Me: Hmmm…
Zack: What is it?... .w.
Me: I can't think of anything entertaining to type here *shrugs* .w.
Ally: Then you can just start…I mean, I'm sure there's some people who'd like to see what "Zane" does to his dad. .w.
Me: True…true…oh yeah, this is the last chapter before we get back to Zack :D
Zack: WOOT!
Ally: Then that means…
Me: Yep…there's probably gonna be a cliffhanger at the end and with that, lets-a-go!
Ally: seto owns nothing about Fairy Tail - Disclaimer…that sounded weird…
Chapter 9: Fatherly Love
It was surprised by how nimble father was. Every time It tried to make a jab at dear old daddy, he would lunge back, making the swing completely miss. It was tired of the game, It swinging and daddy running away. "Why do you run?" It hissed, "You scared after what I did to those pathetic villagers?" It heard a chuckle come from father's mouth. "You making fun of me father? Cause I could end you in two seconds if I wanted to!" However, father just chuckled again, "Then why haven't you done it foul beast? You're so self-confident because you took down some second-rate magicians but now you're fazed because you've met your match. I can pretty much read your movements; you're so predictable you know that?" He smirked at It. It was not amused…not in the slightest, "You testing me old man? Cause I will tell you that I will not stand for these taunts!" It disappeared into its shadow but father knew what was going to happen and in the blink of an eye, stabbed the form that burst out of his shadow.
It lept out of his shadow and staggered back, a look of not pain but genuine surprise on Its face. "Hmph, see? So predictable, can't you do better than that? Or maybe…you've already met your limits? Look at you, being beaten into submission by an 'old man'. You're just a worthless piece of trash shadow magician that should be cast back into the depths of oblivion in the end." It was now getting, for lack of a better term, pissed off. "You…how dare you mock me…I am the greatest shadow user in the land! DON'T THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU SAW THROUGH MY SHADOWPORT THAT YOU CAN BEAT ME! Now! Take this! Shadow Steal!" It slammed its fists against each other and pointed at father's shadow. The shadow morphed and climbed out of the ground. The figure had the same shape as father but its body was engulfed in black and the eyes replaced with milky white balls. (A/N: Sound familiar anyone? :D) It chuckled to itself, "That shadow possesses all your abilities father, how will you kill it if it knows everything you might and could do? Good luck, attack!" The shadow lunged at father ready to fight till either it or he disappeared. However, he wasn't fazed. He disappeared and reappeared next to the shadow and blasted it away with a beam of white light. He dropped his fighting stance and looked at It. "Heh…think you could defeat me with a replica, monster? You must be getting desperate and this early into the fight too. I'm disappointed."
It was getting more and more angry as father's cocky attitude started to grate his nerves. "Why…you…you dare to mock the shadows?!" He glared at It, "Why yes, I am a user of light magic and as you know, light magic trumps any kind of shadow magic in the end…every time." It was literally seething now, "Why…you…you…YOU DARE TO SAY THAT I WILL LOSE?! I'VE STILL GOT SOME TRICKS UP MY SLEEVE! TAKE THIS! SHADOW SPEED!" It flew at him and started to unleash a barrage of shadow enhanced punches. He easily and nimbly dodged each one with a bored look on his face. It got angrier at his look and started to unleash swifter punches, punches so fast that they were invisible to the naked eye. However, father still managed to dodge each one and kicked at Its legs causing It to stumble and fall flat on its back. "Your legs were wide open. Please don't offend me with such amateur tactics. If you're going to attack me blindly at least put a little thought on how it will work." He yawned and looked at the sun, gauging the time. "Well…you managed to waste an hour of my time…I guess I should counter attack and end this already…hmm…20…no, 10 percent speed should be more than enough." He flexed his arms and took on a zen like appearance. It thought to itself, "Tch…I used too much energy in the Shadow Speed attack…I have no choice, I have to endure the attack that he's going to launch" It took, for the first time in a long time, a defensive stance and prepared itself for what was to come.
"Now then foul creature…take this, Light Speed!" He lunged forward at an impossible speed and began to attack It in a flurry of punches, each punch delivered with the force of a hammer but at the speed of light. It was having a rather difficult time weathering the attack as his armor was starting to give way and the speed of his blocks was nowhere near what it needed to be in order to survive. After what felt like an eternity, he stopped and let It fall to the ground, Its armor on the verge of fading away. "Hmph…such a hideous armor. When I seal you away, I'm going to cut off that arm. The pain Zane will feel will be both gratifying and a surefire way to make sure he never has such rebellious thoughts again. For now, I guess I should finish this fight." He held a hand out in front of Its face and began charging a huge beam of light energy that would undoubtedly kill It on the spot. Meanwhile, the tiny sliver that was still Zane was thinking to himself, "Impossible…how could he be so powerful?! I should be stronger than this…no…no…I will not lose to him…not after all those times…"
Inside Zane's Mind
Why?...Why can't you ever be proud of me? Why can't you accept me? Why…can't you love me? Don't I deserve it? All I ever wanted was for you to love me as a son…not see me as a monster. That's what parents are for right? They're supposed to love their children, no matter what they are, no matter what they think, and no matter how they look. But you and mother…you both hate me, why? Is it because of the tattoo? You can't blame me for that; I don't blame me for that. I don't even know where it came from. Why couldn't you tell me? I wanted to get rid of it for so long but you never gave me even a hint. If you wanted it gone, why didn't you help me? You beat me every day, every time you even saw me, you would both beat me half way to death. I learned how to survive on the spot, how to treat wounds. But…I could only heal the physical wounds…not the psychological or the emotional scars that you left behind.
Even after all this, I still loved you guys as my parents. I was determined for you to return that love. I decided to become the best scholar that the world had ever seen. I was six mind you. I did all this while you were busy preparing Sierra. I studied like a madman, learning all about the world that hated me, learning math that was beyond my capacity, learning a second language, and learning all about the political world. It was then I stumbled across something. The real reason why the Buster name was soiled and everybody seemed to hate us. It was because of you father. You had turned a family against another; a feud is what I believe it was called. In the process you had amassed a great fortune while both of the families destroyed the other. You had done this to multiple families and you were eventually caught. You were sent to court but got off scot-free. The world was not happy and hated you for it. Hated you so much, that you had to flee to this province where nobody knew of your crimes and hide. When I brought this up to you, you flew into a rage that caused me to nearly die. What was worse is that Sierra tried to protect me…but she ended up getting beaten halfway to death. When you were done beating Sierra, you glared at me and told me to NEVER mention that to you again lest you actually do kill her. By the time the next day came by, you acted like nothing had happened, though the scars and gashes on my body said otherwise.
I tried to make it up to you. I showed you all my accomplishments like solving math problems that YOU would have had trouble figuring out. Being able to recite the whole treaty that ended a great war centuries ago. Writing whole essays about the Buster family…the family I tried to love. All these and more…but what was your reaction? "Hmph, you trying to impress me? Because NOTHING you do can make me see past what you really are…a shame that doesn't deserve the Buster name. Thanks for wasting my time." And with that, you slapped me and turned back to doing whatever you were doing. I was stunned…I poured so much time into learning and with these, I was on the path to becoming a great scholar and yet…you turned me down in favor of Sierra. I didn't hate you for it...I understood; the whole reason our name was in the mud was because of me. So, I went from scholar to helping you take care of Sierra, to make HER into something that you could be proud of. However…our methods differed. I tried to be gentle and understanding, you strict and uncaring. It was obvious our two methods clashed and in the end, you made me pull out of her life. However, I made a promise to Sierra; a promise to keep her alive and happy no matter what. All I could do at that point was watch as a bystander. So I watched…watched as you killed all parts of her that made her unique in an attempt to make her into…a thing that would revive our name. I watched in horror. She was literally going to die early if you kept up your routine. So I made that ill-fated decision…that decision that led me to this moment.
Why? Why can't you love me? All I ever tried to do was make you happy; all I ever tried to do is revive the Buster name. And yet…and yet… (A/N: Imagine him mentally sobbing here) you pushed me away like I was a monster. I just wanted to be loved…loved by the father that I hoped would teach me the ways of this world. Loved by the mother that took the pains to bring me into this world. I could never hate you for it…but now, I see no choice. I still loved you…even while you were beating me, the only thing I could think about was methods to revive the name and make you happy…proud of me. I nearly drove myself to death by exhaustion in my studies. I wanted SO BAD to see a smile come over your usual scowl or frown. That's all I ever wanted…that and to keep Sierra happy. But now I know…now I know that you could NEVER be happy about me…NEVER be proud of me. (A/N: Sobbing has stopped abruptly, now a sense of wrath is building)
All I did was push myself to the limit and beyond to make you happy…but now…now I know for sure that if I submit to you here; I will never see you smile even if I broke my mind for you. And Sierra…she'll die early if I submit to you again. So NO MORE…NO MORE SUBMISSION, I WILL DEFEAT YOU HERE AND NOW! All I ever wanted was your love father…but now…all I want is for you to suffer…now and for eternity.
Back outside/ Zane's POV
It shook violently as It was pushed back inside of my mind and I came forward once again. I looked up at father, "You know…all I ever wanted was for you to be proud of me. But now I know…that'll never happen. Hmph…I wasted so much effort on that but now I know what I have to do. I have to make you suffer father." "What?! You shall do no such thing my 'son'! Take this! Contact Beam!" He fired his beam at me. I smiled my usual smile up to him and disappeared just as the beam was about to connect. He looked down at where I was and was shocked as his left arm was lopped off with a swift swipe from my armored left arm. I smiled once again at father, "Remember when I brought forward a test I got from a scholar? That test was meant for scholars on the final leg of the test to become a Master, the most coveted spot in all of the land. It takes some men years to finally pass that test. I passed with a perfect score my first time. I brought it to you but you just glared at me and said that I could do better than 100%. Well then…let's see if I can kill you with more than 100% effort~" "You fiend…as if I'll let you do that on my watch! Light Speed! And this time, 100% speed!" He lunged at me and delivered the punches he launched at It earlier. I easily dodged them and kicked him in the legs making him fall down. I then shot four shadow loops that locked father down on his arm, legs, and neck. "Too easy, you're so predictable father, did I tell you that?" "You little- Let me go this instant Zane!" I just ignored him and brought my arms up into a thinking pose.
"Let's see…you kept bragging about your speed in your fight with my alter-ego…so then…I see what I must do." I brought my knee up and slammed it down into father's left leg, breaking it on contact. After enjoying the scream that came from his lips, I realized, "Oh wait…bones heal isn't that right dear father? In order to reach more than 100%, I have to make sure you never walk again! I guess I have to rip the sucker right off~" I grabbed his left leg and, despite the pleas from him, ripped it off with little effort. He screamed into the sky. No doubt that the other villagers would arrive any moment to see what was going on. "Gosh…now you're making a commotion. Your voice…that sound that has plagued me for years…it's got to go too. Remembered what happened to Torch?" I grabbed his neck and shot a shock of darkness, destroying his vocal chords. "Your eyes…you don't deserve to see after overseeing the worst crimes in the world." I took my claws and gouged out his eyes, his mute voice screaming in extreme pain. I smiled my usual gentle smile. "Now then…how to top it all off? Oh, of course, let the villagers find out about your crimes and make them hate you for it" I turned and went inside of the house to look for the book about the past. I found mother cowering in the corner of the living room. I remembered all her attempts to love me…all ending in failure. I went up to her and whispered, "Take care of father…he's gonna need it. I'm taking Sierra and we're going to live a normal life somewhere else. If you dare to look for us, I'll kill you, understand?" She nodded fearfully and went to look for father. I found the book lying in a forgotten shelf and went outside. I saw mother looking at father in horror and a crowd approaching our gate again. I left the book out that revealed fathers crimes and went inside, making my armor disappear along the way. I made my way to the attic where I knew Sierra was hiding and opened the door.
Sierra's POV
I stared fearfully at Oppa when he first opened the door, but relaxed when I saw that he was smiling his old gentle smile and his eyes were back to normal. I ran up to him and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug and stroked my hair. I started sobbing into his chest, seeing what he had done right before my eyes. "Oppa…why'd you do all that?" He looked at me and with a serious look, "I had to…now then, we're going to be leaving this house and going somewhere else. I'll take care of you ok? I'll make sure you attend a normal school and maybe…live a normal life." "But…what about mother and…father?" "Don't worry about it Sierra…they won't chase after us, I've made sure of it." I hugged him tighter and felt him rise up, him carrying me in what I learned as the "princess or bridal" pose. He carried me outside, past my crying mother and broken father. Past all the silent villagers who were regarding Oppa in absolute fear. Away from our house and past and into, what we both hoped would be a brighter future.
Me: ANNND, stop right there! ^w^
Zack:…so that's why he's so messed up…
Me: And that concludes this segment of Zane's story! :D
Ally: *tearing up* So that's why…he hates his daddy so much QwQ
Zack: *hugs Ally* Yeah…he's had a bad past like me…not that I remember
Ally: *pokes Zack's nose* You'll remember soon, I can feel it ^^
Me: *cough*meanttobe*cough* ^^
Zack and Ally: *Both push away while blushing* o/o
Me: lololololololol, anyway, hope you guys missed Zack cause we'll be rejoining him soon enough! Psst…hey!...if you like the story or got something you want to tell me, put something in that box down below, much appreciate it! Till then, see ya laters! (^.^)/ *walks out a CoD*