On Trial
He didn't honestly know what they were planning to do with him, and He also wasn't about to ask. As He saw it, He didn't have any reason to talk anymore now that He had said his piece.
So He didn't rise to the sneering comments or heated glares of the mages who dragged him off. No Fairy Tail mages were among the group, although He wasn't sure if that was by choice or the other guilds were suspicious of a guild that had housed and befriended a demon.
He was taken from Magnolia to a nearby city. At first He thought it was just because they didn't want him around if and when Zeref and his other Spriggans showed up—which was probably a smart, if misguided, idea since He was one of Zeref's creations—but He soon realized that there was a prison here that, while not exactly high-security, was equipped to handle mages. Presumably everyone was still too caught up with the coming war to want to haul him all the way to the Council just yet.
Still, they weren't so caught up that they didn't leave a few mages behind to guard him. He wasn't sure what they thought they'd be able to do if He escaped, but He just stayed quiet and let them have their false sense of security.
The cell they threw him in was underground, a dank hole just big enough for a rickety cot that smelled of mildew and about ten square feet of pacing room. Hardly five-star accommodations, but He had bigger problems. He divided his time between sitting in the corner with his knees drawn to his chest, unnerving his jailers with his unblinking gaze, and pacing absently around the small space. It was dreadfully boring, which gave him far too much time to think about how everything had gone horribly wrong.
He almost missed the days when He hadn't really thought at all. It had been much easier back then, even if He had been a pretty terrible person. Demon. Whatever.
His memories from Before—before Gray, before being thrust into a human body He didn't want, before his slow transition to becoming almost-not-quite human—were rather hazy since He hadn't thought much of anything at all and everything blended together in a nightmarish mess of blood and burning and destruction, but they had migrated back to the forefront of his mind again. He almost missed the days when things like that hadn't bothered him. Ur and Gray and the guild had truly ruined him. Now He couldn't be a good demon, but He could never be a good human either.
Mostly He thought about the guild and all the people He had been friends with once, after He had learned how the whole friends thing worked and had come to accept that maybe He didn't mind it so much after all. There wasn't any point reflecting on the past or wishing for a different future—although He sometimes did anyway—but He did find himself wondering what would happen to the guild when Zeref and his armies reached Fiore. He didn't know much about the Spriggans and wasn't exactly close to Zeref either, but He knew enough to be wary.
Because of how absorbed He was in his thoughts and because He was trapped in an underground room with no windows or way to measure passing time, He wasn't sure how long He had been there before the normal routine was disrupted.
He was sitting with his back to the wall, eyes closed and head resting against the rough stone as He tapped his finger against his leg idly, bored out of his mind. The voices didn't concern him at first because the mages guarding him often talked amongst themselves—or to him, if they were trying to get a rise out of him—but He gradually became aware that one of those voices belonged to Makarov. He held out hope that He was hallucinating for a few seconds, before having to fight the urge to bang his head into the wall. Fantastic. He could even sense Mavis nearby too, but at least she was invisible to anyone without the Fairy Tail mark.
"Fine," someone was saying irritably. "But don't expect much. He hasn't said a word since his little show against Zeref's pet enchantress."
"It doesn't matter," Makarov said. "The Council finally gave me permission to see him before they send the Knights down, and you aren't going to stop me. He's still partly my responsibility."
"Well, good luck, then. He refuses to talk to any of us."
"I also don't have anything to say to any of you," He drawled without opening his eyes.
There was a pause, heavy with surprise.
"Oh, now you decide to start talking? So I guess you have something to say to your dear master, then?"
He wasn't sure if the wording intentionally mimicked how He had referred to Ur earlier to mock him or if it was a coincidence, but his lips tightened involuntarily. Now there was a snarled ball of love and hate.
"Not necessarily, but I'm bored and he's more interesting than you are," He said, finally opening his eyes to fix the hapless mage with a piercing look. Despite all the bluster, the human shrank back a half-step before remembering that the scary demon shouldn't be able to hurt him now.
Pulling himself to his feet, He leaned back against the wall and tried to cross his arms over his chest before remembering the magic cuffs locked around his wrists. He shrugged it off and let his flat gaze sweep over the assembled mages. He hadn't seen any of his old guildmates since He'd given himself away, and He wasn't sure what to expect now. Mavis was studying him thoughtfully as if trying to solve a puzzle, and although Makarov's expression was impossible to read, he too had the air of someone who wanted answers.
"Right, you can go," the Master said to the Blue Pegasus mage. "I want to talk to him alone."
The man frowned uncertainly, looking between him and the caged demon. "But–"
"What are you so worried about?" He asked, rolling his eyes. "The big bad demon is locked up and isn't going to eat him, and he surely wouldn't be foolish enough to let it out."
One corner of his mouth curled upward into a lazy smirk as his jailer scowled at him. It had been a long time since He'd gotten to verbally spar with Natsu or anyone else, and He wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to take a jab at an easy target.
"Nothing will happen," Makarov said firmly. "You can go."
The other mage hesitated a moment longer before spinning on his heel and stalking away, muttering something about filthy demons under his breath. Choosing to ignore him, He returned his unsettling gaze to the two Fairy Tail masters in front of him.
"I'd like to say that I'm glad to see you, but it was foolish to come here," He said, shaking his head.
"And why might that be?" Makarov asked.
"Honestly, Jii–" He broke off, his mouth twisting in distaste. Old habits died hard. "Makarov. Is that a real question?"
"Yes." The old man's eyes narrowed slightly. "You still bear the Fairy Tail mark. Therefore you're still part of the guild and my responsibility."
He sighed. "Not for long."
It really shouldn't bother him, but it did anyway. The guild had become part of his identity over the years, something He had grown to respect and love, and it wasn't easy to accept that that chapter of his life had come to an end. It was hard to let go.
"Why not?" Mavis asked, stepping up to the bars to peer in at him.
"For the same reason that you two shouldn't be here. Or at least why Makarov shouldn't be here."
"Why?"
"You're a clever girl. I'm sure you can figure it out. The last thing you need right now is to be seen consorting with a demon. Especially now that the Council is here, did you say? They'll eat you alive."
Current and former masters exchanged looks, and He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the fact that they either hadn't considered that or had chosen to ignore it. At the same time, He wasn't entirely sure what to expect from them now and it was putting him on edge.
"Do you know why the Council is here?" Makarov asked.
"No, although I'm guessing it has something to do with how they're planning on making sure that I can't menace the general population," He said dryly. "I'm flattered that they took time out of their oh-so-busy schedules to deal with little old me."
Even though they'd be better served helping the guilds figure out the best way to try stopping Zeref. Then again, when did the Council ever do anything useful?
"They're going to put you on trial," Mavis said.
He blinked at her for a second and then started laughing. "Oh really, now? What could they possibly need a trial for? Subhumans don't have rights like trials and all that nonsense. The Council shouldn't have any problem doing as it wishes with me, no trial necessary."
"We pressured them into it," Makarov said flatly. "As long as you're a Fairy Tail mage, the guild reserves the right to demand a fair trial for you."
He closed his eyes. "You didn't."
"We did. They weren't thrilled, but then some of the other guilds got on board too."
"Why would they…? Oh, I see. Lyon and anyone else with a vendetta against demons want to see me get my comeuppance publicly. Gotcha."
"Something like that."
What a mess.
"Why are you here?" He asked tiredly.
"The guild isn't sure where to go from here. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, and no one knows what to make of…all this. We fought for a trial because we couldn't stand to do nothing when you've been—or at least pretended to be—a loyal Fairy Tail member for years. But beyond that…"
Oh, He understood exactly what Makarov was saying. The guild was reluctant to give up on him because there was still a sentimental attachment there, but they were also scared and unsure and didn't know if He deserved what was coming to him. In short, they were having a hard time reconciling a long-time friend with a demon, and they weren't sure whether or not they should fight for him.
"Your team wanted to come here too," Mavis added, giving him a sympathetic look. "We thought it was better that they didn't, though."
"Oh yes, they have questions too. It's good that you didn't bring them along."
The last thing He wanted to deal with right now was an onslaught of questions from people He still cared for but who were feeling hurt and betrayed and questioning everything about him. And honestly, their diplomacy skills were nonexistent and they were likely to start a war with someone just by walking in here.
"Gray, you were one of my brats for a long time." Makarov's steely expression finally wavered, and He could see how badly the Master wanted him to laugh this all off like a bad joke and say that everything was fine. "But with this… I don't even know how much of that was real. I need to know what's best for the guild."
"What's best for the guild is for you to turn around and never look back," He said flatly.
"It's not that simple. I look out for the guild, but the guild also looks out for its own. We didn't let Phantom Lord take Lucy despite the danger, because she's one of us. But when one of us becomes a threat, I need to deal with them accordingly, like when I exiled Laxus. I need to know which path to take with you, Gray."
He stayed silent for a moment, taking in that imploring gaze, before steeling himself and baring his teeth in a feral snarl. "Don't be naïve, human. I infiltrated your guild, nearly destroyed it on numerous occasions, and am most certainly still a danger. You're even stupider than I thought if you really think that I'm still the boy I pretended to be. Begone."
Turning away, He stared sightlessly at the floor, nails digging painfully into his palms as He waited for his visitors to leave.
The silence was deafening.
"I see," Makarov said finally, his voice quiet and regretful as it shattered the stillness. "Goodbye, then."
When his footsteps started up and the echoes they left behind slowly faded into silence once more, He remained still and waited for Mavis to leave as well. She didn't.
"You're cursed with immortality," she said.
"Hm, finally picked up on that, did you?" He asked, turning back with a sigh. Mavis was pressed against the bars, eyes wide and curious as she studied him contemplatively. "I could sense it on you from the beginning, although it threw me for a loop at first since we thought you were a ghost. And it was very faint. Took a while to figure out that your body was still off alive somewhere."
"I should have been able to sense it from you when I first met you, but I never noticed," she mused, frowning.
He shrugged. "The Tartaros demons didn't recognize me either. Not that we were ever particularly close—I never had anything to do with them, really—but we can sense other demons of the Books. My best guess is that I'd locked all of that nonsense away so tightly and assimilated with humans so well that I came off as human and mortal as long as no one looked too closely."
He had been so sure that all was lost when the Tartaros demons and Zeref had arrived on the scene, but He had disguised and suppressed his demonic aura and sense of immortality so well by that point that they had somehow failed to notice. He'd thought that at least Mard Geer might have started figuring it out by the end, but the appearance of the devil slayer magic had apparently thrown the other demon off the trail. The other major hurdle that He had faced long before that was Bickslow, but although the seith mage must have been able to see that He lacked a soul, he had never figured out where the problem stemmed from.
These successes might have made him a bit too confident. He had done so well at hiding his identity and overcoming these challenges that He had begun growing complacent. Then Avatar had come along and thrown everything out of balance, and He hadn't recovered from that blow as well as from the others. Eileen had only been the last straw.
"How did it happen?" Mavis asked.
"You know that thread theory I was talking about earlier? One end of my 'thread' was bound to Gray's body, but the other was cut loose too and it never reconnected to anything. Demons don't have souls—we're not double-bound to our bodies the same way humans are. If my Book was destroyed while I was bound to it or if both ends of my string were properly attached to this body and it was destroyed, I would die. Now that I'm not connected to my Book and not entirely connected to this body and there's some loose thread floating off in space connected to nothing at all, I seem to have ended up with the unfortunate inability to die."
"You're still aging."
"Yes, I'd noticed that, actually. Maybe I'll stop eventually. Maybe I'll just keep going and going until the body falls apart. I don't know."
Mavis stayed quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry."
"Yes, well. I suspect it will become infinitely more miserable once I've been conscious for as long as you and Zeref have, and at least I didn't get saddled with the other part of your curse."
"Still." She studied him for a second before sighing. "You still care about them a lot, don't you?"
He stared at her, taken aback by the sudden change of topic, then fought back a grimace. "I'm a demon. Don't expect too much from me. You knew Zeref, so I'm sure you have some idea of how he created his demons. I was created to destroy, not to care."
"I know, but… You seem awfully human for a demon, and I don't think it's all an act."
"I already told you all," He grumbled, half turning away. "I needed to blend in with humans, so I learned how to act like one. Of course it was all pretend."
"Except that you didn't," Mavis interrupted. Her eyes narrowed, and He felt like a bug under a microscope as she tried to pick him apart and figure him out. "Have to blend in. I understand why it would be convenient, but at any point you could have changed your mind and burned the world down instead. You didn't. You didn't have to make friends and fight so hard to protect the guild, but you did.
"All those years and you never gave yourself away, and when you finally did, it was because you were trying to protect the people you cared about. Even when you lost control, you only ever attacked Eileen, and you didn't even kill her despite threatening to. You were cruel to your guildmates, but you never laid a finger on them. And if it was all an act this whole time, wouldn't it have made sense to call it quits once you gave yourself away? That would have been the perfect time to stop blending in and go back to destroying everything. But again, you didn't. Why?"
He stared at her, stunned. It was odd how this girl, who hadn't even known him for nearly as long as everyone else, seemed to be able to see right through him. He briefly considered trying to throw her off the same way He had brushed off Makarov and the rest of the guild, but she didn't seem fooled by it. Letting out a harsh sigh, He rocked back on his heels and watched her through half-lidded eyes.
"He hated me, you know," He said finally. "The real Gray. He hated me and everything I'd done and everything I stood for. And when I was thrown into his body, I inherited all of his memories and thoughts and emotions. To be honest, that's what saved your guild and your world: all that hate he made me turn on myself."
Mavis's eyes widened. "Oh."
There was something almost like sympathy laced through her expression, and it made him shift uncomfortably. He neither deserved nor wanted her sympathy.
"Don't you worry, I undoubtedly deserved it," He said coldly. "At first it didn't bother me as much—because why should I care what some silly human child thought?—but it was still disorienting. I didn't need an identity Before, because all I had to do was run around wrecking everything like I was supposed to. My emerging sense of self was inextricably twined with what was left of Gray, and now… Well, now I'm not sure how much is me and how much is him. You think I seem human, but if there was a way to remove what was left of Gray's identity and leave only me here, you might find that in the end I'm still the same demon I was a decade ago."
He had found self-hatred to be one of the best motivators for change, and Gray had given him plenty to spare. If He suddenly felt bad for killing humans, it became easier not to kill humans. If He felt bad for who He was, it was easier to try becoming someone else.
But again, all that hatred had come from Gray, and without it He probably wouldn't have ever had the motivation to change anything at all. His growth was spurred and maintained by a child He had killed long ago, and without it He was just another demon. Did his identity really count if it was built off of someone else's? He wasn't entirely sure.
"I don't think you are," Mavis said after looking him up and down with her solemn gaze. "The same person, I mean. Even if you started changing because of what was left of that child, he isn't still here, is he? You've spent a long time forging your own identity, making your own choices, building your own friendships, defining your own values. And although I can't say that I know you that well, I do know that you and your team have spent a lot of time selflessly helping people, which rather sounds like you've been trying to make up for who you used to be."
He pulled a face. "I wouldn't go that far. I'm still a demon."
She arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Am I wrong?"
He looked away, an irritated growl building in the back of his throat. It was annoying how she could see through him so easily, especially when no one else could.
He wondered why Mavis was showing such faith and interest in him. Maybe she felt a kinship with him because of their shared burden of immortality. Maybe she was interested because He had ties to her one-time lover. Maybe she was just being a tactician and was trying to play him. Maybe it was something else entirely. He couldn't tell, and it annoyed him. He'd gotten fairly good at divining human motives over the years, and it was frustrating that she was harder to read than the rest.
"Look," Mavis said gently, "even if you aren't the original Gray, you're the only Gray that your friends have ever known, aren't you? I don't think all those years of friendship were a lie, and that's what they need to hear. They're having a hard time figuring out who you are and how much of what they thought they knew about you is true. If you tell them the truth, they'll fight for you."
He barked out a harsh laugh. "Let me tell you what will happen if they're foolish enough to try that. For one, it won't affect this silly charade of a trial you've forced the Council to put on. Regardless of what anyone says or does, the end result will be the same. If the guild disputes that, they're signing their own death warrant.
"The Council and the other guilds would turn on them. Lyon isn't the only one who hates demons, and not even the only one who hates me in particular. Accepting a demon into the guild might even be grounds for the Council to revoke Fairy Tail's legal charter, which would basically turn it into a dark guild. The guild's status is already precarious since it was just reformed, and it's too fragile to go about disrupting everything. Trust me, not everyone in the guild would be okay with fighting for a demon. It would be civil war, and at the worst possible time. While Fairy Tail is facing off against the Council and the other guilds and is being torn apart from the inside out, Zeref and his army will come through and easily destroy everything.
"This is the worst possible time to decide to rehabilitate a demon. And honestly, it isn't fair to put anyone in a position where they're fighting the world to protect someone they aren't entirely sure they can trust. This isn't about me. This is your guild, you know. Don't encourage it to self-destruct."
Mavis sighed heavily, her eyes dimming, and He knew that this conversation would be kept confidential because she'd do what was best for the guild, regardless of her personal feelings.
"Yes, you're right, but if you change your mind…"
"I won't."
"It just seems wrong to leave you here."
"Don't you worry," He said, hiding a wry smile. "If I really want to get out, I can probably find a way."
Both of their heads automatically swiveled to track the sudden sound of footsteps and grumbling coming their way. It looked like one of his wardens was finally returning.
"I suppose I should go," Mavis said, reluctantly backing up a few steps. "We wouldn't want them to see you talking to yourself."
He didn't particularly care about that. He just didn't want them to get suspicious about who He might actually be talking to.
"Take care of them," He said quietly as Mavis turned to walk away.
"Of course." She paused and glanced back at him. "You take care of yourself, too."
He smiled thinly. It was already too late for that.
It wasn't long after the Rune Knights replaced his previous, unofficial jailers that He was dragged out for this sham of a trial. Although it was impossible to know how long it had been since He had first been imprisoned, He thought it could only be a few days at the most. No one was wasting any time trying to get rid of him, possibly because they were in a rush to wrap up this drama before Zeref descended on them.
Whatever the case, He submitted docilely when the Knights dragged him out of his cell and to a building a short distance away that had been set up as a temporary courtroom. He took the briefest of half-seconds to survey the scene, noting that all of Fairy Tail and a good number of other mages, including a belligerent Lyon, were packed on one side of the room, and then let his gaze drift away. He didn't necessarily want to see their faces right now, so He focused on the Council instead.
He wasn't overly familiar with this new Council since He hadn't gotten reprimanded for destroying things since Tartaros had killed off the old Council and the guild had disbanded, but He supposed that it didn't really matter. Although He did have to wonder if a new rule had been instated that anyone who wanted to serve on the Council had to be at least seventy years old. Honestly. Aside from one or two middle-aged members, everyone seemed to have white or graying hair and wrinkles galore. No wonder the Council never got around to doing anything.
The Knights led him past the gathered mages and shoved him roughly into a chair in front of the panel of stone-faced Council members.
"He hasn't been talking, so I don't know how cooperative he'll be," one of the Knights warned, directing his words at the elderly man who was sitting in the center with an air of haughty superiority and unfriendly eyes. "His previous jailers said that he wouldn't talk to them at all and only spoke when Master Makarov came to see him."
"It doesn't matter," the Council's leader said dismissively. Since He didn't know the man's name, He decided to dub him Useless Council Member Number One.
Already bored with the proceedings, He let his gaze wander away and began counting the tiles on the ceiling.
"Demon," One said harshly, "how do you plead to your charges?"
He shrugged languidly. "How am I supposed to know? You never bothered to tell me what they are since I don't actually have any rights. But sure, I think it's fair to assume that I'm guilty of all of them."
"Good. In that case, we just have to decide your punishment."
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. At the very least, it was nice that this wasn't going to turn into a long, drawn-out affair. The Council wasn't even going to bother pretending that this was a real trial, and that suited him just fine.
"You didn't even tell him his charges?" Erza demanded. "How is that fair?"
He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing at his face awkwardly since his wrists were still cuffed together. Of course his idiot friends—ex-friends, He supposed—would make nuisances of themselves. Wasn't it already bad enough that they'd lobbied for this trial to start with?
"He's a demon," One said impatiently. "And he's already admitted that he's guilty. All that's left to do is sentencing."
"What's the point of having a trial if you aren't even going to do it properly?" Lucy asked indignantly.
"I'm not sure you've truly realized this, but he's a demon. He's already guilty."
"All the same," Makarov interrupted, his voice steely, "it's your job to provide a fair trial."
"But–"
"Why don't you read him his charges?" Lyon asked coldly. He could practically feel the ice mage's gaze burning into the back of his head, the hostility palpable. "I want to hear them. I want to hear him admit to them."
The leader hesitated a moment longer, looking to his companions for help. They just shrugged.
"Might as well," one of them muttered. "It shouldn't take more than a few minutes, anyway."
"Fine, then," One snapped, a ferocious scowl appearing on his face. It was actually quite amusing. "Demon, do you admit that you are actually the demon Deliora of the Books of Zeref?"
He didn't respond immediately, pursing his lips as He resumed his scrutiny of the ceiling. Apparently He waited a beat too long, because the Council's leader quickly grew impatient.
"Answer me, demon."
"I told you, he hasn't really been talking," the Knight said again. "It might be too much to expect a demon to cooperate."
"But he talked earlier and–"
"Yes."
They both turned to look at him, and He met their eyes steadily. Might as well just get this over with.
"Yes?" One repeated automatically.
"Yes, I was called Deliora once," He said flatly.
"Right, then. And do you admit to murdering one Gray Fullbuster and stealing his body in order to infiltrate the guild Fairy Tail for your own nefarious purposes?"
"…Close enough."
"And do you admit to going on a rampage across the continent, destroying several cities and killing hundreds or thousands of people in the process?" There was a long pause. "Demon?"
"Thousands, probably." He leaned forward abruptly to stare down the Council. "But tell me, where were you in all that?"
"What?" their leader asked, at a loss.
His eyes narrowed to slits and He bared his teeth—which were starting to look a little too pointed to be human again—in a snarl, only half aware that the shadows at the edges of the room were beginning to blacken further and distort in response to his anger, creeping out as if to engulf the area.
"Shouldn't it be the Council's job to take care of a rampaging demon? So where were you, then, when I was running around killing everyone? Because you did nothing and left a child to do your job for you. And that child was foolish and rash, but he also had far more courage than you ever did."
"That was a long time ago and it wasn't–"
"Sure, sure, you weren't on the Council then," He interrupted, fury not at all sated. "But what has really changed since then? All any of you have ever done is sit back and wait for the guilds to do everything for you. When have you ever done anything useful?"
He finally noticed the encroaching shadows and frowned. Luckily no one else seemed to have noticed them or wondered how He could do such a thing while in anti-magic cuffs, and He would rather keep it that way. He preferred it when they underestimated him. Tamping down his righteous anger as much as possible, He let the shadows shrink back until they were nothing but normal shadows once more.
"So, you're trying to lessen your guilt by blaming the Council for your actions?" One asked into the silence, nostrils flaring.
He blinked at the Council blankly and then laughed, his anger fading to the background in the face of his mirth. "Oh no, I admit to it. This is just something I've wanted to tell you all for a long time, but Erza would never let me mouth off when you guys dragged me in for destroying something or other."
The leader arched a disbelieving eyebrow. "And you listened to a human?"
"Sure." He chuckled and relaxed, lounging back in his chair as a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "She can be pretty scary when she wants to be."
"…You were scared of a human?"
His amusement disappeared as suddenly as it had come, the man's words making him realize what it was He had been doing. He had let himself fall back into his old identity, back when He had been…not the Gray, exactly, but a Gray. Not the original, but not exactly Deliora either.
And He really shouldn't be doing that anymore, because He had already ruined that part of things.
"You're right, of course," He said, forcing the more humanlike side of his personality aside again. "I'm the scariest thing in the room now, aren't I?" Then, unable to completely resist temptation, He leaned forward to give the Council a sharp smile. "Boo."
A couple of them actually flinched backward, and it was impossible for him to fight back his grin completely.
"You sure are flippant for a demon," One said coldly.
"When have I ever not been flippant when the Council has dragged me in?" He rolled his eyes. "I have to get my kicks in somehow."
"You should take this more seriously."
"Why? It doesn't honestly matter what I say at this point—you've already decided what you want to do with me, and nothing I say will change that. If I sat here and denied everything, my sentence wouldn't be any lighter. If I told you that for the last decade I've been spending my nights hunting and eating children, my sentence wouldn't be any heavier. Why should I take something so pointless seriously?"
"You've been hunting and eating children?"
He stared at them. "What? Did you not hear anything I just said?"
"How many children would you say you've eaten?" One asked, snatching up his pen and riffling through the papers on the table in front of him.
"I haven't–" He broke off and shook his head, leaning back in his chair resignedly. "You know what, add it to my charges if you really want to. It's not like it will change anything. But for the record, I was never into eating people, just killing them." It took a second for his own words to register, but then He pulled a face. "I guess that doesn't make it sound much better, actually."
There was hushed murmuring from behind him, but He didn't bother turning around or trying to hear what his guildmates were saying. It was probably better that He didn't know.
"Well, either way, your crimes are enough to warrant execution," One said with a dismissive shrug.
He fought back a grimace. This wasn't entirely unexpected, but He had been hoping against hope that the whole execution thing wouldn't come up. Well, it wasn't like He could keep this issue of immortality secret forever.
He opened his mouth to reluctantly explain why exactly this particular form of punishment wouldn't be very useful, but didn't manage to get a word out before being interrupted.
"You can't just kill him," Natsu protested, anger evident in his voice.
Great.
"Why not?" the Council's leader asked, his upper lip curling in derision. "Capital punishment is an appropriate sentencing for cases of mass murder, which the demon has admitted to."
"Can't you just lock him up instead? I mean, even if he–even if he did those things, even if he's dangerous, even if he's been a–a demon this whole time…"
He bit the inside of his cheek and narrowed his eyes at the ground. This was almost worse than if the guild had just turned on him entirely, because this way He could see exactly how torn they were. They still couldn't entirely let go of the friend they had thought they'd known, even though they were still reeling from his betrayal. Whatever lingering sentiments they held toward him were preventing them from accepting something as final as death, even if they might not have protested a less permanent punishment.
"I think you fail to realize that he is, in fact, a demon with no rights who deserves to die," One snapped, voice icy. "You would do well to remember what he is."
"Be that as it may," Makarov started, "we can't allow you to–"
Honestly, He had thought that He'd at least gotten Makarov off his case. The thing about Fairy Tail mages was that they had a very hard time letting go.
"You can't kill me," He interrupted evenly, leaning back far enough that the chair tilted, its front legs rising an inch or two off the floor.
One's eyes immediately snapped back to the demon's face and flashed with anger. "Oh? You think you can tell the Council what it can and can't do?"
"Oh no," He said mockingly, "I wouldn't dream of it. I meant it quite literally, actually. You physically cannot kill me, because one side effect of all that nonsense with my Book is that I was cursed with immortality. You're welcome to try if you want, I suppose, but I doubt you can manage it.
"I've already tried all the normal ways: asphyxiation, drowning, burning, starvation, bodily injury, exsanguination, the whole nine yards. I even tried beheading myself once, but all that did was make a huge mess and put me out of commission for a month. I was rather curious to see if Acnologia was strong enough to do me in, but he got stopped. I was going to try iced shell since that doesn't technically kill the caster and might be the closest thing to death that I can get, but I was prevented from going through with it. I was hopeful that maybe that devil slayer magic would be able to kill me since it's made for destroying demons, but it didn't work. I was even trying to train Natsu up so that he might be strong enough to kill me eventually, but I've mostly given up on that now. If you have a better idea, then by all means, try it. I'll thank you if you find a way."
Heavy silence greeted his words, and He amused himself by watching the most interesting expressions flash across the Council members' faces.
"You're…immortal?" One asked.
"That's what I said."
The man scowled. "How are we supposed to execute you, then?"
"You can't. That's the entire point of immortality, isn't it?"
"What the hell do you mean, you were training me to kill you?" Natsu demanded.
He sighed, muttering under his breath, "Zeref wasn't the only one pinning his hopes on you."
"What?"
He silently cursed Natsu's enhanced hearing and his own big mouth. It would have been better if He hadn't gotten distracted and tacked that part onto the end of his list—He'd already given the Council enough shock value without it.
Staying with Fairy Tail had only ever been a temporary measure while He used its connections to search for a way to undo iced shell, but that had changed as soon as Natsu had joined. The demonic aura emanating from Natsu was very faint, but He had picked up on it, perhaps because He already had experience hiding his own identity and was therefore more attuned to recognizing when others were hiding theirs.
It had puzzled him at first, but He'd done some digging and come to the conclusion that not only was Natsu E.N.D., but he was entirely unaware of it. He didn't honestly know much about E.N.D. except that it was the strongest of the Etherious, supposedly strong enough to kill Zeref himself. And if E.N.D. was powerful enough to kill Zeref, then shouldn't it be strong enough to kill him too?
By that point, He had already started giving up on finding a way to undo iced shell and was convinced that death was preferable to being stuck for an eternity in a weak human body that He didn't want, with all the uncomfortable feelings and sensations that came along with it. He had already tried killing himself in several different ways and failed miserably, but this had presented a new opportunity. Natsu clearly wasn't strong enough yet, unaware of his identity or the potential of his power, so He had established himself as something of a rival to help the dragon slayer become stronger.
Needless to say, once He had started truly settling into his more humanlike identity and making friends, He had quickly realized that this was a terrible plan. So He had abandoned that scheme, instead resolving to try keeping his friend human for as long as possible. He didn't want Natsu to be E.N.D. anymore. He wanted him to be Natsu, just as stupidly naïve and upbeat and loyal as always.
"So, like I was saying, you can't kill me," He repeated, ignoring Natsu and the others.
"But Gray-sama died after the Grand Magic Games!" Juvia protested. The guild was making it really hard to ignore them, and Juvia in particular seemed to still be searching for any way to prove him wrong, as if that could make him any less of a demon. "Juvia saw it, and Lyon-san too."
His mouth twisted into a grimace. "I wasn't dead-dead," He said, still not turning around. "Not that you would have ever known the difference, I suppose. I've been able to pass off some injuries that should have been fatal, but I think that one would have been impossible to play off. If Ultear hadn't… Well, I probably would have played dead and later escaped to start a new secret life off somewhere, and you all would have been none the wiser."
Just because He was unable to die didn't mean that his body couldn't sustain injuries. More horrific ones tended to heal at an accelerated rate until they became more manageable for the body to cope with, but in the case of the dragonlings, He still probably would have been out of commission long enough to get himself buried alive. He would have had to abandon the guild entirely if He was unable to find an excuse for surviving.
He owed Ultear for saving him from that, as much as He didn't deserve it. He had wanted to stop the carriage when He saw her by the side of the road and realized what had happened, but what could He have said? Somehow He doubted it would go over well to tell her, 'Hey, thanks for saving me from dying, except that I wouldn't have actually died because I'm cursed with immortality. And by the way, I'm also the demon that killed your mother.'
"You said that you tried using iced shell on Galuna because you wanted to reunite with your old body," Natsu said accusingly.
"I lied," He said flatly, only realizing that He had been glaring a hole into one of the Council members when she shifted uncomfortably and tried to scooch her chair over a couple inches out of his line of sight. Oops.
"Why?"
He shrugged and stayed silent, switching his gaze away from the hapless woman to stare at the floor ahead of him with narrowed eyes.
"Actually, that's a great point," One said, his face brightening. "If we can't kill you, then why don't you use iced shell instead? Compromise."
"I can't do that anymore," He muttered.
The Councilman deflated again. "I suppose it would be impossible for a demon to actually cast the spell that had been used against it like that."
That wasn't at all what He had meant, but He didn't bother correcting it. On Galuna, Natsu had extracted an understood promise from him to not try using iced shell again. He couldn't bring himself to break that promise, even though it was probably obsolete now.
He had even taken it a step further, because that was around the time He had finally given up on actively searching for ways to rid himself of his unwanted curse. His suicide attempts had become less and less frequent over the years as He made friends and finally started feeling like He almost belonged at the guild, but Galuna had been the hard-and-fast turning point. He still kept an eye out for any possible way to die, but it had become more of a halfhearted curiosity. He'd look for a way to rid himself of the curse so that He could die when He no longer had any reason to live, but He wasn't actively looking to die anymore.
Although given the present circumstances, that might change. The guild was what had given him a reason to live, and He'd lost that now. And with Zeref coming to the continent soon… Maybe something could be arranged.
"Well…do you have your Book?" One asked.
"No," He said smoothly, careful to keep his gaze steady. "And it wouldn't do you any good, anyway. I'm not bound to it anymore, so you can't kill me by destroying it."
"Well, I'm sure we can figure out something," One said with a sigh, scribbling something on a paper in front of him.
He doubted it. He had gotten pretty creative about it back when He had been hell-bent on dying, and He was dubious that the notoriously incompetent Council could find something that He had missed.
"Or you could just not try to kill him," Erza said, her voice hard.
Not this again.
"He's a demon and–"
"But he's our demon, and we don't want him dead," Lucy snapped.
There was a scuffling sound from behind him, chairs scraping loudly on the floor.
"And if you try anyway, we're going to have problems," Natsu growled.
He finally turned to face the guild for the first time since He had walked into the room, but his eyes skimmed sightlessly over his old friends' outraged faces. The only person He had eyes for now was Mavis, and when He found her, He gave her a cold, meaningful look. She bit her lip and twisted her hands uncertainly, and He knew that she understood what He wanted from her. But still she hesitated.
"Mavis," He ground out through gritted teeth. She continued to waver, and He resisted the urge to growl. "I already explained this to you. This isn't the time for second thoughts."
Ignoring the guild's questions, He continued to meet Mavis's gaze steadily. After a moment, she sighed and turned to Natsu.
"Stand down."
"But–"
"Have you forgotten that I'm the founder of the guild and its first master?" she demanded, bracing her hands on her hips. "I'm telling you to stand down."
The dragon slayer resisted for a few seconds longer, before reluctantly dropping back down into his seat. A couple other guild members might have had to sit back down also, but He was already turning away, not looking at them.
Confiding in Mavis had been a purely tactical move. He might have no desire to share the details of his past and personal feelings, but gaining Mavis as an ally was more important than his comfort—she had influence with the guild, and wasn't so emotionally invested that she'd be unable to do what needed to be done. He needed her to keep the guild in check.
"Who were you talking to?" One asked, evidently confused by the 'talking to thin air' routine.
"My familiar."
"Your…familiar?"
"Sure," He said, straight-faced. "Didn't you know that demons have familiars? Traditionally they tend to be things like cats and toads and the like, but I'm a progressive. I have a fairy instead."
"A…fairy? But fairies don't exist."
"Of course they do. You think we'd have a guild called 'Fairy Tail' if fairies didn't exist?"
"Uh… Okay, then. What were you talking to your familiar about?"
The man ripped off a new sheet, and his pen hovered over its blank surface as he looked over at the demon expectantly. Well, it looked like this was going to get added to his list of charges, then. Might as well have some fun with it.
"Oh, we made plans for her to harass you a little once you lock me up," He said seriously. "You're going to be having a lot of fun soon. And maybe she'll eat a few children for me while she's at it, since I won't be able to anymore."
There was a long pause, and it was becoming more and more challenging not to laugh at the ridiculous expressions the Council members were wearing. The leader looked just as apprehensive as the others—apparently they couldn't tell that He wasn't as serious as He sounded—but he managed to scribble something down and his voice only wavered slightly when he spoke again.
"And can you describe this familiar for us?"
"Sure. She's kind of small and looks younger than her age. Cute and blonde, a little childlike, may or may not have a tail."
"May or may not?"
"The whole point of the guild's name is to keep the mystery of whether or not fairies have tails. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you."
There was a choked laugh from behind him and, before He could stop himself, He automatically glanced back and smirked at Natsu. Their eyes met and for an instant there was that old familiar spark, but then He recoiled as if burned and spun back around.
"Gray–"
"Do you have any more questions, or are we done?" He asked One coldly, no longer in the mood for joking around.
There was a brief pause, but then the Councilman rallied, clearing his throat and shoving the sheaf of papers aside. "There's still the issue of having infiltrated a guild. That can't be allowed to stand. As of now, your membership in Fairy Tail is revoked, and you are required to remove your guild mark."
"You can't just decide something like that," Makarov protested. "It's my guild and you don't have the authority to–"
"You know," One said, narrowing his eyes, "you lot seem to be awfully sympathetic to the demon. Is there something you should be telling us? Because I find it hard to believe that an upstanding guild would lobby for a demon."
"We just want–"
"No," He interrupted flatly. "They care about me even less than I care about them."
"But–" Erza tried.
"Oh?" One asked. "And you don't care about them?"
He stared back, his gaze unwavering and ruthless. "I'm a demon. What did you expect?"
"Hm. So how do you explain the fact that they keep trying to defend you? Have you brainwashed them? Or is there some kind of mind-control thing going on?"
He wanted to laugh at how ludicrous that was, but just shrugged. What was one more bogus charge against him?
"Sure," He said sarcastically. "I'm just a regular puppet master. Lots of manipulating and brainwashing going on here."
"But that's not even tru–" Lucy started indignantly.
"Alright, I guess that could excuse their bad behavior," the Councilman conceded, marking down another note. "Now erase your guild mark."
He obediently lifted his bound hands to his chest, hesitated, and smoothed the mark away. It hurt. A lot. It left him empty and cold, bereft. Staring ahead sightlessly, He suddenly lost his appetite for humor or optimism again. There was no more desire for snarky remarks or snide jabs, not even with how many easy opportunities were presented to him. There was no longer anything even remotely amusing about this barren world.
"Great. Take him away."
A Knight detached himself from the shadows to grab the demon and yank him up roughly. He didn't protest—there were no longer any words He wanted to say. Fixing his unblinking gaze on the floor, He stumbled along as the Knight shoved him forward, ignoring the blur of indistinguishable voices in his ears. The guild was in an uproar, but He didn't have the energy to care what they were saying.
It was only when He was almost to the door of the makeshift courtroom that He felt a slight prickling sensation next to him and stopped abruptly, digging his heels into the floor despite the Knight's shoving. He continued to stare at the floor, knowing that He wouldn't be able to see Mavis now even if He looked at her. He wasn't sure what she wanted, but He had some idea.
"I told you, I'm not going to change my mind," He said dully.
Her presence didn't leave, and He got the feeling that she was trying to tell him something. Great timing.
"I can't hear you anymore, you know," He said, before twisting about to snarl at the Knight when the man prodded him viciously in the back. The Knight jerked back a half-step before scowling back at him. "Whatever you're trying to say, it's too late."
As He turned back to face the doorway, his gaze caught on the empty space by his right and He paused, staring at the point He imagined Mavis's eyes would be. He could almost sense her frustration.
"Look, I'll try to uphold my side of the deal if you uphold yours. It's going to have to be good enough."
He didn't think that was exactly what she was trying to say, but He shrugged it off and let the Knight start pushing him along again, content with the knowledge that, if nothing else, at least Mavis would be there to protect the guild that was no longer his.
Note: It's just not Gray if there isn't a bunch of snark and a big ball of tragic angst lol The immortality thing got added because it did a surprisingly good job of smoothing out some explanations for canon events and helping along my plot. Funny how something so random can actually be the aha moment that glues everything together.
emmahoshi: Eh, it's not so much that FT turned on him that fast. You have to remember that I set it up to where a whole bunch of guilds were all present, and they have far less reason to give a demon a second chance because they don't know Gray personally. They would've jumped on him immediately, and I did mention that FT wasn't physically involved in the ensuing imprisonment and that they were at least lobbying for a trial and trying to determine how much aid they should give him. It has more to do with being torn and uncertain because they don't know what to make of the situation or of Gray, and they didn't condemn Gray so much as stand back and let the others take care of it (although there are signs that they at least worked to mitigate the damage). Ah, yeah, Gray is actually a bit of a tactician in this one. There's a real reason for that which is kind of implied later, but yeah, it's probably good to keep in mind that he's a lot cleverer than people give him credit for. And no, FT couldn't have kept Gray around without anyone knowing about him being a demon, because I made that scene happen in front of all the guilds. It would have been very different if only FT had witnessed it. The trial here is actually a "good" thing, because the Council's original plan was to condemn him with no trial at all. Yeah, Lyon is the one who's going to have the hardest time with all this, for obvious reasons. And yeah, you'll notice Gray bouncing back and forth a lot between his more normal personality and a more demon-like personality. Yay for identity crises XD Yes, he can't see/hear Mavis because he removed the guild mark, but he can still sense her presence because of the shared immortality (I got that idea from how Zeref could sense Mavis in canon but couldn't actually see her...although the details were unclear and I think it only happened like once). Don't worry, there's not a time limit on when you have to review XD Hope you've been well, even if you were busy lol
