Gray opened his eyes. 'Goddamnit! Fell asleep on the couch again' he thought. He looked around and was surprised to find his living room empty. Wasn't Luke supposed to be here? The last thing Gray remembered was telling Luke about their fight with Zeref. He probably drifted off to sleep. But what happened to Luke. Gray felt like he was listening intently as far as he could remember. Gray proceeded to get himself off the couch, freshen up and head to the guild to grab breakfast.
At the Guild
"- so then I stopped him from doing it and I kicked Zeref's ass" finished Natsu. "So, wait….. was Zeref really your brother?" asked Luke.
"Yeah, like 400 years ago I think" said Natsu.
"And you died but he brought you back to life as a demon and you got raised by a dragon and learnt to accept your human side?" he asked again, sarcasm iminent.
"pretty much" replied Natsu.
"Wow….. that's some crazy shit yo" said Luke as he scratched his head.
"Then came was the fight against Acnologia" chimed in Happy.
"What the hell? Your life is one train wreck after another." sighed Luke.
"Wait, why the sudden interest in out pasts Luke?" asked Lucy in a flirty tone.
"Gray started telling me about it and I wanted to know how it went. He was right. It's like a never ending adventure." smiled Luke.
"Natsu, Lucy, your breakfast is ready" shouted Mira from the counter. They bolted.
Suddenly, Luke's smiling face changed. He had a more worried look now that Team Natsu wasn't around. Well, or so he thought they weren't around.
"Why the worried look, Luke?" asked Erza from behind, startling him.
Luke turned back to see Erza sitting gracefully, eating a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
"Didn't notice you there" he said, "I'm actually worried about Gray. He seems suicidal to me. Like he was trying to kill himself every chance he got."
Erza raised an eyebrow, "He would go that far for Fairy Tail" she smiled, "it's just who he is"
"That's one way to see it. But sometimes I wonder what went through his mind all those times he thought of sacrificing himself. He told me about his past last night." said Luke.
"Oh, he did, did he? Well if you decide to join Fairy Tail, you'll realize most of us here have tragic pasts. There are many members of the guild that had to endure countless hardships to get here." said Erza
"Well you're no exception yourself. With the tower of heaven and the slavery, not to mention your eye and the people you've lost" said Luke.
Erza nearly choked. "How much did he tell you?"
"We were up all night" chuckled Luke, "well if what you said about the guild members' having tragic pasts is true, I should fit right in."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Gray as he took a seat at their table. He went for a new look today – pink shirt and blue jeans.
"Well, since you told me about your past and all, I think it's only fair if I tell you mine." said Luke.
"oh cool. I really need an explanation on how you were able to see Gajeel in the dark and how you knew he was possessed. You also got a rusting curse and my demon slayer sense goes nuts when you're around." stated Gray.
Luke smiled. Oh, how he was going to enjoy the look of pure shock on their faces.
"That's easy enough to explain. I'm a half demon." said Luke as if was obvious. Both Gray and Erza were shocked. "Half Demon?" they repeated.
"Yeah. My dad was a higher demon. Higher demons hold immense power. He left the demon realm and entered Earthland to rape a whore which ended up being, you guessed it, my mom. After raping her and basically her whole brothel, he left. So, my mom brought me up all by herself as best she could with the earnings of a prostitute. It wasn't that bad. Customers trying to woo her would bring me gifts as well. They left me to play while they went to the next room and banged. I think it was when I was about 5 that my mom sold me into slavery to pay off a debt. So, I was forced to fight other slaves for the entertainment of rich assholes. It was a bloodbath. The last slave standing won and even got a nice meal. Me and some other slavers planned an escape. It was the first time I felt like I had a family. But the slave owners got wind of our escape plan. Since they didn't know anything much about it they decided to torture me for more info" said Luke as he gripped both his legs.
"They shattered both my legs. They threw me back in the cell. I was crippled. My so-called family left me and escaped themselves. I tried to escape as well. Crawled all the way to the wall, but couldn't get over it because of my legs. I stayed there for a while, clawing and crying my eyes out. Eventually, I was approached by a lesser demon. He forged a contract with me and unlocked my latent power. I escaped and freed the rest of the slaves in town. I got home to my mom. Just in time to see the brothel getting raided by bandits. I saw my mom get dragged out on the street and raped. I did nothing. I don't know why. Maybe she deserved it for selling me into slavery. Then I saw them smash my mom's head into little bits and pieces as the continued to rape the corpse-"
Erza grabbed his hand, tears swelling up in her eyes. "it's okay you don't have to"
"Erza, I assure you that I have no feelings for my mother." said Luke, venom in his voice.
"Then why're you crying?" asked Gray, concerned.
Luke reached up to his face and felt the tears flowing freely down his cheeks. He quickly rubbed them away. "I'm pathetic" he sighed.
"Well, I think we should stop there for now" said Gray, "let's grab some breakfast"
Erza finished her cake while Gray and Luke headed towards Mira.
"Here you go boys" said Mira as she handed each of them a plate of sandwiches.
"Thanks Mira" they both said as they took the plates and headed back to Erza.
They took a seat and immediately began munching through the sandwiches. "So, half demon, got any cool abilities that you'd like to tell me about?" asked Gray.
"Nah. I'd rather keep them a surprise. Trust me they're pretty handy in a fight. My ace in the hole, so to say" Luke replied.
"Cool. Think I prefer it that way." laughed Gray. They continued their conversation.
Erza stood up and went to the master's office. She didn't come back until they were done with breakfast. She had a stamp with her.
She approached Luke. "Where do you want it?" she asked monotonously.
Luke realized what it was. "Look like I said before, I ain't joining the guild. I'm just here t-"
"Just shut up and join dude" snapped Gray, "I know you got trust issues and all but we're all family here. You put on that guild mark and every person in this guild will live and die for you without a second thought. That's who we are. We look out for each other. Besides, you're already family to me and Erza"
Erza nodded. Luke looked at the stamp and then at Gray and Erza. He had to admit, he did trust them. But the voices in the back of his head tried to talk him out of it. Well, one of the voices in his head. The other two clearly wanted him to join. Well, majority wins.
"Alright, I'll do it" he sighed.
Erza beamed. He took off his glove on his left hand and gestured Erza to apply the mark. Thus, a red Fairy Tail insignia appeared on the back of Luke's left hand.
Gray stood up on the table and yelled at they top of his lungs. "We got a new member everyone!"
The guild roared with cheers and congratulations to Luke.
