The finale has finally arrived. WHOOP! Hope you all enjoyed this fic and enjoy the final chapter!
Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Fairy Tail.
The two fairies charged at top speed towards each other, Natsu surrounding his forearms in flames while Gray covered his fists in sharp blades of ice. The two elements clashed together, causing a shock wave that sent their spectators tumbling to the ground. The purple ice sliced through Natsu's fist and he cried out in pain. Gray, on the other hand, was dealt with burns to his wrist and pulled his hand back to his face. The pair both took a step back before regaining their postures and going in for their next attack. Natsu used his fire power as an accelerator.
"Karyū no Enchū!" He cried, throwing his fists towards Gray's chest.
Said raven didn't bother to dodge his rival's fist and the impact forced Gray back a few steps. What Natsu didn't realise until it was too late was the thick sheet of ice covering Gray's chest, meaning his attack was completely ineffective. By the time he'd realised what he'd done, the ice wizard was already preparing an attack of his own.
"Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer!" He cried as five pointed objects when flying towards the pick-haired teen.
It was times like this that Natsu was thankful for his enhanced agility as he leaped and bounded out of the weapon's range. He took a hard look at his opponent, trying to find even the slightest trait of his friend still lingering. Gray's form stood tall and proud with his head slightly tilted to one side. It was clear in his eyes that the demon was out for blood, Natsu's blood.
"C'mon Natsu," the beast taunted. "You're not putting your all into this. Let's fight like the good old days!"
"The good old days, huh?" Natsu repeated to himself, grinning slightly.
The two wizards charged again – this time with no magic – and punched each other in the cheek. Usually, said attack would be the one to incapacitate the two, having their fight result in a draw. However, there was no way Natsu was letting that happen this time. Unnoticed by his rival, as their fists connected with each other's jaw, Natsu brought up his leg and kicked Gray in the guts. The impact forced the demon a few steps back as he almost choked on his own saliva. Wiping his mouth clean, Gray sent an inhuman growl towards the fire wizard before charging yet again.
"Hyōma Zero no Tachi!" He roared, swing the mauve sword down against his rival.
Thankfully for Natsu, the attack barely missed him, slicing off a few strands of pink hair. After gaining the upper hand, Natsu ignited his right fist and went to punch the raven at the top of his back. Gray, on the other hand, was having none of this. He rapidly froze Natsu's entire arm and sent a back kick to the teen abdomen. The Salamander gasped at the brute force of the impact. He didn't remember Gray being this strong. Natsu fell to the ground with a harsh thud before quickly rolling to the side to avoid Gray's Death Scythe from slicing his head clean off. As the pink-haired fairy dodged any icicles that were thrown his way, he began to conjure up a new strategy as his current one was kind of… failing. He thought back the last time he had fought his rival; it had been well over a year since then. Natsu refused to count the incident at Avatar a real fight as neither side had put any effort into it whatsoever. In the end, Natsu only came to one conclusion. The heat. Currently, Gray had the field advantage in this fight, being surrounded by a thick layer of snow, the cold was his territory. But what if Natsu got rid of the cold. Possessed or not, Gray's body can't handle heated environments. Snickering at the idea, Natsu darted away from Gray and smashed his flaming fist into the ground, cracking it slightly.
"What the hell are you doing, fool?" Gray's form murmured, knowing the dragon slayer's ears would still pick it up.
Onyx eyes glared at the demon as the flames increased. Natsu had an extremely large range, meaning the entire mountain range was now void of any snow. Juvia had to surround her and the others with a wall of water to avoid being burnt by the intensity of the flames. The Salamander made a mental note to apologise for that later and returned his glance to Gray. Looks like the heat's already effecting him, Natsu thought, smiling. Gray's demonic form appeared to be sweating from the vigorous fire burning the ground. Wiping his forehead with his demon claw, he growled at his opponent before shouting, "TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME, DRAGNEEL!"
Before anyone had the chance to blink, the mountain had returned to its icy state with snow falling more aggressively that before. Shit, Natsu thought, forgot about that. Now he had to worry about beating Gray and not cracking his own head open on the ice. Pulling his head back, the teen gathered the flames buried inside of him and released them in one fell swoop.
"Karyū no Hōkō!"
Gray was receiving punch after punch from his malicious doppelgänger. To say the raven was having a hard time would be the understatement of the century. He didn't even have control of his own magic anymore, whereas the alternate version standing before him seemed to have an endless pit of Ethernano. Was this Deliora's true power? He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when the demon continued to taunt him.
"I must say, your dragon friend is very agile isn't he?" the demon smiled, looking down at the powerless human.
"Natsu ain't losin' to the likes of you," Gray returned the demon's smile with a spiteful grin of his own. "He'll kill you!"
"But would he risk killing you?" Deliora questioned, stroking his chin.
Gray had no words. If he had any control he would have stabbed himself in the heart by now and he knew Natsu wouldn't kill Gray even if there was no way the teen could be saved. Natsu would never stop trying. Dammit, he thought to himself, dodging another wave of icy arrows. Is there nothing I can do? Though Gray no longer had use of his magic, he could still feel it draining away, weakening him every second that passed. He was fading. The raven pondered that this must have been a similar feeling to what Loke was going through for the three years he posed as a human; now he could actually feel empathy for the guy. The occurrence wasn't painful in any way. It just felt… weird, as if parts of him were slowly disappearing. He glanced over to Deliora only to see him looking at the images relaying the outside world, disgust covering his features. Just what was Natsu doing? The idiot seemed to be punching the ground with a sadistic looking smile. The next thing he saw was cracks littering the ground as brilliant red flames burst of them. What happened next came as a surprise. Deliora fell down, claw clutching his raven hair and he hissed in pain. Gray's breath seemed to become more laboured and sweat began beading down his face. Wait a minute, he could feel those flames! Was Deliora weakening due to fighting two people at once? Gray decided to ask questions later, it was time for his counter attack!
"TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME, DRAGNEEL!" Deliora roared, his focus no longer on Gray.
The raven took this as his opportunity to strike back. Willing his magic to surface, he brought his fist to his palm as an icy aura surrounded his being. "Ice-Make: Cannon!" He cried sending a funnel of ice and snow crashing into the demon's form. "It worked…" he muttered.
"No!" The beast growled after regaining his posture. "How can you use your magic?"
"Looks like you're not as strong as you think you are," Gray chuckled. "Hyōma no Gekikō!" Nothing happened. "What the…"
"Heh," Deliora smirked. "Looks like I'm still in control of your demon magic. Your ice won't hurt me."
Suddenly, a harsh burst of heat spread through the darkness, sending both competitors down on their knees, gasping in pain.
"Maybe I won't be able to hurt you, but there's no way you can fight two battles at once, especially with that rampaging pyro." Gray smiled, pulling himself back up to his feet and creating an ice sword.
"You bastard, just die already!"
Gray's demonic form fell down onto his knees as he gasped in pain. Burn marks were scattered across his body, though it was hard to notice while the black markings were still apparent. Natsu laughed slightly at his work, Deliora was weakening; it was only a matter of time until the wretched demon could be returned into his book.
"You bastard, just die already!" Deliora cried as he charged towards the Salamander again, sword in hand.
The pink-haired teen didn't bother dodging; he just stood and watched Deliora's distressed face as he plan began going to shambles. When the frozen sword was mere inches from Natsu face, he ignited his flames once again and they consumed his entire being. Gray bellowed out in pain as he forearms were now covered with harsh burns.
"Natsu!" the fire wizard hear his friends calling him. Wait, he could have sworn he heard way more than four voices then. Natsu took a quick glance behind him to see not only his group, but Erza's as well. Levy was running up to him, holding the book of Deliora.
"Is he weakened enough?" The blunette asked opening to book to one of its many blank pages.
"Almost, just give me a little longer," Natsu replied, running back into the fray.
"BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT, YOU PATHETIC FAIRIES!" Gray's demonic voice boomed through the mountain range, almost causing an avalanche.
"GIVE US OUR FRIEND BACK, YOU BASTARD!" Natsu roared just as loud, lighting his fists yet again. "Metsuryū Ōgi: Guren Bakuenjin!" The fierce flames went racing towards Gray's form.
Deliora attempted with all his might to bring up to strongest ice shield he could create, yet nothing happened. Like hell I'm letting you get out of this one, a voice taunted in his mind. The attack hit head on, causing the beast to scream in pure agony. As his form fell to the ground Natsu turned back to his guild mates.
"Levy, Now!"
The petite girl ran towards the wizards. Throwing the book into the air, she began the incantation. "Gisqofusr ceom foxafs xe jeaf zewo!"
Gray's form convulsed as the black markings, the claws and horns all dissipated. He cried out in anguish as a sinister mist was pulled out of his body and absorbed into the book which then snapped shut and fell to the ground. Natsu skidded towards the literature and tossed it over to Lyon who shot the thing clear through with an icy arrow, destroying it for good. The fairies and Lyon were quickly snapped out of their celebratory mode when they heard choked whimpers coming from their beaten ice wizard. Natsu pulled his rival into him arms, praying that he hadn't been too hard on the guy during their fight.
"Gray. Hey, you okay? C'mon Gray, speak to me," he shook the battered form, trying not to put too much pressure on his wounds.
"N… Nat…su…" Gray stuttered, eyes dazed and unfocused.
"Everything's fine now Gray. Deliora's gone," Natsu smiled sympathetically, At this point Lyon had joined Natsu at his younger brother's side.
"Th… Thanks… for… sa... ving… me, Na…tsu," charcoal eyes rolled to the back of his head as his body relaxed into Natsu's embrace.
"C'mon, let's get him home," Lyon patted Natsu on the shoulder.
By the time the united teams had finally returned to their beloved guild hall, the moon was high in the sky, watching over the quiet building. Most people had already called it a night and headed home, but the loyal members had stuck around to see their family's safe return. The second Natsu burst through the doors carrying an unconscious Gray on his back, Mira rushed the two into the infirmary and immediately began treating the severe burn marks littering Gray's body. Wendy had been healing the teen non-stop ever since the battle ended so Makarov insisted that she returned to Fairy Hills to get some well-deserved rest. Of course the blunette refused, stating that her family was far more important to her right now. Lyon also insisted in staying around. There was no way he was returning to his guild with his younger brother in this condition, not after everything that happened. The guild members all sat around the hall, desperately awaiting some positive news about their comrade as Porlyusica and Makarov sat by his side.
"Natsu, when's Gray gonna wake up?" Happy tugged on his partner's sleeve, tears in his eyes.
"Soon Happy, soon," was all he could respond. He didn't even believe that himself. An immense amount of guilt washed over the fire wizard. He definitely went way overboard this time. Lyon could see the remorse covering the Salamander's features and took it upon himself to give the wizard a somewhat pep talk.
"Don't beat yourself up about this, Natsu," he took a seat next to the wizard in question. "You did what was necessary to save him. It's hard to be mad at someone for that."
"…" Natsu sent a look his way before resting his head on the table.
"I have no excuse for what I did."
"The hell you talkin' about?"
"Think about it. If I hadn't have melted Ur's Iced Shell back on Galuna Island eight years ago, none of this would have happened. It's because I was so driven by my own greed and hatred that Gray's life was put in danger."
"Lyon…" Natsu muttered, raising his head. "Like you said, that was eight years ago. Gray forgave you."
"Natsu, I tried to kill him. That's not something you would forgive a person for. I drove him to bloody suicide."
"He forgave you because you're family. You and Ur picked him up when he lost everything. Plus if you think of it like this, if you had never done what you did, Gray would have probably never made it to Fairy Tail and a Fairy Tail without Gray… I don't even wanna think about what that would be like."
Lyon chuckled slightly. "You know, you're not as much of a hot-headed moron that Gray makes you out to be."
"I have my moments," Natsu smiled a toothy grin towards the ice wizard.
At that moment, Makarov and Porlyusica emerged from the infirmary. The guild members still remaining all rushed towards the tiny man and the healer, asking a thousand questions all at once.
"One at a time please!" He roared through the crowd.
Porlyusica was the one to speak up. "Some of the burns are fairly bad and will take a long time to heal, but other than that, his magic is returning at the normal rate and he's recovering nicely."
"Thank god!" Cana sighed from the back of the crowd making everyone laugh. "Now I can enjoy my booze without any worry." The girl bounded back over to the bar ready for a drink. Mira ran after the brunette, worried that she might break something in her drunken haze.
Many guild members began leaving after that, satisfied knowing one of their own was safe and sound. Gray's team mates agreed to stay and watch over him during the night just in case. Though, Erza did send Wendy and Juvia back to Fairy Hills for the night. Wendy had already exhausted herself trying to heal the raven and Juvia hadn't gotten even the slightest rest ever since she found out Gray was possessed. However, they did allow Lyon to stay in the guild hall.
The night transformed into day far too slowly for the group as they slept by their team mate's side. Happy was the first amongst the five and he could already hear a racket coming from the main room. Probably just one of the guild's early morning brawls, Happy thought, his face downcast as Natsu and Gray were usually the pair to start off the fights for the day. The thought of Gray made the blue Exceed glance over to his fallen friend. The ice wizard had thankfully regained his colour since returning to the guild last night whiter than a sheet. Happy hopped over and took a seat next to the boy's head. He slowly stroked his raven locks, praying that he would wake up soon. The feline was shocked to see Gray's brow furrow slightly as a groan escaped his slightly parted lips. Happy gasped as his watched his friend's black eyes gradually flutter open.
"Gray," the cat whispered to prevent waking the others.
"Hey... Happy," Gray slurred, still dazed from the previous events.
"Like hell," he sighed, voice barely audible "How long have these idiots been here?"
"Ever since we found out you were going to be okay."
Lyon's eyes slowly flickered open and he was instantly at Gray's bed side. "Gray, you okay?!" He yelled, causing the other fairies to wake up.
"Gray!" They all cheered.
"Shut up," he muttered. "You're givin' me a headache."
"Glad to see you're doing well Gray," Erza smiled, helping him into a sitting position. Bandages covered the majority of his body and just sitting up seemed to be a struggle for the wizard.
"Deliora's definitely gone now, right?"
"Yes," Lyon smiled, patting his brother on the shoulder. "Gone for good this time. There's no way that bastard's gonna be bothering you again."
It took the majority of the month for Gray to completely recover from the incident. Lyon took time out of his work schedule to visit Gray every few days just to make sure he was doing okay. Cana made Gray promise to have a drink of booze with her the moment the raven was back on his feet and even Loke joined the pair in their endeavours. Natsu helped Gray work up his physical strength and before they knew it, the guild's resident ice wizard was back to normal and better than ever. However, while the guild was partaking in one of their usual drunken celebrations, Lyon noticed that a particular raven-haired wizard was missing. Exiting the building through the back doors, the ice wizard began walking through the eastern forest until he found who he was looking for. Gray sat slouched on a rock, staring at the flowing stream below him.
"What's up with you?" Lyon asked, putting his hand on the devil slayer's shoulder. "You're usually in a drunken haze this far into a party."
"Just thinking," Gray sighed, not bothering to glance up.
"Still caught up on everything that happened?" The silverette took a seat next to his brother.
"How could I not? Deliora was supposed to be dead. That part of my life should have ended years ago, but no, the universe always finds a way to bring it all back."
"Somehow, I'm thinking this isn't just about Deliora, right?"
"..."
"You miss your dad?"
"…Yeah," a single tear fell down the teen's cheek.
If only you knew, Gray thought, more tears falling.
Lyon didn't know what to do in these kind of situations. When living in Isvan, it was usually Ur who comforted Gray after he woke up screaming in the night. Just thinking about the crap Gray had had to endure made the man want to cry. No wonder Gray had been reduced to this state. Lyon wrapped his arm around his younger brother and let him cry to his heart's content. The two remained in this position until an annoying yet calming voice was heard from behind.
"I'm not interrupted your bromance am I?" Natsu chuckled, taking a seat on the other side of Gray.
"Bastard…" both males muttered, releasing themselves from the hug.
Natsu noticed Gray's tear stricken face and made a face of disapproval. "What's up with you? You should be celebrating, everything's over now."
"..."
"You know, I never would have been able to save you if you hadn't been fighting too, so stop acting so down in the dumps and just be thankful that you're not dead."
"That's just it though," Gray's self-loathing rose. "I gave up! I was too weak and I let Deliora take me. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to be proud of."
"But you got back up," Natsu smiled. "That fact that you're still here now proves that you refused to let Deliora win. Sure, you hit a low, part way through, but you picked yourself back up again. It's all about the recovery right?" He sent a toothy grin towards his rival.
"Why do you constantly beat yourself up over these things Gray?" Lyon questioned. "Stop getting caught up in the past. I did that for ten years and look what happened to me. I tried to kill my own brother just so I could get some sort of release."
The raven blushed slightly and turned away at the brother statement.
"C'mon, let's get back to the guild," Natsu bounced up, pulling Gray along with him. "I heard Gajeel tryin' to pick fights with people. Let's show him what real slayers are made of!"
Gray couldn't help but chuckle at the last remark; he still wasn't used to being a devil slayer. Natsu bounded in front of the trio as they two ice wizards walking behind. The younger glanced over to his fellow student who returned his gaze with a smile. It was at this moment that relief flooded over Gray. Deliora was gone, gone for good this time. He felt relaxed for the first time in the past eleven years. It was as if a humongous weight had been lifted off his shoulders, knowing that the calamity can never return.
It's over! I can't believe it's over! *sobs*
Now I have many things planned for future fics. I got a couple of one-shots planned out and a few multi-chapter fics too. When they will be coming out... who knows? But they will be sometime in the future, that's all I can say.
Time for manga talk!
How sweet was the whole Gray worrying about Natsu thing. I wanted to cry because we all know that's going to end soon. And Natsu is taking off his bandage! Something tells me that Gray - being Gray - will go after Natsu even thought Mavis and everyone told him not to and that's when the E.N.D bomb will be dropped and Gray will most definitely attempt to kill Natsu! GAH, hurry up next week!
Anywho, thank you so much to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed this fic, I've had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you all loved reading it too!
We shall meet again! ;)