Chapter 2: Final Goodbyes

It shook the entire playground. With all of the shaking I slipped on my own ice and fell. I turned my head and looked at Gray. His eyes were wide and full of fear, like a deer in the headlights. He was looking at something. I look behind me and then freeze at the sight of it. In the distance was a giant Demon. Neither of us knew where it came from. The loudspeakers were telling us to evacuate the school, the alarm was going off, and the monster was roaring. So much was happening at once.

"Deliora!" Gray managed to say. I turn to him and more fear overcomes me. I start to tremble and the sound of its name. Deliora was a massive, dark blue, humanoid Demon. He was known as the Demon of Destruction, a creation of the Black Wizard, Zeref. He had a large torso and two large arms that end in large, scaly hands. With that, he had two large legs that end in bird-like feet with large spikes in the back of them. His hair was like a mane in shape and it flowed down to the nape of his neck. He had a pair of horns that pointed upwards, starting from a plate on his forehead and large pointed teeth as well as two hollow eyes. I only read about him in books but right now he's attacking our started to panic as he destroyed the nearby houses.

"Nova, We gotta get outa here!" was the last thing I heard Gray say before I blacked out.

When I wake up I see the ground moving below me. I'm being carried and taken away somewhere. It takes me a little bit to finally realize what's going on again. Deliora, the Demon of Destruction….Is now destroying our town. Then, I notice that two people had been arguing the entire time I was realizing what was going on. The one that was carrying me, and Gray.

"Look Gray, I don't want you getting hurt out there! We have to get Natalie and then get out of this town!" a man's voice said. I didn't recognize it at all. But Natalie is my mom's name.

"Let me go! I need to get to my parents! My house is where Deliora is! Please!" Gray sounded like he was about to burst into tears. I forgot his house was further from mine. His was closer to where Deliora was standing last time I saw him.

"Gray, I'm sorry b-" Before the man could finish, Gray jumped out of his grasp and started running in the opposite direction.

"Keep Nova safe!" Gray yelled at us from behind. And then he was gone. Those were the last words I ever heard from him.

"Damn it!" the man screamed. All I did was sit still as he kept running. He ran for what seemed to be an eternity until he finally stopped. I recognized my surroundings now, This is my front yard. That means we were at my house. How did this man know where we lived?

I start to move and he puts me down on the grass. I look around at my surroundings again. The sky is a dark gray color full of ashes. The buildings and houses that once made up my neighborhood were now just a pile of rubble. Including my house. I try to stand up, but i'm shaking too much to even move. I look for the man that had saved me and Gray, but he wasn't at my side anymore. He was kneeling by a pile of rubble digging something out. It was my mom.

That was her. He was digging her up from under the destroyed house. I'm still trembling so much that I can't move my legs. So I start to crawl over to them. By the time I crawled all the way to them he managed to get her completely out of the rubble.

"Oh thank God. She's still breathing." The man said. I crawled over closer to her and startled the man. He jumped but then realized it was me. "She's still alive Nova, I don't know if shes completely alright but she's still holding on." He tried to carry my mom but her hand touched his arm. and she weakly shook her head from side to side.

"You two….Must….Leave…This place…..I can't move….And i'll only….Slow you…..Down." She said laying on the ground beside us. "Nova…..This is….My brother, Matthew….He'll teach you...everything. Be strong….For me…..I...Love...You…" She then closed her eyes, her final tears ran down her face. She smiled, and then laid motionless on the ground before us.

I looked up at the man. He kept his head down. But I knew he was crying. All I could do was cry with him. He then got up and grabbed a black backpack that I didn't notice was there before. He swung in on his back, and without a word, he grabbed me with his free arm and started running. I ended up crying the entire time he ran. Until I fell asleep.

.

We left the town. Deliora destroyed it completely before the day even ended. My uncle took care of me and trained me from that day on. I trained and lived with him for 2 years, until he passed from a terrible illness. I was gonna give up. But I will never forget his final words.

When he laid in his bed I stuck with him. I cried every night at his bedside. On his last day, I sat there with him. He grabbed my hand and said "There are times when you can't help but give up, there are times when you lose confidence in yourself. But if you keep believing in yourself, you won't lose your confidence, you won't think about giving up. You will go out there and do what's right. So when life changes to be harder….Change yourself to be stronger."

Ever since then i've been living on my own. Looking for a new place to call home. I learned to stay strong for them.

To Be Continued In Chapter 3: Journey To Hargeon