Disclaimers: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima. All Forgotten Realms Concepts and Characters Belong to Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The concept of the Soulbond has been modified from the video game Drakan, a property of Surreal Software . Kai Dragneel belongs to me.
Chapter 11: Watch Your Step
Lyon was sitting on the floor of Gray's living room, light pen still in hand. He had been drawing the same rune over and over until all the drawable space in the room was covered with it. He would wait until it disappeared and start all over again.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Freed was joking." Gray said as he grabbed the light pen out of the other's hand. "Go get some sleep before you mess up all the other runes tomorrow."
"He's right, Lyon. The best thing you can do to be ready for tomorrow is to get some rest." Silver added as he entered the living room from the kitchen where he had been cleaning up after dinner. "You have practiced the circle, you have chanted the incantation so many times I bet you have it memorized. You are ready, son." He smiled at him in encouragement, "This time tomorrow you will be an Ice Devil Slayer and we'll get started on your training."
"I know. I just don't want anything to go wrong."
"Nothing is going to go wrong, idiot." Gray said , "Except perhaps for your ego growing even more than anyone thought possible."
Lyon glared at him. "Like you're one to talk."
Gray smirked, "That's not ego, that's confidence in my abilities. I for one can't wait to be done with all this. I need to get back to work on the house if I want to finish before Natsu gets back."
"Whatever." Lyon said as he rolled his eyes at his brother, "I'll still help you, you know."
"That's ok, you need to focus on your training." Gray said seriously "I know Ur taught us to train hard but from what little Silver has said I get the feeling this will be more intense than that. You have to take this seriously, Lyon, you know the consequences if you don't."
Lyon huffed "I am taking this seriously, I don't intend to lose to some devil. Especially not inside my own body."
"Then start by going to bed." Silver interrupted. "You're going to need all your strength to get through tomorrow."
"Alright, alright! You win, I'll go to bed." Lyon glared at the two men wanting to let them know he was annoyed but in truth it made him glad that they cared about him enough to worry. It was nice to be part of a family again, even one as strange as this one.
He lay down on the couch and closed his eyes, pretending to go to sleep. He heard the other two go to bed after they had turned off the lights.
All of the practice had made him realize just how serious what he was doing was and it set his nerves on edge. The summoning alone could kill him if he did it wrong. He found himself having second thoughts but shoved them aside knowing they were caused by fear.
He wondered what the devil was going to look like. Silver had mentioned that ice devils were large insect like beings and that disgusted him a little. To have something like that inside of him, sharing his body, maybe even his thoughts was something he was struggling to come to terms with. He also knew that depending on the strength of the devil he would have to spend the next few years learning to control it and his new magic. He would have to be on his guard constantly to make sure his soul did not become corrupted. He eventually fell into a restless sleep.
Morning came faster than he was ready for as the sun's early morning rays woke him but Lyon knew he would not be able to get back to sleep. He got up and showered and dressed. He practiced the summoning a few more times, careful to not even think the words that he would only say at the proper time. Gray and Silver were still asleep. He decided to make breakfast so that he could do something with the nervous energy that coursed through his body. He got out eggs, bacon and milk. He got the large percolator they had bought when they tired of fighting over coffee out of the cabinet and got it running . These menial tasks began to calm him down and by the time the others awoke to the smell of coffee he felt more like his usual self.
They arrived at the guild to find Levy and Freed already there. They were both poring over the manuscripts and documents making sure they had not missed anything. Laxus was outside with Bickslow and Evergreen clearing out the area they were going to use for the summoning. Everyone seemed to be helping in some way and Lyon couldn't help but be impressed with how Fairy Tail worked. They were putting in all this work for someone who wasn't even a member of their guild, yet. In the back of his mind he had been thinking about joining, it made more sense with Silver being there.
"Freed, Laxus is asking for you." Romeo informed the rune mage. "He said he needs your help with something."
"Right away." Freed got up from the table and headed out after thanking Romeo for telling him. Romeo looked around and saw everyone was busy.
"Can I help too, Levy?" Romeo asked feeling a bit left out.
"Sure, can you go to the supply closet and grab some bone chalk please?" Levy asked without looking up from her manuscript. "It's right next to the regular chalk so make sure you grab the correct one."
"Sure thing!" Romeo replied as he quickly made his way to the guild's supply closet. He opened the door and turned on the overhead light. The room was full of materials used in spells. There were shelves full of different types of candles, chalks, herbs, incense, crystals and all sorts of other materials, all neatly labeled in Mira's handwriting. He was looking through the different chalk when he was startled by a voice behind him.
"I never knew this room existed." Wendy looked at all the different shelves in awe.
"Yeah, they rarely do any spells that require any of this stuff. Natsu used to steal the chalk from here for me when I was little so I could draw outside in the summer. " Romeo grinned. "Erza would yell at him and chase him off but then she and Levy would spend hours drawing with me."
"It must have been fun to grow up with them." Wendy said.
"Not really, they forgot about me most of the time. Natsu was always different though." Romeo said with a warm smile, "It's weird to see him play with Asuka now. That's how he used to be with me."
Wendy smiled, "I remember, it's been really quiet around here without him. I can't wait until he gets back. What are you looking for anyway?"
"Bone chalk. Lyon needs it to draw the summoning circle and the runes." Romeo noticed that Wendy's face looked troubled. "Is something wrong?"
Wendy looked unsure but answered, "It's Carla. I think she had a vision but she won't tell me about it. She's been having nightmares but every time I ask she just says that we can't stop it, whatever it is has to happen. I think it has something to do with Gray and Natsu. She's been acting strangely ever since he got that letter from Natsu."
"Why does she do always that? What's the point of being able to see the future if you never do anything to change it?"
Wendy shrugged unhappily, she had often thought the same thing but she couldn't force Carla to tell her something if she didn't want to. Romeo grabbed the chalk without paying much attention, his thoughts now on what Carla might have two of them went up to the main guild hall. Romeo handed the chalk to Levy who thanked him and put it on the table without looking at it.
"Maybe we should try talking to her again." Romeo suggested. "It's not like we're needed around here."
"I guess it can't hurt to try." Wendy agreed, "She said she was going to go talk to Lily."
They headed out the door in search of the Exceeds just as Bickslow was making his way back inside.
"We're ready for you outside, the whole area's been cleared out." Bickslow informed Lyon.
"Thanks, I'll be out in a few minutes." Lyon said. This was it, he needed to get started drawing the summoning circle while the sun was high in the sky. It was already late fall in Magnolia and the days were getting shorter. He felt eyes on him and turned to see Silver and Gray observing him.
"Let's go." Lyon said as he grabbed the chalk, the drawing of the summoning circle and the paper with the incantation and headed outside.
Silver and Gray followed him out. They reached the area that had been set up for the ceremony and watched as Freed created some runes around the space.
"What's he doing?" Silver asked Laxus as they watched the rune mage.
"He's creating a protective barrier around the space. A lot of the guild members want to watch and I want to make sure it's safe for them to do so. If something were to go wrong it will be up to the three of you to take care of it.
"Three of us?" Silver raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you, Gray and Lyon." Laxus replied. "Gray said he promised Lyon that he would be there with him."
Silver shot a worried look at his son. He knew that if Gray had made a promise to Lyon there was no way he would be able to talk him out of it but he would feel so much better if his son was on the other side of the protective runes during the summoning. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. He knew he was being irrational, they had taken every precaution possible to make sure that everything went smoothly. If Gray was determined to be in here then at the very least he would keep him as close to him as possible.
Gray followed his brother and watched as he began to draw the large circles needed for the summoning. "Those look more like ovals." he teased. "Do you think the devil will still come if your circles look like shit?"
Lyon tensed and stopped what he was doing. He stood up and glanced at his handiwork. He was annoyed to see that Gray was indeed correct. He began to shake a bit as he once again realized the immensity of what he was attempting but he didn't want to give Gray the satisfaction of being right.
"On and I suppose you could do better?" Lyon asked haughtily.
"In my sleep and with one hand tied behind my back." Gray replied easily. "Here, I'll show you." He grabbed the chalk and was about to start drawing when he looked at the chalk carefully. "What's this?"
"What are you talking about?" Lyon looked at the chalk, not noticing anything strange about it at all.
"This isn't bone chalk, this is just regular chalk. Are you trying to sabotage this before it begins?"
"I've never seen bone chalk, I have no idea how it would be different." Lyon shrugged but he was a little shaken.
Silver had made his way over to them and grabbed the chalk from Gray's hand. "He's right, this is just regular chalk. Bone chalk is grittier and it has a bit of a different smell. It's also more gray than white." He gestured over to Laxus and asked for the right chalk to be brought. Laxus opted to go get it himself to avoid any further mistakes. Silver relaxed a bit, maybe this had been it. There had been a mistake but Gray had caught it and everything else would be fine. He smiled at Gray and saw the relief in his eyes reflected back at him.
"There's still time to back out, if that's what you want." Silver told Lyon seriously. "No one here will think any less of you."
"No." Lyon said forcefully. "I'm ready to do this, I'm just jittery."
"Remember in order to stay safe you need to stay in your side of the circle. If you step out of it at any time before the ritual is done the circle will be broken and the devil will no longer be bound." Silver reminded him for what had to be the tenth time that day.
"Stay in the circle, got it." Lyon parroted back at him.
"Ok, You're going to do fine and if something happens I've got your back." Gray said and pulled him in for a hug. "Anything you need, I'm here." He let go and when Laxus returned he took the bone chalk from his hand and created two perfect conjoining circles. He handed the chalk back to Lyon and whispered, "Good Luck." before heading over to his father.
o-o
"Happy is going to hate me when he learns that I could have stopped it." Carla sobbed into Lily's broad shoulder. "Surely there must be another way."
"He won't hate you. He might be upset at first but he'll come to understand with time." Lily said soothingly. "You've already searched through all possible futures, there is no other way. Lyon would kill him without a second thought."
"I hate this power, why does it show me these things if I can't do anything about them?" Carla said angrily.
"Maybe you are meant to be a witness, to give voice to the bigger picture when hope is at its lowest." Lily said trying to give meaning to something he didn't understand himself. "Are you sure you want to go watch? You've already seen it in your head many times and you might be tempted to stop it if you're there."
"I will go, it is my responsibility and I will not be a coward." Carla said with sad determination. "If fate wants me to view it I will be there."
"Alright, let's go then. They should be getting started soon." Lily said and the two of them called upon their Aera magic to fly them back to the guild.
Romeo and Wendy had been looking around for Gajeel thinking that Pantherlily would be with him but the Iron Dragon Slayer had been on his way to the guild when they found him. He told them that the Exceeds had headed over to the riverbank earlier and might still be there. They thanked him for his help and hurried to the riverbank only to find it empty. Discouraged they made their way back to the guild. Laxus had asked Wendy to be there for the ceremony in case Lyon needed to be healed.
o-o
"There is one mistake here but that's easily fixed." Freed pointed out the incorrect rune and Lyon hurried to fix it. "Everything else looks fine. You did a very good job. Some of those runes were very complex, I know it wasn't easy."
Freed stepped back once Lyon had corrected the faulty rune and checked it one last time. "You're all set. Good luck, Lyon." Freed said as he extended his hand to shake with the older man. He patted his shoulder and walked out of the protective circle closing the runes behind him as he did so. Only the three ice mages remained inside the barrier.
Lyon looked over at Silver and Gray one last time and while they both smiled at him encouragingly he couldn't help but notice that they looked a bit worried. He rolled his eyes at them and headed to his place in the summoning circle.
He took deep breaths and tried to feel the rhythm that he would need to follow while he chanted the incantation. He tried to hear the metronome in his head. Once he could feel the rhythm clearly he called on his ice make magic and created a large wall of ice that would serve as the portal from the Nine Hells to Earthland. He took a deep breath and before he could give much thought to what he was doing he began his chant as everyone waited anxiously for what would happen next. The runes in the circle began to glow.
o-o
Bel had grown impatient hiding in Tiamat's Lair. A white abishai had shown up a few hours earlier with some food and drink and had shown him to a lake where he could bathe and remove the nasty remains of the Maggot Pit from his body. He would have to remember to reward Arraka when he returned. She had gone beyond what he had expected. He refused to sleep, worried that he might miss the summoning but the water of the lake must have had some revitalizing magic within it for he felt rested.
He felt the power collecting in the air and he ran outside. He did not look at his surroundings focusing solely on the words that were echoing all around him. He scanned the sky trying to pinpoint where the portal was going to open. He felt the bitter cold before he saw the hole open up some ways away. That's when he used up what was left of his pit fiend magic to propel himself through as soon as the portal was big enough for him to pass. He felt it close behind him and heard the cries of anger of the other ice devils that had tried to answer the summoning.
He smiled in triumph as he stood in front of a white haired human who was still chanting. There were large chunks of ice that were all that was left of the portal he had come through. The human was exerting a large amount of magic power. He could sense many powerful magical signatures that were even stronger close by but they felt muted. He looked down at his feet and saw that he was bound inside of a circle. The runes looked stronger than what he was used to and this aroused his curiosity. These mages were well prepared. He would have to negotiate some sort of contract with the white haired ice mage.
Lyon felt his ice explode into large chunks and saw a gigantic insect looking creature standing in the other circle staring back at him. It was at least twelve feet tall and it stood on taloned feet. In its arms it carried a large ice spear which was pointed straight at Lyon. It stared at Lyon with a despective glare and chirped in a rather loud and aggressive manner.
Behind the protective barrier various screams were heard as Laxus eyes widened in disbelief at the events unfolding in front of him. Freed could be seen checking all of the runes in the protective barrier.
"That thing is going to go inside of him? How does that even work, it's like twice as big as Lyon?" Evergreen said to Elfman who only shrugged in answer.
Carla could be heard crying beside Wendy as the young girl tried to calm her down. "What's wrong Carla? Please tell me." The Exceed did not answer but Wendy could see she was looking towards where Gray and Silver were standing together, both looking agitated. It all happened so fast, Wendy could barely register the individual movements as her heart sank and tears began to fill her eyes as well.
Lyon instinctively stepped backwards as the ice devil charged at him with his spear, and his back leg stepped outside of the circle. He did not hear Silver and Gray scream at him to stay in the circle over the screams that were coming from the other side the barrier. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he quickly got into his ice make molding position and yelled out "Ice-Make Eagles".
Dozens of sculpted eagles flew at Bel and he looked at them with interest knowing that they could not hurt him. He let them hit him and then moved towards the ice mage who had summoned him and touched him with his spear. The ice mage who had been moving towards him tripped as his movement was unexpectedly slowed and fell to the ground. Bel approached him holding his spear at the ready. This had far exceeded his expectations, now that the mage had exited the circle there was no longer anything binding him. There would be no contract he could just possess the human's body and take control over it.
"Ice-Devil Rage" Silver shouted hoping that his devil would cooperate with him. He felt magic course through his body but it was devoid of his Slayer magic. He was only able to spew out normal ice and while it was strong he already knew that it would be useless against the devil. He cursed as the ice devil turned his attention towards him. It left Lyon lying on the ground and made his way towards him.
Gray saw the ice devil advance towards his father and he quickly placed himself in front of him his body quickly getting into his molding stance.
"What are you doing Gray, get out of the way!" Silver screamed.
"I'm trying to protect you, go help Lyon!" Gray yelled at his father as he got ready to attack. "Ice-Make Lance"
Bel evaluated the two powerful mages that were trying to fight against him. The older one had tried to use ice devil magic against him but it had failed. That must mean that he already had an ice devil inside of him. He would be of no use to him. The younger one though, Bel could sense great magical power inside of him. He would do nicely, Bel transformed his body into the vessel that would allow him to enter the younger mage's body, it appered as a thick cloud of smoke . The lances that were flying at him went right through the trail of smoke and crashed into the barrier. Bel's essence surrounded the ice mage before he could react, It only took a few seconds to force himself into the body of his chosen host through his mouth, nose and ears.
"GRAY!" Silver screamed as he tried to grab his son's body out of the smoke, but he was too late. Once no more smoke could be seen Gray's body began to writhe and shake and agonizing screams were heard until suddenly there was nothing. Gray lay on the ground unconscious.
"GRAAAY!" Lyon cried in anguish as he rushed over to his brother's body. 'No, no, no. What have I done?"
Then all that could be heard was the screams of all the guild members who had witnessed the horrible turn of events.