Hero and Gray both got on their feet, Hero turning back to look at Gray and nodding at him. Despite the fact that the two were in a tough personal situation, they would have to look past that and focus on the enemy. Gray hesitated at first, but then he nodded as well. This was not the time to be stubborn, and he was well aware of that. Hero turned back to her father, attempting to get closer to him carefully. However the moment she took a step the fire went out and left no light in the cave.
Gray, without a second thought, immediately grabbed Hero's hand and started dragging her out of the cave. Hero ran beside him, following the light until they reached the outside. It was pouring down rain when they made it out, and Hero grinned. The rain made it easier for her to manipulate the battlefield, although her father was no where to be seen. She turned to Gray, who was already making some ice for her.
Holding out his hands, Gray gestured for her to tilt her head back and open her mouth. She did so, but just as the ice was leaving Gray's hands a swift kick hit Hero in the side; ultimately knocking her over into the mud. Gray watched as she cringed in pain on the ground, eyes immediately shooting up at the culprit. Her father was still wielding the blades of darkness, even though he had kicked her instead of attacking her with the blades. "I'm not going to let you feed my daughter right in front of me, son. I don't even know your name." He teased, slashing at Gray. Luckily enough, Gray was able to make a shield in time to protect himself.
Turning to his daughter, Ryo grinned with the same malice that he had on earlier. Hero lifted herself out of the mud. What was wrong with him? If he cared as much as he said so in that letter, he would not be like this. She made eye contact with him, narrowing her eyes in disgust while her father just looked at her with a blank, horrifying stare. Getting to her feet, Hero clenched her hands into fists. "C'mon then." She said, not lifting her hands or preparing herself in the slightest.
Her father did not hesitate like her, did not even think for a moment that this was his daughter he was trying to rip to bits. Hero could not raise her arms though, even despite how much she could not stand the man. It was already hard enough to throw the first swing in a fight with someone she sparred with. She prepared for the pain, and when his blade lifted to slash at her, it never made contact. Gray had made an ice cage to protect her; but also keep her locked up. When Ryo's dark blades tried to shatter the glass they just bounced back, doing no damage whatsoever.
Ryo looked absolutely enraged now, a passion in his eyes burning. He turned to Gray, ready to pounce on him now. Except with Gray he was more than willing to fight back. This was the man that ruined Hero's life; he did not care if it was her father. He would pay for hurting her and taking away her mother. Hero pounded against the solid ice, trying to break through it. If she could just get a chunk of it loose she could eat it and break out, but it was just so thick. Her knuckles became bloody just trying to break free.
The fight broke out much too quickly, there was not even a moment where they stopped to talk to each other. All they needed to know was that at that moment they hated each other, and that was enough to cause a fight. Gray did not even try to make a snarky comment, he was immediately in the fight as well. Gray made an ice hammer, using it as both a shield and weapon. He blocked all of Ryo's attacks more so than trying to attack in fear of what those blades could really do. Eventually he got a really nice hit in, whacking Ryo a few feet away. However swinging the hammer so much left an opening, and Ryo had stabbed one of the blades above Gray's hip. Gray gasped and fell to the ground, while Ryo laid in the mud unconscious for a moment.
Hero watched this happen, and with both of her bloody knuckles and rammed her fists into the slowly shattering ice; completely breaking a chunk off. She munched as fast as she could, ignoring the terrible taste of the ice. It only ever tasted so bad because she never liked the thought of eating a friend's magic, especially Gray's. With her magic filling she used ice to break the rest of the cage, eating the clean chunks.
Once she was full, she immediately ran to Gray and pulled the blade out of him. The rain mixed in with his blood and he latched at the wound in an effort to stop the bleeding. Hero quickly moved his hand and used ice to cover the wound. "You're going to be fine, okay? Just stay-." She tried to reassure him, but Gray interrupted her and sat up slowly. "Go get the other blade and let's go." He grunted, attempting to stand up on his own. Hero helped him to his feet, and then nodded before she went out with one of the blades in her hand. The darkness from the blade she was holding was replaced with the beautiful ice from her magic. When she attempted to reach for the other sword, her father gripped onto it and stood himself up again. He was breathing heavily, and could barely keep himself up. She was sure that the force from Gray's strike was enough to keep him dizzy for a while. Even so, he still managed to conjure up a solid illusion; duplicates of himself. All of them wielded a blade, and soon enough they were all trying to attack her at once.
Hero put two hands on the sword that she held, able to defend herself with a more stable stance. She was able to knock back most of illusions, until one of them got through and she was caught off balance. The illusions tore through her, leaving black cuts and gashes all over her body. After each cut however, ice formed over the wound and she went right back to fighting them off. There were no more left, and for a moment she thought he had just escaped into the forest. But then she heard Gray shouting, and she immediately turned around to see Ryo lifting Gray up by the neck.
"I won't let you have my daughter." Ryo said, about to bring his blade up with suddenly Hero rushed over and grabbed her father's arm. He attempted to throw her to the side, but she only latched on harder. "Stop it, dad!" She screamed at him. He only got more angry, throwing Gray to the side and grabbing Hero's short hair and pulling at it. Gritting her teeth, she worked through the pain. "You can have your stupid swords if they mean so much to you, I don't care anymore!" Yelling through her growing pain, Ryo stared at her. All of the anger and malice washed away so quickly that it was almost unbelievable.
Someone came out from the shadows, completely covered in black and unidentifiable. Ryo turned to him, and then nodded. The man took the blades and then vanished within moments. Gray was seated in the mud, just watching all of this happen. He wanted to go after the unknown man, but he did not have the energy at all to attempt a chase. Hero looked up at her father, and he had tears flowing down his face. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Hero." He stuttered.
Stepping away from him, Hero just looked at him with complete confusion. What had just happened? None of it made any sense at all. The rain started to let up, only drizzling now. Ryo fell to his knees in the mud, bowing his head in shame. Gray stood up, walking over to Hero and making sure she was alright after the barrage of clones. Hero did not even look at Gray though, she was too focused on her father. "What?" She simply put, waiting for him to explain himself.
Ryo took a deep breath, wiping his eyes. "When I was following the men that took your mother away from you, I had made a deal with- the person who came here just now. He… made my blades even more powerful than ever before, and that made me more powerful. However, it came with a price. I needed those blades, and when Makarov saw just how bad it was getting to me he took them away. That made it even worse though, because once he hid them away that man came looking for me asking me to give them to him now that my vengeance had been dealt with." He stopped, looking up at Hero. "I had to get them back from you, but I knew you'd come for them so I kept them a little while longer. I thought that maybe if you came quick enough I could just explain it to you but- it was much too late when you got here. I was already in the blade's control." He bowed his head again hiding his face in his hands.
Hero just watched him for a bit, debating on what to do. This whole situation just seemed so messed up. She looked at the wound above Gray's hip and then looked down at the multiple scraps that were covered on her body. Gray was a much better fighter than she was, and had much more endurance than her. Gray started to tip to one side, and then soon he was growing pale. Hero grabbed Gray's arms to keep him upright and then turned to her father. "What did you do to him?" She asked, the thought of attempting to forgive him completely leaving her now. Ryo looked up, eyeing Gray and stepped closer to get a better look.
"Take a deep breath, and think of something that fills you with light or happiness." He ordered Gray. Hero looked at her father and then turned to Gray, not sure what exactly was going on but trying to believe that her father knew what he was talking about. Gray took Hero's hand with his head bowed, gripping her fingers tight while grinding his teeth together. Hero cringed slightly, but then all of a sudden Gray's hand loosened around hers and he lifted to stand upright as if nothing had happened. He released a held breath and then looked down at the wound. "What kind of magic was that?" Gray asked.
Putting a hand behind his head, Ryo shrugged slightly. "I don't really know. It's part of the blades. I guess it's kind of like a poison that's antidote is to think of the opposite of whatever element you got hit with." He explains. Hero scrunches her eyebrows together in confusion. Whatever it was, it made absolutely no sense. She looked down to her body. "And why didn't I get it?" She questioned. Ryo looked away. "The poison only comes out when I'm trying to kill someone." He said. Hero's hands turned into fists again, reaching up to grab her father's collar but being cut off by Gray. "What are you doing?"
"He tried to kill you!" Hero shouted.
"But he didn't try to kill you."
"So? That doesn't mean he should be let off the hook."
"No, but that also doesn't mean you should try to intimidate him."
Hero pulled away from Gray, looking to her father and narrowing her eyes. "Leave." She demanded. The dragon slayer could not do this, not right now. She was too angry to make any sort of decision to forgive him. It would take a while before she could actually go to him and say that it was alright, and until then she did not want to see him. Ryo looked to his daughter, let out a quiet sigh, and then gave a thankful nod to Gray before he vanished in a puff of smoke.
Gray touched Hero's shoulder and said that they should head back. It was an eventful day, and they were soaking wet from the rain. Hero rolled his hand off of her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at him before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Counting in her head, she tried to calm herself down. This was odd, having people who she wanted to protect; and getting filled with rage when they were harmed. In the mountains all she ever had to look after was herself. Even then she did not care if she died or not. Her life filled little purpose.
Thinking about this, she lowered her eyes to the ice covered wound on Gray's side. Without realizing what she was doing, she placed her hand over the ice and sighed softly. This reminded her that she had a purpose, that she was living because she had friends who could protect her- and she had to do the same!
The ice make wizard lowered his hand, taking the dragon slayers in it and giving it a reassuring squeeze. He was surprised when she had first touched him, but when he saw the look on her face he decided not to pull away. Looking up, Hero met eyes with Gray. All of the rage that he had earlier that day was gone, it was replaced with a compassionate, caring expression. She wanted to melt right there, like the ice she controlled. What was this feeling all of a sudden? She supposed it was normal to feel emotional after a fight with family, but this emotion was different. It was warm, and fluttery. Her heart was pounding in her chest.
Gray's lips parted. He took a deep breath, and then started speaking. "Hero, what I was trying to say earlier…"