A/N: Yo! Wasup Fanfic readers?!
Kjblau here once again, bringing you another chapter I hope you guys enjoy!
Ok, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, that I am very proud to announce to you all that school is indeed over. Summer has now started for Kjblau. You may think that this means I'll have tons of time to write and update very quickly. Right? Well… That's where the bad news lies. As we all know, this isn't Fiore, can't just join a magic guild and do high paying jobs to make a living. Nope this is the crappy real world, where we have to get jobs that put us on long schedules and help pay our bills. Unfortunately I have a full-time job during this summer. So if anything… the updates will be branched out longer from each other.
But never fear! I will keep this story going! I have devoted myself to this because I want to, (Not only let my mind run wild with awesome ideas), but do nothing more than to please you. Oh so dearest readers. I have no intention of losing any interest in this story any time soon.
I am also very proud to announce, that this very Fanfic, has become the top favorite for having Gildarts as a lead role. I'm just overjoyed that I can go to the filter, order it by favorites, put in Gildarts' name, and see this one on the top of the list. I know that might not seem like a big deal to you guys, but it's something that helps a lot to inspire me while I write. All I can do is thank all of you guys, for all the love and support you have shown this story since its starting just a couple months ago. I know, it's still hard to believe it only took that long to get this popular. Anyway, all I wanted to say is thank you and I love you all.
Now, I urge you guys to review, fav, and/or follow. If you have any questions or pointers, feel free to message me. I will always do my best to respond as soon as I can.
Now, let's get fired up!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning Fairy Tail… It all belongs to Mashima. I do, however, own the plot to this story and any OCs that are included.
A Slayer's Pride
Chapter 10: My Fight!
*Clunk**thud**clunk**thud*
The night was seldom and peaceful along the streams of the cool winding sea. The short waves of water swayed back and forth through a slow blowing breezes. The moon glowed in its glimmering eerie light while sitting in its place right in the middle of the sky.
*Clunk**thud**clunk**thud*
On the water, sailed a large vessel. Its hull cutting through the crescent waves as it continued toward its destination. The sails were ranged accordingly along their riggings in size from the shortest mast on the stern, the largest on the deck, and the middle sized lying on the bow. Both sides were equipped with magic cannons, some on the lower gun deck, and the rest on the upper deck.
*Clunk**thud**clunk**thud*
Walking the deck, was a rather large, burly man. His face was covered in large, bushy, black beard. His jaw stern and his nose somewhat crooked. His eyes were baggy, but seldom. His hair would be a mess if not constricted by the large hat that sat on top of his head. As he continued his pace, he walked with a strange limp. The moon's light would reveal with each step that one of his legs was replaced with a peg. Though this didn't seem to bother him at all.
Finally reaching the bow of the ship, he spotted some red out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see a familiar scarlet-haired woman in armor. She stood dominantly and unwavering while tightly gripping onto a sword that was lodged to the wooden deck. She stared off to a distance ahead of the ship with what looked like a scowl on her face. She seemed to be in her own train of thought as the large man approached her.
"We be approaching the island soon Lady Scarlet." His deep voice speaking out. Erza finally snapped out of her thoughts after hearing him. Being caught off guard a bit she quickly turned and pointed her sword out. Only for it to come inches from the large man's grinning face.
"Oh, Bojack, my apologies I didn't realize you were there." She responded, lowering her sword as quickly as she threw it up. The man named Bojack only chuckled at this.
"Ye' be a little tense I see."
Erza sighed and dropped the tension in her shoulders, "It's that noticeable, is it?" she asked softly. Bojack let out another chuckle.
"Unless ye' policy be, 'cut first, ask later' then I would 'sume so." He told her with a grin.
Erza smiled, joining him in his amusement. "Just a lot on my mind, at the moment I suppose." She started. "Also, thank you again for allowing me passage on your vessel."
Bojack raised his hands, as if to wave it off. "Don't bother yerself with that, lass. I still have a large debt to pay ye' and Salamander for clearing out those damned sea beasts and saving me, me crew, and me pride and joy." He said, patting the railing he was leaning against. Returning his gaze back up, his cheery expression faltered a bit. "Although… I was a wee bit willing to turn ye' down at the start."
Erza raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why is that?"
Bojack then brought his hands together and let out an exasperated sigh. "Well there be two reasons…Ye' see there be some rumors goin' about that Galuna Island. About how it be cursed." He explained with his sight seemingly wandering off. "Knowin' this, I was hesitant to ship off anywhere near it. But when ye said the good old Salamander was heading there, I just couldn't deny helpin' after what y'all have done for me." He told her apologetically.
The red-head nodded. "It's fine. I appreciate the risk your taking with us and I'm sure Natsu will as well." Her eyebrow then cocked remembering something the privateer had brought up. "And what was the other reason?"
As soon as she finished her question, the ship seemed to rumble. A large cracking noise could be heard through the entirety of the vessel. The two turned their sights the other end of the ship and both their eye's widened. At the stern, the small mast started to tip over. Once it landed on the railing of the ship, it just sat lazily hanging off to the side with some of the sail being pressed into the water.
Bojack's eye twitched a bit in irritation. "Bringin' him." He grudgingly muttered before a familiar voice spoke up.
"My bad!"
*Meanwhile*
"Miss Lucy! It looks like theirs is somebody heading this way!" shouted a demonized villager from atop his scaffolding overlooking the outside of the wall to the village. Lucy and Happy went there fastest to get back to the village in time so they could be there to warn them about the imminent attack by Lyon's followers. Luckily, the two were there fast enough that they could express the situation to everyone. Though the mayor was still unhappy and questioning as to why the moon wasn't yet destroyed. Lucy tried to tell him that the moon wasn't the problem, but the man insisted erratically.
Lucy then decided to formulate a plot for what to do to prepare for the attackers when they came. After coming up with an idea she summoned Virgo and had her dig a large hole right in front of the gates. She had planned to cover the hole with some grass and make it so it seemed like any regular foliage. When the intruders would come and step on it, they would be trapped. She thought the plan was full proof, but was being discouraged by Happy and most of the villagers.
That's gotta be them. Open the gate!" the blond shouted back.
"Right!"
The gate to the village shook and then slowly started to open up. "Come to mama!" Lucy exclaimed as she stood in front of the crowd of villagers with her hands on her hips.
The gate rose enough to reveal a certain pink haired Dragonslayer walking down the trail with an unconscious Gray slung over his shoulder. After coming into view, Natsu instantly looked up to see Lucy. He instinctively grew a grin on his face and raised his free hand in a waving gesture.
"Yo Lucy! What's up?"
Lucy's eyes popped wide open at the sight of the person she least expected to see behind the gate. "Natsu! What are you doing here?!" Her eyes then strayed down to her 'ingenious' trap which the slayer was approaching. Natsu was still walking as he was just a couple steps from it. "Wait Natsu! Stop!"
Natsu just kept walking forward, albeit a confused look had come onto his face. "Huh? Why?" he asked.
"Just please stop!"
Natsu then came to halt as his foot hovered over the grass that was collected over the hole. Seeing this Lucy relaxed and gave out a sigh as she looked to the ground in relief. Natsu, however, was confused as ever, not knowing what the problem was.
'Had Gray really already told her about the punishment? I guess she must think I'm here to dish it out.' His thoughts then dispersed as he looked down. 'What's with the grass?' he then looked closer at it to see that it was shaped in a perfect circle. The Dragonslayer grew a smirk on his face when he finally came to a realization. 'Oh so she wants to try and get out of it, now does she? Well I've got a better idea.' His smirk then turned into a grin. He started to feel Gray on his shoulder, finally starting to stir.
"Ugh…What the hell is—"the groggy ice mage was cut off as Natsu slipped him off his shoulder. Gray's eyes shot open as he fell for the grass. Hoping for a light impact, he was not greeted with such as the grass collapsed at his touch revealing a deep hole. Gray let out a yell before he hit the bottom hard. Groaning he used what strength he had to roll himself over on his back. Looking toward the opening of the hole, he saw Natsu pop his head into view.
"Consider that a part of your punishment for runnin' off with an S-class quest." He elaborated with a grin.
"Ass…hole…" Gray muttered out before he fell back into unconsciousness. Natsu let out a chuckle before turning his gaze up to a shocked Lucy.
"Wait! What do you mean he took an S-class quest?!" she asked loudly. A realization dawned on her as to why this quest seemed so tricky at first. She then turned her attention to a certain blue feline who was doing his best to hide behind a large headstone labeled 'Bobo'. "We were on an S-class job this entire time?! Why didn't you tell me?!"
Happy popped his head out for everyone to see. "You never asked." He said nonchalantly.
With a sigh, Lucy decided to just let it go as she did not really have any control over the situation now. After Natsu finally got Gray out of the hole she had created, he laid him flat for the entire village to see.
"Gray…" She mumbled softly as she kneeled next to him. She then looked up to Natsu. "What happened?"
"He ended up not doing too well fighting that Lyon guy. He was just lucky that I was there to save his ass."
"Oh…" Then something popped into Lucy's head. 'Wait, if I left after those three took off. Then why aren't they here already.'
Seeing Lucy spaced out, now Natsu was confused. "Eh… Lucy, what's up?"
Lucy came out of her thoughts as she heard Natsu. "Well it's just that—"
"Hey Look!" A villager sharply cut her off as he pointed to the sky.
The two mages followed his finger to where he was pointing. In the sky they could see a large rat. The same rat that Gray had fought earlier that day. The rat seemed to be using its tail, rapidly spinning it to keep its high altitude.
"It's a giant flying rat! And it's carrying a bucket!" shouted the same villager. Sure enough the creature was lugging a very large bucket as it flew.
"What?! Now my pitfall drop is pointless!" The blond shrieked.
"They were never going to fall for that." Natsu responded blankly.
"Aye."
As the rat flew, some green substance leaked from the bucket. A large droplet of it then started to fall down. Lucy saw it as it was heading straight for her. As it came closer she got a better look at it as it fell.
"Jelly?" she said confusingly as the droplet fell.
"Watch out!" Right before it could hit her, however, Natsu knocked her out the way. As soon as they were out of the way, the drop of jelly hit the ground, only for it to melt the earth it surrounded.
"What the hell was that?!"
"That was just a drop, and the rats got a bucket full of it!"
Shouted the villagers as they started to panic. Then the large rat let out a grunt as it swayed the bucket back. It proceeded to heft it back, releasing the contents of jelly to fall to the village. Lucy started to panic at the sight of so much of the deadly substance falling toward them.
"How are we supposed to protect ourselves from so much?!" she screamed.
"I want everyone to get to the center of the village! Now!" Natsu shouted. His legs then sprouted a large amount of fire. A second later, he was skyrocketing straight for the descending goo. The villagers quickly and erratically made their way to the center of the town. All except for the mayor, who was kneeling and clutching onto the grave of his deceased son, refusing to leave it.
Natsu quickly got within a good enough range of the jelly as it continued to fall. "This should do it." He stated as he calmed his flames to just allow him to hover in his current position He threw his arm out and it burst into flames. It quickly formed into a sphere and sat in his palm, waiting to be released.
"FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" he shouted, shooting out the ball of fire to the goo. Once it came into contact with it, its flames burst into a very large explosion. The green substance dispersed and flew in outward directions, away from the fireball it had met with. The newly formed droplets sprayed around the area, everything it touched was instantly melted away.
A large droplet then headed straight for the mayor and the grave he was groveling at. The villagers watched in horror as the goo landed on where their leader was. Lucy's eyes were wide as she saw what just transpired, she believed the poor man had just met his end.
"Woo! That was close." The celestial mage quickly turned to the familiar voice from behind. Her eyes were met by a grinning Natsu, who was now clutching onto the demonized blue mayor. "One second later and this guy would have been toast."
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted in excitement.
The villagers looked around to find that the center of the town was now surrounded by a large moat that was seeping with steam. The ground, and the buildings, had been caught by the excess jelly that fell. Now only where the large group stood, was left.
"The village has become completely dissolved."
"This is terrible."
"Is anyone hurt?"
Were things said and asked by the villagers. As the steam started to fade out, a single rock grave was standing. Granted it was slightly tilted from the chaos.
"Bobo's grave is still standing." The mayor said in relief. But that relief was quickly replaced with shock as three figures appeared. One of them walked up and kicked the headstone out of its placing.
"Reitei ordered us to eradicate the village and its people." Said a pink-haired woman as she approached. "We wanted to show mercy by making your deaths quick and painless. But, since that didn't work we will have to resort to bloodshed."
Natsu's eye twitched in irritation.
"Fifty villagers, two wizards. Shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes." Said the short spiky blue-haired man as he stood with his hands behind his back.
"Hrumph," replied the dog-like man with the two attackers.
Before anyone could say anything else, the mayor started to become livid due to the disrespect shown to his son's grave. The villagers quickly held him back and started to pull him away, despite his angered efforts to break free. One male villager approached the unconscious Gray and slung him over his shoulder. He turned to Lucy with a smirk.
"We'll take him and make sure he's safe." He said reassuringly.
"Thank you." Lucy responded to him before he followed the other villagers.
The pink-haired woman, Sherry then stepped forward. "We're not leaving until everyone in the village is dead." She stated. "Angelica." The giant rat, Angelica, had come to a landing right behind the three. After hearing Sherry, she yelped in what seemed like in agreement. With a large shift of her weight, she jumped and back flipped in mid-air before her tail once again started to act as a rotor. She then shot forward. Sherry jumped and was caught in the grasp of the large creature.
They would have flown right past the Fairy Tail mages. But as Angelica flew right above them, Natsu shot up his fist, just in time to nail the rat in the stomach. Angelica's eyes shot wide open as she registered the pain. Crashing into the ground, she started to rapidly roll across the ground as it smashed through the forest lying outside of the moat.
"Whoops," Natsu said with a large grin. He turned with his eyes shut and grin still plastered on his face. "You see that Lucy?" He asked. But after a moment of silence, Natsu expression turned confused as he opened his eyes. "Lucy?" his eyesight was met with only Happy as the feline nervously smiled at him. "Huh? Where'd she go?"
"She must have gotten excited and grabbed on to that big mouse after you hit it."
Natsu panicked. "Uh-oh. Hopefully that didn't crush her."
"If it did, she's a goner." The small cat replied. Summoning his wings he flew up a bit. "I'm going to go check if she's ok."
Natsu let out a sigh. "Thanks buddy." And with that, Happy flew off, leaving Natsu with the other two of Lyon's followers.
"Hey this just might be easier than we thought." Stated the dog man, Toby.
"Yes, with another mage gone, this just might take half the ti—"Yuka started but was quickly cut off as a column of flames was shot at him. He acted fast enough to raise his wave magic to block it out. But, the flames seemed to hold up for longer than he anticipated as they sat against his anti-magic for a few more seconds. Dropping his waves he took a second to catch his breath. "What the hell was that?!"
Natsu's smirk once again crossed his face as he stepped forward. "Just some fire. What? You burn easy?" he chuckled after the last bit. He then breathed in. And a second later, he opened his mouth wide to send a stream of flames straight for Yuka.
Yuka's eyes widened in surprise. 'A mage who can breathe fire?! Don't tell me he's—'his thoughts were cut short, however, as he the flames came very fast at him.
"WAVE!" Summoning up his magic, he summoned a large barrier to block the fire. After the flames dispersed, he dropped his wave. He panted a bit as the barrier had used about half of his reserves to keep stabilized. Looking up he saw that Natsu was now glaring at him. "Y-you're him, aren't you? The Salamander of Fairy Tail." Natsu didn't answer as he just continued to stare with a stern gaze. "Well just because they claim you to be so strong, don't think your little flames will help you here." Natsu then raised an eyebrow at the short man. "The waves that I'm using, diffuse all kinds of magic. So you can shoot at me all you like, it won't change a thing."
Natsu stared at him just a little longer. He proceeded to then grunt. "Hmph, no fire magic, huh?" Yuka's smirk grew slightly wider. But it fell into surprise after Natsu's next declaration. "Not a problem."
Before Yuka even knew what was happening, he found himself flat on his back on the ground, coughing up blood. He glanced up to see the Dragonslayer towering over him. Before he could do anything else, Natsu raised his fist to strike at him again.
"WAVE!" he tried his best to react fast. But as soon as the barrier appeared, Natsu effortlessly passed through it. Yuka didn't even have time to register what just transpired as Natsu delivered a powerful punch to the blue-haired mage's torso. Having he wind knocked completely out of him, Yuka dropped down unconscious.
Natsu stood straight looking down at the limp wave user. "One down." He muttered before turning his attention to the shirtless Toby, who was completely baffled by seeing Yuka beaten so easily.
"Whoa… you're pretty badass." Toby stated plainly.
Natsu proceeded to bring his hands together as he popped his knuckles. "You're just about to see how badass."
"I'm not scared, 'cause I'm even stronger than Yuka! Check these out!" Toby then crossed his arms in front of himself. His nails grew freakishly long and dark green. "MEGA JELLYFISH PARALYSING CLAWS! I bet you'll never find out what the secret is behind these."
"Poison?" Natsu asked blankly.
"Gahhh! How did you know that?" Toby asked with wide eyes. "Hey… Can you read minds or something?"
"No…" Toby's eyes nearly popped out of his head in surprise as he heard Natsu's voice from behind him. He then felt his right arm being vigorously grabbed. "You're just… a moron." And with that Natsu jutted Toby's own claws into their owner's forehead. Toby shook intensely before falling to the ground, none of his limbs moving as he whimpered.
"This is getting way to easy." Natsu stated. He walked over to the small headstone that was knocked over by Yuka not too long ago. He proceeded to pick it up and gently carried it over to its original position and placed accordingly. He then patted the top of the grave.
"You can rest in peace, friend. You have my word that I will help your people out, whatever it takes."
*Meanwhile*
"Angelica… avenge me…" Were the last words uttered by Sherry before she fell unconscious.
"Huh?" Lucy muttered before she turned to see that Angelica was flying right for her. "What?! That wasn't a puppet?!" She screamed before she all of a sudden stumbled and fell to her knees. "Uh-oh! Why can't I move my legs?!" She just sat there, unable to move as the large rat started to descend upon her. "Oh no!" she shrieked.
But before the rat could reach her, Lucy spotted a blur of red. And before she knew it, Angelica fell flat on the beach, unconscious right next to her master. Lucy then looked to find the scarlet-haired knight herself, looking over her shoulder at the blond. Said mage jumped up in excitement.
"Erza!" her excitement quickly turned to fear as she saw the cold glare she was given. She then remembered what Natsu had brought up. 'Uh-oh, she's probably ticked because we broke guild rules and took and S-Class quest without permission.' Lucy thought as she paled.
"Lucy… I assume you know why I'm here. Don't you?" Erza said plainly.
"To take us back… right?!" The blond guessed. "…right?!" that same phrase began to echo off with no response.
"Lucy!" they both heard a high-pitched voice call out. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Are you all right-?" Happy stopped with a fierce gasp as he spotted the one person he hoped he would not have to face while on the island. He quickly turned, but before he could jet away, he found himself being held upside down by his tail, now in the grasp of an angered Titania.
"Now…" Erza raised the hand she wielded her sword in to point at Lucy. "Where is Gray?"
As Erza interrogated Lucy on the beach, a familiar cloaked man stood on a plateau overlooking the beach. Looking toward the two female mages, he could only smirk. Turning to the dense forest behind him, he started to walk off.
'I'll just leave this tedious punishment crap to Erza. That stuff is more her style anyway.' Gildarts thought to himself as he wandered through the foliage. 'Now… where am I going to look for that pink moron?'
*A Few Hours Later*
Gray woke up groggily as he slowly opened his eyes. He took a glimpse at the unfamiliar roof, only to realize that he was in some kind of tent. When he sat up, he quickly grabbed his abdomen as pain spiked through it. He looked down to see that he was all bandaged up. He was curious to how severe his injuries were, but decided to ignore it now that he was rested. He slowly got on his feet and exited the tent.
Outside he looked around to find he was in a sort of camp. Tents were strung up all around. He saw the people from the village walking about and working. But now instead of in their demonized forms, they walked around as mostly humans. Despite each of them having at least one limb demonized.
"How are you feeling?" Gray quickly turned to come face-to-face with a female villager. She was slightly shorter than him and had dark short hair. Gray quickly examined her to find that her left leg was blue.
"I'm…fine." He finally responded. "Where are we?"
"We're in a storage camp. The village uses it for our supplies. But due to the village being destroyed last night, we had to move everyone here."
Gray's eyes widened in surprise. "The village was destroyed?! Is everyone all right?"
The woman managed a small smile, "Yes everyone is just fine. Your friends, Miss Lucy and the pink-haired man, insured our safety from the attackers." Gray let out a sigh of relief. "Speaking of your guild mates, they wished to speak to you after you woke. They are in that tent now." She finished before pointing to a large tent nearby. Gray thanked her and started to make his way over to the tent. Upon entering, he wished he didn't.
His sight was met firstly by a cold glaring Erza, who was sitting with her legs crossed and her arms folded. He looked slightly to her left to see Lucy and Happy tied up, both of them crying their eyes out.
"So… you finally awoken Gray… You made me wait… That wasn't smart." Erza stated as she stood. She walked toward him. With every step, the tension Gray formed grew more. She stopped just to be standing right in front of him, closely a foot away. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"
Gray did his best to keep his straight face, despite being scared shitless. "What do you mean?" the question quickly earned him a strong punch to the face by the angry Titania.
"Don't play coy with me!" She shouted before viciously grabbing Gray's jaw and bringing him back to face her. "You betrayed the Master! You'll be lucky if you can survive what he has for your consequence!"
Gray quickly returned her glare with his own. "Then I'll deal with it… after I'm done with this job."
That is not what Erza wanted to here. "No, you will not be working on this any longer. I will be escorting you, Lucy, and Happy back to the guild. I will bring you to Master Makarov so he can deem whatever punishment is necessary, if not expel you." She told him morbidly. 'Even though I was planning on having Gildarts escort them back, until that old drunk wandered off.'
The ice mage broke from her grasp and stepped back a bit. "We can't just leave these people like this! We have to help them! How can you be so heartless as to leave them without help?!" Gray shouted at her.
"What did you say?!" She screamed, re-quipping a sword in her hand. She then pointed it right at Gray's chest. "This island and its locals are of no concern to you! We will leave Natsu and Gildarts to deal with the situation."
"Gildarts?!" Lucy and Happy piped in surprise, but were ignored by the red-headed knight.
"So you, Lucy, Happy, and I will be heading back to the guild, immediately." Erza finalized as she kept her sword pointed at Gray. Then something happened that she didn't expect. Gray reached his hand up and gripped the blade of her sword. He proceeded to lift it so it was positioned to where the tip was sitting right on his guild mark. His gaze then turned cold, matching Erza's, as they both glared at each other.
"Do whatever you want." He told her menacingly. "This is the path I've chosen. I can't walk away from what I know is right."
Erza gritted her teeth at his words. She was becoming livid, she felt like she was losing her authority here and now. Gray then let go of her sword and started to walk past her. After getting to the exit to the tent, he stopped. "I'm going to see this through to the end." He then looked to Erza over his shoulder. "And you can't stop me." With that, Gray exited the tent.
Erza gritted her teeth and let out a sharp scoff as she shook in frustration. Happy and Lucy just sat tied up, shaking in fear. Erza quickly turned her menacing gaze to them.
"Wait Erza…! Please, calm down!
"Gray's just on edge because he lost a fight to an old friend!"
Both Lucy and Happy shrieked simultaneously. They were quickly quieted as Erza rapidly swung her sword twice. The two winced, only to look down to see the ropes holding them being cut right off.
"This state of affairs are unacceptable." Erza explained aggressively. "We'll deal with this later… once we have taken care of everything on the island."
The two captives grew excited and relieved at her decision. "Erza!" they both shouted gleefully.
Erza's gaze then turned fearsome once again as she looked over her shoulder at them. "This doesn't change anything. You will still be punished."
"Aye…" the two responded as they dropped their heads in defeat.
*Meanwhile*
"Pathetic. You're the only one left, Toby?"
Lyon had regained consciousness and was now standing in some sort of throne room in the temple. He stood in front of a stone throne as he looked down coldly at a flustered Toby. He was bandaged from where Natsu had inflicted his own attack on him.
Lyon proceeded to sit and slump down in his throne. "Those Fairy Tail wizards are quite… impressive. Especially that Salamander." He mused as he reminisced his encounter with the Dragonslayer. He then scoffed at the thought of him being defeated. 'It was nothing more than a lucky break due to me being unprepared. It will not happen again.'
"I hate to be the bringer of morbid news, dear Reitei. But these state of affairs put Deliora's revival at jeopardy." Said a masked man as he appeared almost out of thin air.
"I didn't see you there, Zalty." Lyon stated.
"If all sticks to as planned, Deliora should revive tonight, infused with the moons magic. However, if the Moon Drip ceremony is to be… interrupted, Deliora will remain to be encased in that ice." Zalty explained. "Salamander and Titania are quite formidable, it would quite simple for them to foil our plans."
"I see you're as quickly-informed as ever." Lyon told him before summoning frost in his hand. "That being said, cannot hope to defeat me. Those fools can't hope to match me."
"That is very reassuring to hear. And if that be the case, for old times' sake, perhaps I shall join the battle."
"Wait?! You can fight too?!" Toby interjected.
"Yes… I dabble a bit in Lost Magic…" Zalty commented proudly.
"As long as you'll be useful-!"
"Oh he can try all he wants…" The three all turned their gaze to the entrance of the room to acknowledge the new arrival. Natsu strolled in with a smirk worn across his face. "But nobody can beat Fairy Tail."
"You!" Lyon quickly shot up from his throne, a chilling aura surrounding his body. He glared intently at Natsu, wanting to engage in another fight that he was confident that he would come up victorious in. But the Dragonslayer stopped halfway across the room. His smirk was replaced by a toothy grin and he put his hands behind his head as he stood weighted back on his leg.
"It seems the Salamander has graced us with his presence." Zalty stated.
Natsu looked to the masked man out of the corner of his eye. With a twitch of his nose, he was given a large whiff of women's perfume. This scent gave Natsu a realization as to why he caught it recently, but decided to save it for later.
"You know this is a pretty big temple." Natsu said as he turned his attention back Lyon. Said mage rose an eyebrow in confusion at the random comment.
"Yes, and what of it?" he asked harshly.
"Well, if I wanted to I could have just smashed up all those supports I had seen in the lower levels. But I got a really fun idea and decided to roll with that." Natsu told him with his grin still on his face. It then turned to a look of frustration. "But it took a lot longer than I thought. Didn't even get a chance to nap before I tried it out."
Now Lyon was beyond confused. "What the hell are you talking about?!" he shouted at the slayer.
Natsu looked back up at him, smirk once again up. He proceeded to raise his right arm up so it was sitting stiff in front of him. His hand consisted of his thumb and his middle finger being pressed against each other. "See for yourself." And with that he snapped his fingers.
The room began to viciously rumble as an explosion could be heard. "GAHH! It's an earthquake!" Toby shouted as he panicked.
Lyon did his best to stand as it seemed the entire temple was shaking. His imbalance got the better of him as he fell back into his throne. Then the oddest thing seemed to transpire before his eyes. The entire room tilted to the right. It was unlike anything he had seen. When he looked back to Natsu, he saw the Dragonslayer grinning with his hands behind his head.
"Wow! It actually worked." Natsu laughed.
"What the hell did you do?!" The silver haired mage demanded.
"It seems he set makeshift fire bombs to destroy the supports on one side of the temple." Lyon's angry gaze turned to Zalty. "With the supports gone, the temple's weight would have shifted. With the structure as it is now, the Moon Drip ritual cannot be completed as the moonlight will not be able to reach Deliora. Quite an ingenious plan, Salamander, I applaud you."
Natsu's expression turned dull as he acknowledged the masked man. "Whatever." He responded, to which Zalty chuckled.
Lyon, however, was becoming very livid due to the constant interruption of his plot. "Damn you… You will pay for your insolence!" he shouted at Natsu. Throwing up his arm he summoned his magic to attack. "ICE MAKE: EAGLE!" Out of his magical seal burst forth his ice shaped birds to shoot at Natsu. The Dragonslayer just stood where he was as the attack came at him. Igniting his fist, he swiped it upward just as the eagles were to make contact with him, only for them to burst into steam.
"That again…" Natsu laughed. "I thought you would at least try something n-!" He was stopped as he jumped back. Where he was previously standing, now consisted of a human sized hole. His head shot back with a glare straight at Zalty, who was grinning back at him.
"Wanna try that again?" Natsu asked menacingly. Zalty chuckled in reply.
"I'm surprised you knew that was me, Salamander. You are proving more and more that you are quite an amazing wizard."
Natsu was not the only one annoyed, as Lyon spoke up. "What do you think you're doing, Zalty?"
"Just aiding you, my dear Reitei. We can't have you losing too much energy before you take on Deliora, now can we?"
Lyon's gaze then turned menacing. "Do you believe I would lose so easily? I find your lack of faith… unsettling." With that last word, Lyon's magic flared. Ice started to form around the room in a large circular fashion, surrounding all who was present. Lyon proceeded to bring his attention back to Natsu, despite his voice still being directed at Zalty. "Leave us. I will take care of this Salamander on my own." Zalty and Toby then proceeded to the exit of the room.
Natsu rose an eyebrow at the ice mage. "I will become the mage known for defeating Deliora, Reitei Lyon. It would be insulting my own name if I couldn't defeat you!"
"So you want to release that big demon just to fight it? I could say all the power to ya…" Natsu's expression turned dangerously stern. "But that thing is too strong and chaotic to let loose. You can say that you're strong enough to take it, but you'll have to get by me to free it."
"Fine!" Lyon shouted as he launched another ice attack at Natsu. But once again it was easily rendered useless by the fire mage. "This is all so I can surpass Ur! I won't let my dream die!" He continuously attacked Natsu with his ice, only to be blocked or countered by the Dragonslayer. After a few more attacks, Lyon stopped. Seeing that his basic techniques were useless, he tried to formulate a plan.
"Then why don't you just fight her? Why do you have to go through all this?" Natsu asked him.
Lyon responded with a sneer. "I would if I could, but she is already dead because of that fool Gray!" With that he manipulated the ice behind Natsu to summon up more ice-made eagles. But Natsu didn't even flinch as the birds melted before making contact with his back. He just continued to stare at Lyon.
"I may not know what happened in the past, but what you're doing now is causing many others to suffer. And I won't just let you get away with it." Natsu told him as he took a battle stance, reading himself to attack.
But before he could go at Lyon, the wall to his side started to crack up. This got the attention of both the mages. After it broke away, the open hole revealed a shirtless and bandaged Gray Fullbuster. Said ice mage stood tall and stern. His gaze unwavering as he walked through the hole to enter the room. He gave a short glance at Lyon, showing that he acknowledge his fellow ex-pupil. He then turned to Natsu.
"I'll take care of this." He told his guild mate nonchalantly. He quickly turned so he was facing Lyon.
Natsu took a moment to look him over before he replied. "Really? From last I saw, this guy kicked your ass pretty good. You expect me to believe it will turn out any different?" Natsu asked him.
Gray gritted his teeth. "Just shut up!" He shouted. He turned his head so his angry glare was directed at Natsu. "Just because you got as strong as you are doesn't mean you should butt into everyone's business! You don't need to do everything just because you think you need to! This is my fight, my burden! Just let me handle it!"
The two continued to stare at one another. Gray glaring at Natsu, and Natsu dully staring back. Gray didn't care if he was being harsh. He didn't care if he sounded selfish. He just wanted to get the point across that this was his problem to deal with. That nobody else should have to interfere because they wanted to help.
After some time of them glaring at each other, Natsu let out a relenting sigh. Placing his hands behind his head, he turned to face the hole that Gray had created. "Fine, you can have this one…" he told the static ice mage. "But lose, and I'll kick your ass."
Relieved, Gray turned his attention to Lyon and stepped forward. "You won't have to worry about that." He muttered. He then came to a halt as he was just a few feet away from Lyon. Said mage snickered at him.
"Are we really going to do this again Gray? You remember what happened last time. You would have been beaten and broken had Salamander not come to your rescue." He said mockingly.
"No, Lyon, this time will be different." Gray told him coldly.
"Really? And how would that be?"
Gray balled his fists before answering, his hair covering his eyes. "You were right, it was my fault. I'm the reason Ur is gone. I take full responsibility for it." As he said this, Lyon just stood with his arms folded, as if what he was being told was what was to be expected. "But what you're doing Lyon. It's worse than even what I did back then. You've completely turned against everything that she taught us. And you excuse it as a display of dominance." Gray lifted his head to reveal the sneer that he was hiding. "For trying to harm my friends, attacking those innocent villagers, and attempting to destroy Ur's legacy, you cannot be forgiven."
Gray then proceeded to put one of his arms over the other, one palm facing up and the other facing down. "For our sins, we will both undergo punishment."
Lyon's eyes twitched in annoyance as he recognized the stance. "You can't be serious."
Gray glared back with unrelenting intent. "I'm dead serious." With that said, a large magical seal appeared at Gray's feet. It activated to spread a large vortex of spiraling ice magic that rushed around chaotically. It surrounded Gray as he continued to hold the stance.
Natsu, who had been slowly making his way to exit the room, stopped in his tracks.
"Have you gone insane?!" Lyon shouted. "You use that and you're as good as dead!"
"You've left me no choice, Lyon!" Gray retorted. "If you don't give in, than I'm forced to condemn us both!"
Lyon scoffed. "You're bluffing, you wouldn't sacrifice yourself just to stop me!"
"You wanna bet!" Gray practically screamed. "I need to take responsibility for what happened to her! Ur's dead because of me, and that fact will never change!" After finishing his sentence, the skin around Gray's right eye cracked, as if made of ice. "The time has come Lyon! I don't know about you, but I'm not afraid to die right here! Right now!" he shouted at his fellow ice mage. "So what's it going to be Lyon?! Are we going die?! Or are we going to live?! I'm ready to finish this now!"
"Then do it! I know that you don't have the guts to give up your own life!"
"Then this is the end!"
The aura of magic responded by bursting more rapidly after Gray's final statement. It was ready to be unleashed. Its power on standby, awaiting to be activated and fulfill its purpose. Gray held his stance, despite the force of the spell being so chaotic.
'I guess this is the end… Now I can take my leave, and leave the rest of this up to you, my friends.' Gray thought to himself as more of his face cracked. He proceeded to push his arms further outward as prepared to swipe them apart and launch the ultimate ice concealment.
"ICED SHE-!"
Gray, who was ready to end his life. Ready to give in and share his master's fate, to save her legacy and stop his fellow pupil, was interrupted by a fist impacting the side of his face. The force of the punch sent him flying from the center of the spell, which quickly dissipated from the absence of its caster. Gray quickly sat up from the ground, only to be met by the gaze of a menacingly looking Natsu.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Gray's anger flared at the slayer's interruption once again. "I'm doing what I need to. This is between me and Lyon, I will take care of it. Even if that means I have to die."
"So you plan on ending this by dying, huh?" Natsu asked him. Gray didn't respond but continued to glare up at him. "That's bullshit. That doesn't sound like you're fighting at all. All it sounds to me is like you're running away again." Gray's eyes widened. "Now get up, and fight him like a Fairy Tail wizard." Natsu finished.
Hearing what he was just told, completely changed how Gray saw the situation. Thanks to Natsu, he now knew that if he gave up his life to stop Lyon, he would never atone for what happened to Ur. He stood up on his feet and kept his eyes locked with Natsu's. A moment passed before Gray proceeded to nod his head in a silent agreement with the Dragonslayer.
All of sudden, the room started to shake again. As it rumbled it started to shift from its tilted position. Natsu's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the room return to its original balanced position.
"What the hell?!" he shouted out.
A second later, Zalty ran in through the hole that Gray had made earlier as he approached Lyon. "I apologize for the interruption, Reitei."
"Ah, Zalty, I assume this is your doing?" Lyon asked the mask man as he stopped in front of him.
"Indeed it is. The moon is soon to show itself, so I took the liberty of using my magic to reestablishing the structure to its former self." Zalty said with a grin.
"Hey you! I worked hard blowing those up like a badass! And you just undo it! Dick move!" Natsu shouted as he pointed at the masked man. Zalty responded with a hearted laugh, which continued to infuriate the Dragonslayer.
"How did you do that anyway?" Gray interjected.
He was ignored however as Zalty proceeded to run back out of the exit. "Hey! Get back here!" Natsu roared.
"Natsu!" Gray shouted out as the fire mage rushed to chase the masked mage. Natsu stopped and looked to Gray.
"I'm going to go and deal with that prick! You stay here and finish this prick! Make sure you beat him good and prove you're from Fairy Tail!" He shouted back as he ran out through the exit.
Gray gave a small chuckle in response. "Right…" he muttered before turning his attention back to Lyon. The self-proclaimed Reitei stood across from him with his arms folded. "Tell me… did you know that he was going to stop me"
Lyon proceeded to shrug. "In all honesty, I didn't think anyone could get that close while the spell was being activated. But it matters little, as even if you were to cast that on me, I would have taken it willingly." Gray's eyes widened at his answer. "You look surprised. What you didn't think that my comrades would come to my rescue like Salamander did yours? They would have not rested until I was freed and ready to challenge Deliora once again. They would simply have used the Moon Drip ritual on me, and you would be dead."
Gray's gaze dropped at his response. "I didn't really think about that. I guess I was being rash."
"So, do you still intend to fight me, or are we going to try that little stunt again?"
Gray let out an exasperated sigh. "Lyon… we don't have to do this. Give up on Deliora, it isn't worth it."
Lyon's eyes widened at Gray's request. "What is this? Give up?" he scoffed. "Does that pathetic guild you're in castrate its members upon entry? How naïve could you be?"
"Lyon… Ur is alive." Gray told him apologetically. Lyon's eyes widened once again.
"W-what?"
"When she cast Iced Shell to seal Deliora, it didn't really kill her." He continued. "The ice that you're are trying so badly to melt…. That's Ur, that's her body sacrificed to create that prison." He stopped to look up and see Lyon staring at him wide eyed. Gray then started to make his way over the shocked Lyon. "I'm sorry… that I didn't tell you back then. Ur had me promise to keep it from you, and just say she was dea-!"
Gray was cut off after he got within close proximity of Lyon as the ice mage placed his hand on Gray's abdomen.
"ICE MAKE: SNOW TIGER!"
Gray's eyes shot wide open in shock as his body was pierced by Lyon's ice. It went through his body and shot out through his back as it formed into a tiger.
"You really are an idiot. I knew all along what that spell entails. I have been studying it for years. And I can tell you with all certainty, that that isn't Ur anymore, just a large scrap of ice." Lyon told him harshly.
Gray, who fell to the ground and was on his knees and holding himself up by his elbows due to the blow inflicted on him, was beyond furious. "You knew…" He muttered through gritted teeth. He then shot his head up to stare at Lyon with a deadly glare. "You fucking knew?!"
Lyon scoffed. "And so what if I did? You need to grow up Gray. How could you honestly believe that Ur is sti-?!" Lyon was interrupted as a fist smashed against his face sending him flying. Hitting the wall, it cracked upon his impact. Lyon fell down to his knees from the suddenness of what just happened. He looked up to see a battle ready Gray with his hair covering his eyes and his teeth gritted. "How can you still be moving with that wound?!"
"I'm done…"
"What?"
Gray looked up to show his eyes which were filled with killing intent. "I'm done trying to save you. Done trying to help someone who so heavily disgraces their master's memory." He proceeded to stand straight and position his hands in his regular casting stance.
"ICE MAKE: ARROW!"
With that Gray shot out arrows made of ice at Lyon, who in turn took the brunt of them. Lyon quickly recovered and summoned up his magic as well.
"ICE MAKE: SNOW DRAGON!"
From his seal, his powerful snow dragon shot out and launched itself at Gray. Gray took the hit head on, but after the ice cleared, he could be seen still standing, albeit panting and bruised further.
"I cannot afford to waste my magical energy on you. I still must face Deliora." Lyon stated.
"Then shut up and use your fists! You don't deserve to use anything that Ur taught you!"
Gray charged Lyon, with his fist at the ready. But he was stopped as Lyon punched him square in the wound he had inflicted earlier. "'Hit where your opponent is weakest'. That's what Ur always taught us." He stated as he towered over Gray. Gray quickly shot up and punched him in the jaw.
"Don't you dare use her name! You don't deserve to use her name!"
The two then came into a heated melee combat. As the two continued to punch each other, Gray distinctively remembered a fight he similarly had with a certain pink haired mage when he was younger.
"Get up!"
*Flashback*
A young Gray stood over a downed Natsu, bruised and panting he believed to have the upper hand. Natsu, however, quickly shot up and stared at him before pointing.
"Get up!" the Dragonslayer roared at him from the ground.
"You're the one who is down you idiot!" he retorted.
"Shut up!"
Natsu then jumped up and charged back at Gray. Gray charged as well. The two proceeded to assault each other with punch after punch, trying to conquer the other through sheer force and will.
"I'm… Not… Gonna… Lose!" Natsu shouted as he continued to throw blow after blow.
"Well… you're… Gonna… Have to… Cause… I'm Gonna… Win!" Gray shouted as he continued the assault on his fellow guild mate.
The two then came in with their fists and impacted each other's faces. After a moment they both fell back and landed on their backs in exhaustion.
"You're… never… gonna… beat… me… ice-freak," Natsu said in between pants.
"Shut… it… you… damn… pyro," Gray retorted.
*Present*
Gray and Lyon continued to throw punch after punch at each other. Gray shot at Lyon, hitting him in the abdomen, forcing him to bend over. He proceeded to throw a fist at his back, only for Lyon to uppercut and hit Gray in the jaw, making him recoil upward. Lyon sent a strike for his stomach while he was dazed. Coming into contact with it, Gray coughed out blood as he registered the pain from being inflicted from his critical wound.
Lyon smirked as he believed he had just gotten an advantage. He threw another punch that aimed for Gray's face. But to his surprise, Gray recovered and dodged his fist and countered with another hit to Lyon's abdomen. After being hit, Lyon stepped back to evade any further assault and recover. After he got his breath back, he looked up to see Gray charging at him, his fist at the ready. Letting at a shout, Lyon readied his fist as well as he charged similarly at Gray. The two's fists then met with each other's faces as they both fell back from the hit. Gray was the first to recover, as he grabbed onto Lyon's wrist with his free hand. With a jerk, he pulled a dazed Lyon in.
"I CAN'T EVER LOSE!" Gray shouted as he head-butted the ice mage. Lyon fell back and tripped over himself lightly. Regaining his footing he glared grudgingly at Gray.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WIN!" He shouted back as he once again charge at Gray. The two once again started to bash each other with an onslaught of fists and forceful melee blows. The two continued to exchange hit after hit. Then Lyon launched an uppercut, but Gray leaned back to evade it. Gray proceeded to counter it with a strong punch. Coming into contact, it sent Lyon flying. He then crashed into one of the pillars of ice that he had made, effectively shattering it. Lyon stood up, trembling in anger and frustration from still not being able to beat Gray.
With a swipe of his arm, he summoned up his magic. "ICE MAKE: SNOW DRAGON!" he then launched his snow dragon at an exhausted Gray. Not being fast enough to dodge it, Gray was caught in the maw of the iced beast. He was then sent crashing to the other end of the room.
"This has gone on long enough! I don't have time to deal with you! I must prepare for Deliora!" Lyon shouted in desperate anger.
The ice then dissipated that surrounded Gray, to show that he was heavily damaged. But he wearily stood to his feet, still having the will to fight.
"I'll be damned…" he muttered in a raspy voice before trailing off. Lyon rose an eyebrow, unable to make out what Gray was uttering.
"Speak up you fool!"
Gray then shot up. "I said I'll be damned if he could beat you but I couldn't!"
After he shouted that, the temple shook once again. As it shook, Lyon felt a sense of relief wash over him. "The Moon Drip ritual has started again." He stated before he started to launch arrow-like ice at Gray. "Long have I awaited this day. Ten years of gathering comrades and allies." He boasted as he continued to pelt Gray with his magic. "Three years of attempting to wake Deliora. It will soon all be worthwhile." He finished sadistically.
Gray did his best to shield himself from Lyon's attacks as he listened. "You've wasted three years on this?! That's crazy?!"
Lyon's anger once again flared at Gray's words. A moment later he stopped his attack on Gray. Said mage then stood hunched over as he panted heavily. "At least I listened to Ur. I followed what she said and went west. I was surprised to find out what she said was true. There were strong mages here. Mages that were far stronger than Ur ever was. On my travels I came to a guild with those mages. Wanting to become strong, I joined." He explained as he stared intently at Lyon. "At least that's what I told myself. But now I know I did it to move on. And I even have a goal to surpass someone who is far stronger than Ur."
At this, Lyon's eyes widened. But he quickly shrugged it off. "You're full of nonsense. There is no one stronger than Ur. I have lived my life, waiting for the day to surpass her. But since she is dead, there is only one way to fulfill my dream. And that is to destroy what she couldn't: Deliora!" As he say this, he summons forth a wolf-like iced gauntlet and launches himself at Gray. He swipes and strikes at Gray with it continuously, unfortunately for him, Gray is able to dodge all of the blows he sends at him.
"You've got a pretty strong admiration, Lyon. But you chose the wrong path to follow." After dodging a long swipe from Gray summons up an iced sword. Lyon proceeded to pull back with his gauntlet, only for it to get smashed by Gray's sword. "You're too blind to surpass Ur." With that he hefted he sword to slash at Lyon.
As the slash is inflicted upon Lyon's chest, he cracks up and shatters. Gray's eyes widen at this, but he quickly recovers as he feels frost from behind him gather.
"ICE MAKE: SNOW TIGER!"
With a swipe of his hand, Lyon launched his snow tiger at Gray. As it charged, Gray stood his ground and patiently waited for the frosted beast.
"ICE MAKE: PRISON!"
Gray jumped at just the right moment to summon up a large, intricately decorated cage made of ice imprison the tiger sent at him. Jumping down he came face-to-face with Lyon once again.
"You see this, Lyon?" he asked as he gestured behind him. "This is the effect of one-handed ice makes; sloppy and imbalanced. Ur taught us better, but you're too blind to see it."
Lyon, recovering from his stupor, scoffed at Gray's notion. "Whatever, with a simply wave of my hand, that cage is gone." He proceeded to motion his hand to control the snow tiger to attack the bars of his frozen prison. His eyes widened in shock, however, as he saw that, despite his beast attacking its restraints, it was not able to break through. "W-what the hell?!"
Gray then stared adamantly at the ice mage. "It's over Lyon." He said plainly.
"No! It's not over! It can't be! Not until I've won!" he shouted in outrage.
Gray proceeded to take his stance once again as he summoned forth his magic for one final spell.
"ICE MAKE: CANNON!"
He slowly repositioned his hands. His magic seal disappeared and lingered into his hands as it took shape as a large handled launcher. Gray then positioned his feet so he was prepared to fire it.
Lyon, however, was standing wide-eyed and exhausted. His magical reserves were reduced drastically, making him very vulnerable. "No it can't end like this! I, Reitei Lyon, can't be defeated at the hands of someone like you!" he shouted.
Gray simply responded by pulling the trigger on his large cannon. A large burst of ice shot ferociously from it and was sent straight for a gapping Lyon. Lyon stood as he took the powerful blow. The blast hit the ice mage and continued to the wall, destroying it and causing a large explosion to blow out of one side of the temple.
The ice dissipated, to reveal a stunned and badly injured Lyon. His clothes were completely torn and ripped away, only half of them seemed to stay on. Lyon himself was badly bruised and was just barely able to stand on his feet as the pain coursed through his body. With a gasp, the self-proclaimed Reitei fell to the ground, defeated.
Gray stood stern and towered over the fallen Lyon.
"Ur was the one to teach me that."
*Meanwhile*
Right outside the main entrance of the throne room, a cloaked Gildarts leaned against the wall as he peered into the room. He watched with pride as he saw Gray finish Lyon.
"Not bad, ice pop." He muttered to himself. He proceeded to push himself off the wall as he made his way down the corridor. While walking he went into thought.
'So, Ur, this is all cause of your students? And you said I was a pain.' His thoughts then strayed to the woman and what he heard the two ice mages bicker over her fate. 'So you turned yourself to ice to protect those you love. Hmph, not much different than what I did for Natsu. But I'm still here.' He looked up as he then came to a decision. 'Well if I deserved a chance, than you should too.'
His thoughts were then cut off as a loud, ear-piercing like roar filled the corridor and invaded his sense of sound. After it ended, he proceeded to sigh.
"Well shit… that doesn't sound good." He stated as he crouched down. He then placed his open palm on the ground as he summoned his Crash magic. With that, his magic destroyed the ground underneath him. This allowed him to fall to the caverns below the temple to follow the source of the roar.
"Going down."
*Meanwhile*
Zalty ventured through the lower levels of the temple. He had just ran from the throne room after informing Lyon of his success in resetting the temple to its current position. Running through the halls he came to a stop to ensure that he wasn't being followed. He turned to find that indeed he wasn't being followed by anyone, let alone the one person he had hoped to follow him.
"Well that's disappointing." He muttered to himself. Before he could turn, however, his arm was grabbed viciously. Before he could react, he was forced against a wall. He did his best to break free but found that it was in vain as the grip holding him was impossibly strong.
"Got'cha." A familiar voice stated from behind him. Instantly recognizing the voice, Zalty chuckled.
"I didn't know you were so straight forward, Natsu-kun." Zalty cooed.
Natsu was instantly disgusted by the 'man's' comment. "That was creepy on sooo many levels." He said grotesquely still gripping onto Zalty's forearm. "Just cut the crap. I know it's you… Ultear."
Zalty let out another chuckle as a magical seal appeared at his feet. His form started to glow. The figure grew taller and stand straight. The curves on its body became rounder as the person took their original. Now, pressed against the wall, sporting her usual white kimono, was Ultear Milkovich.
To Natsu's surprise, the first thing she did after her transformation, was giggle. "That nose of yours is one hell of a tracker. I knew that as soon as you would spot me that you would recognize me." Despite being held tightly into Natsu grip, Ultear pushed her bottom back so it was pressing against her captor. "Now that you've caught me red-handed, why don't you punish me like the naughty girl I am?" she asked seductively as she licked her lips.
Natsu was now very confused and red in the face. This was not the reaction he was not expecting. He did his best to recollect himself, but could not get rid of the blush on his face. "W-why are you here? On Galuna Island?" he tried to asked authoritatively, but failed as his voice broke a bit.
Ultear seductive smirk turned into a frown as she pouted. "Aw, spoil-sport," she then let out an exasperated sigh. "If you must know I'll tell you that… I can't tell you." She finished with a giggle.
This was not what Natsu wanted to hear as he grew irritated with the council member. "Tell me or I'll-!"
"Oh yes, Natsu-kun! Punish me!" Ultear moaned.
Natsu went from frustration to confusion as he was cut off by her. He proceeded to look down to find that his that was not doing anything before now, was firmly planted on the curvaceous woman's bottom and pressing into it.
Natsu's face turned red rapidly as he jumped back. He viciously waved his arms in front of his face. "I-I didn't mean to-! I meant I was-! Damn it!" he shouted as he became increasingly flustered over the situation.
Ultear, who was now free from the Dragonslayer's grasp, rubbed her wrist from where he had held her. He then looked over at the irritated Natsu. "Well, Natsu-kun, if that was by accident, than I'm dying to know what you would do if you really got into it." She said seductively.
Natsu was about to retort, but he was once again cut off by an ear-shattering roar that filled the chamber. Natsu's eyes shot wide as he turned to look down the corridor. If that roar was from what he thought it was, he couldn't waste any more time.
"Well, it seems your plate is full at the moment." Ultear's voice could be heard from behind.
Natsu quickly turned to stop her, only for his lips to be caught by the councilwoman's once again. He then started to shut down once again as Ultear pressed herself against him. She then tried to deepen the kiss by parting her lips and pressing her tongue against his bottom lip. At first she was hoping he would accidently open his mouth to allow her access, but was drastically disappointed as it seemed he finally had gotten ahold of himself. He proceeded to push her off of him, which caused her to pout.
"GAHH! Stop that!" he shouted.
Ultear stifled a small giggle. "I see that you're getting a better handle for this. I guess next time I'll have to try harder. But for now, I take my leave." She proceeded to reach into her kimono. A second later she pulled out a small lacrima orb and held it in her palm. "Hopefully we see each other soon, Natsu-kun."
With that she activated the lacrima and her form glowed before it blinked out. Natsu tried to stop her, but once he jumped at where she was standing, she was already gone.
"Damn it!"
Another roar shook the chamber that he was in. This brought back his attention to the matter at hand.
'I'll just have to deal with this crap now, and her later.'
Natsu then proceeded to rush down the corridor as he made his way down the temple to the caverns below, following the roar of the beast.
"I guess a big fight is coming." He muttered to himself as he descended. He quickly grew a large grin on his face as he grew excited. With a heft he jumped and shot down hard, breaking the floor below him.
"Yosh! I'm all fired up!"
A/N: Here we are, the second part of the Galuna arc for you guys to enjoy!
Now I know what some of you may be thinking. "Oh, why the hell did he include so much from canon, this is a fanfiction, get creative." I will tell you guys this, I only did that to build up what I have planned for the Galuna finale. Also I included the rematch between Lyon and Gray because I friggin loved it. I will say this, I like Gray, and I have a plan for him to play a major role for later on in this fic. Now he isn't as big as the mains (Natsu, Gildarts, and Erza) but I feel like he does deserve recognition in his own arc. That said I hope you guys don't flame me for doing so.
Also, I originally planned to wrap this arc in two chapters, but as I got more into it, I felt I needed to build up for the scenes that I have planned for next chapter. So I put some canon into here, (Sorry for those that don't like that kind of thing, but hey, Repiece did it, and he did pretty well with it).
I would also like to apologize to you guys for such a large gap in between updates. I have been busy with a couple trips, a birthday, and some other events. But this weekend was my couple days off, so I hunkered down and typed this up to the best of my ability for you guys to enjoy. And look at that, I typed 6k words in two days, who would have thought?
Anyway, I urge you guys to review, fav, and/or follow my story. If you have any questions or pointers, feel free to message me and I will reply as soon as I possibly can.
And with that, I AM OUTTA HERE!
Next time on A Slayer's Pride – Chapter 11: Showdown! Natsu VS. Deliora