Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.
I do own the idea for the fic though.
A change of scene.
(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)
Chapter 12
The Memory Remains 7
Haunting Past, Empty Present, Bleak Future
It was a strange sight, basically not something you could see every day. Unique, certainly, it is own weird way.
"She already scared the hell out of her…" Luminer murmured quietly behind the scarlet-haired knight, seeing the pink-haired girl across the room lying unconscious on the ground with a look of terrible fear on her face. Her nerves clearly didn't stand a chance against the imposing the form of the knight. He sweatdropped. "Really… fear is the strongest weapon."
"S-Sherry! Oi, Sherry!" Yuuka yelled in panic, shaking his partner's shoulder to wake the girl and run away from there. Even if he was an anti-mage, he knew his limits and couldn't imagine a way to fight against the group of people remaining in the temple. "W-wake up! Come on!"
"Tch, she didn't stand to the challenge." Erza clicked her tongue in disapproval and save her sword back in her pocket dimension, turning around towards the gap on the ground to speak with the others. She waved a hand to the standing Luminer and gave him free way to do as he pleased. "You can take care of them if you want."
The pink-haired man looked at her apathetically before shaking his head in amusement, stepping towards the last mage with his fists ablaze. "I remember telling you something like 'I'm not your servant', Titania."
"You're at my service, remember?" The woman recalled with a soft smile, kneeling next to the hole and thinking of a way to go down with the others.
Luminer grinned and got ready to lunge, his fire coming out stronger. "But, yeah, I did say that too."
"Uh?" Yuuka looked up from his partner and found the sage towering a meter away from him, the calm eyes of the man fixed straight on him and waiting for something to be done. He reacted on instinct when the pink-haired swung a fist at him and raised a barrier of transparent energy to stop him, seeing the fist bouncing off without doing much damage. "Wave Shield!"
"Uh…? My punch got repelled…?" Luminer asked with a blank expression on his hand, seeing the appendage okay but free of fire. When he heard the sounds of cackles, he shifted his curious glance to the blue-haired wizard, seeing him stand up proudly at his achievement. 'Sup with him?'
"H-hahaha! I knew it! My Wave Magic is invincible! Not even a Council member can do something against it!" The wizard exclaimed in glee, keeping his barrier up and smirking smugly at the uninterested pink-haired man. "This is why I'm called the Anti-mage! No one can-!" His speech was cut short when the Councilor before him snapped his fingers together, making the floor beneath them tremble. "W-what the hell…!?"
"Wave Magic, huh?" The pink-haired asked with a small smile, crossing his arms and doing as if the ground wasn't shaking beneath their feet. "I remember reading about it once… you can't use magic inside the spell and it deflects all magic-based attacks from the exterior." The ground stopped shaking and before Yuka could ask what was that about, the floor rose to the ceiling in one second, splashing him against it with the man looking at him in amusement. "Though, the user can be moved if the strength of the spell he tries stop is too strong for him."
Yuuka said nothing to that logic as he passed out from the collision against the ceiling and then fell to the floor with nothing to soften his fall, unconsciousness taking him once more that day.
"Sorry for literally bursting your bubble, man, but we've got no time to lose." Luminer explained nonchalantly, waving his hand again and making a prison of solid rocks around the two rogue wizards. He turned around and walked back towards the group in the lower floor. "Rest there while we finish this."
"If what Lucy says is right, this Reitei and Deliora are related to Gray." Ryota spoke calmly to the woman of red-hair, explaining the situation to her while the group sat on a tight circle with their legs crossed, the sight of the sage jumping from above and joining them not stopping his briefing. "He ran straight here after he got wind of what was happening…"
"I see, it must be something personal then." Erza nodded and was about to think what could have snapped his friend's mind when the white-haired wizard with them raised his hand to speak. "Yes?"
"It's actually pretty personal… pretty grim… pretty sad… and pretty angering too." Nova said shortly, lowering his hand to his lap and looking up when feeling the clash between magic powers at the top of the ruins. His eyes narrowed in slight concern. "The better if we just sit here and leave Ice boy deal with it."
"But this guy…" Lucy looked at the two S-class wizards that got to the island on their own and bit her lip in worry. "He managed to take on Erza and Luminer alone… are you sure?"
"Pretty sure, if you ask me." The man shrugged and looked around when he noticed something amiss, keeping his thoughts to himself.
"Reitei is still a big threat for Gray to handle on his own." The woman of red-hair voiced to the group, making to stand up and make way to the top when she felt a hand stopping her mid-way. She sighed tiredly. "What is it, Luminer?"
"I told you, leave the guy alone," the pink-haired frowned when the woman didn't pay attention to his words and tried to stand up again. He pushed her down with his hand on her shoulder and made her sit still on the floor, the clash between hers and his glare irking the others a bit. "Both are Ice wizards… and if it comes down to it, I'm sure the Stripper has more winning chances."
"How can you be so sure?" Erza asked him straight out, seeing the man shaking his head at her question. He saw it ever since they arrived to the island and got knowledge of the others' presence in the place. It seriously pained his mind to hear her words over and over.
"This conversation should be the other way around, you know?" Luminer sighed and crossed his arms. He figured it would be best if he took the chance now and told her about this before the opportunity goes away. "I should be the one wondering about that Gray dude and you should be the one having more confidence in him." Her eyes widened in realization and he sighed again. "Seriously, does it hurt to trust in people a bit more, Titania?"
The other two wizards from Fairy Tail, especially the older one, looked at her with some trouble. She did trust her friends in these situations, why were they looking at her like that?
"I-I do trust his abilities! B-but it is an S-class request!" She explained, shifting her eyes from the two wizards to the pink-haired and again, only once looking at the white-haired wizard but finding him mumbling stuff of his own with little attention to the conversation. "This is far more difficult than a normal job."
"Hence why you should be the one supporting him." The sage finished calmly, closing his eyes and waiting for the next counter.
"He's right, Erza." Ryota spoke before she got to say anything else. She found him looking at her with a scrutinizing expression, reminiscing about all the times she did something similar when he was in a job with her. The few times he got to work with her before turning into an S-class himself were few and the main reason was this. "You should stop worrying so much over us and let us in on the action a bit more."
'W-wow… this suddenly turned into an all-out group therapy.' The blonde thought with a small sweatdrop, remaining quiet while the others talked since she didn't have much to say about the woman of red-hair. She didn't know her that well yet to be joining on this.
"If he doesn't succeed, we'll just step in and take care of it ourselves." Luminer continued. Seeing that the woman was left speechless and in thinking of the words, he figured it would be best to just break the rest of the argument now and then rest quietly. He leaned back and rested on the floor with his hands behind his head, closing his eyes slowly. "Even if he loses, the experience will make him stronger and he'll be ready for the next time he faces something like this."
"Yeah… what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?" The black-haired wizard murmured quietly, grimacing at his own memories of how he learned that harsh lesson of life. He rested his hands on his knees and nodded firmly, bringing the people around him to pay attention to him. "If we feel like his energy is dropping, we go in! Meanwhile, we'll wait here and keep the area clear of those cultists!"
Lucy, Nova and Luminer gave slow nods of approval and returned to their own thoughts, leaving Erza to mull over what was said with a troubled expression on her usually stern face. It couldn't be right, she was sure she always encouraged her friends to do their best when in difficult situations; she even knew their strengths and weaknesses to tell who would fit which task the best. This, what she did just now, was not her usual self. Was it perhaps because of how close Luminer and she were to dying the night before? Or was it because her friend was really not up to the challenge?
Or maybe… it was because she didn't want to lose another important person in her life.
"Let's split up and keep the entire building secure." Erza ordered lowly, calling the attention of the present to look at her shadowed face. She got nods of understanding from them and made to walk towards one of the many hallways, leaving the group to look at each other in awkwardness.
"Okay, so… who-?" Nova was going to ask who was willing to make sure she didn't do anything stupid but before he got to start with his question, the pink-haired man was already standing and following the Titania at a steady pace. He snorted dryly and returned to his musings. "Ain't that smooth, Romeo?"
"Hey, Luce." Ryota tapped the girl's shoulder, making her look at him and not the retreating mages, and pointed a finger to the upper floors. "Let's go keep watch of the entrance."
"A-aye…" She stood up and was going to follow but she stopped at the sight of the white-haired wizard lying on the floor. "Are you going to stay here?"
"I figure someone needs to look after this bunch of morons here," he pointed to the pile of bodies under the hole on the ceiling with a thumb and smirked in the blond's direction. "Don't worry, I ain't leaving yet."
Lucy nodded unsteadily and followed her friend, casting one last worried glance to the hallway the other two took. 'I hope everything's alright…'
"Hey, slow down." Luminer told the woman ahead of him, hurrying his steps to be walking next to her. He took a peek at her face and saw her sporting a blank face, sans a pronounce scowl. He frowned and returned his gaze to the road, shaking his head in irritation. "Why do you have to be so difficult? It's just a fight, nothing else. If the guy cannot handle it, we go and take his place, done."
"What would you do if he were to die then?" Erza asked him seriously, halting the man on his tracks and she stopping a few steps ahead. She turned mid-way and looked at him with the same face. "What if his failure leads to death? What if we go in only to find his lifeless body on the ground?"
"O-Oi oi, that's grim, even for you, Tita-"
"You don't get it, Luminer," the woman continued, interrupting his comment to get her thoughts across. Not only her reasonable worries regarding the jobs but her own experiences in life. The ones she had eight years ago being the most prominent. "S-class jobs can cost you your life if you're not careful." She narrowed her eyes. "You should know that after what happened yesterday."
"Y-yeah, I do, but-!"
"Then why were you telling me to stay calm about all of this!?" She snapped, oh boy, she was seriously mad. She took a swift stride towards the Councilor and met him face-to-face, glaring straight at his surprised onyx eyes. "My friend is in danger and you want me to wait for the outcome of it!? Are you so cold with those who are not of your interest that you will simply allow them to die!?"
"Shut up, dammit!" Luminer yelled back, now glaring back at the woman. He clenched his fists tightly and remained steeled in front of her, knowing well enough that this whole discussion was pretty idiotic. "Stop talking like that, it doesn't suit you!"
"Why should I listen to what you say?" Erza countered, spitting her next words with no remorse. "You're not my friend! I shouldn't care or even listen to your advices in these situations!"
The sage went silent.
"You don't even know me well enough to be telling me how to act or think." She continued. Her tone was a bit harsher. She knew pretty well what could happen if the wrong choice was made, what the consequences were, how the pain felt like, and she didn't want to relive it again. No, not now; not when the wounds from that time were still trying to close. "We met just two weeks ago and you believe you can tell me what to do when my friends are in danger? Don't make me laugh." She shook her head in bemusement and glared harder. "It'll be better if you leave and let us handle this on our own."
"…heh, I see." Luminer blurted out softly, hiding his eyes from view and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He gave a short nod and turned around. "You're right, Titania, I'll stop bothering you."
He gave a few steps forward, stopping when he suddenly remembered something. He knew it wasn't the time to be thinking on winning an argument, but when he replayed the conversation in his mind, he found it to be even more idiotic than he originally felt it was.
"Ah, right, just remember… it was your choice all along."
And he left down the hallway, back to where Belcross was resting with nothing else to do but humming a merry tune to pass the time. He knew that the words would take a moment to be digested, with the woman in an angry fit and all, but he still said them because…
He didn't even understand why he said it.
"I'm guessing you got rejected." At the sight of the depressing form of his boss, the white-haired wizard straightened up on his sitting position and rested his hands on his ankles, his amused smile dropping while watching the pink-haired pacing around the pile of bodies with a dark expression on his face. He stared a moment longer and sighed. "Okay, sorry about that, that's not something to be joking about…"
"There were six people in this pile," Luminer said after a moment, completely ignoring the words of the white-haired, who only stared at him blankly. "I can only smell five."
"Hey… why are you changing the subject?" Nova asked a bit irked of the sudden change of mood. Seriously, he wasn't one to butt into others' personal lives, but since the man was here and talking to him, he might as well say something about it. He was his boss and his friend, so… "And what's up with that attitude? Did you really get-?"
"Ah…" The pink-haired continued to ignore him, but voicing his thoughts all the same. The better if he just forgot what happened. He moved the bodies of the cultists, without paying any mind to his roughness and the groans of pain from them, and found a hole on the ground. "The sixth person escaped this way, huh?"
"Why the hell do I bother?" The wizard shook his head and moved to stand next to the sage, seeing the same hole as him with narrowed eyes. He checked the cultists that were moved and his eyes widened. "That strange old man is missing."
"I'll go after him." Luminer informed quickly, keeping his gaze on the hole and the scent he could smell coming from there. He really needed someone to talk to right now, and the person at the other end of this tunnel was his best option. It wasn't that he didn't trust the man next to him, but the closeness to that other woman was too much for comfort. "If I don't return, just tell the wizards I got bored and went back to Era."
"Uh? What are you-?" Before he could ask anything else, Nova saw his boss jump straight into the hole, using one of his spells to close the hole shut behind him, impeding everyone and anyone from following him. Nova blinked a couple of times and brought a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes from the annoyance he was feeling. "Goddammit, you're stupid at times."
He heard hurried footsteps approaching the room and from the same hallway came the red-haired woman, looking a bit startled and desperate with her eyes scanning the area for something…
'Or someone, heh… leaving me to handle your fans now, Lumi-chan?' Nova shoved his hands inside his coat's pockets and put on a nice clueless face to the nearing woman, smiling in wonder and blinking nonchalantly at her agitated form. "Oh? You're back! Found anything?"
"Where's Luminer?" Erza asked straight out, standing a meter away from the man, inspecting the sprawled bodies of the cultists around them that were supposed to be on a neat pile under the hole to the next floor. It took her a little time but she finally realized her feelings got the best of her a moment ago, forcing her to snap at the young man and say things that were too out of line when, in reality, it was as he said.
He never forced her to do anything, he never convinced her either. It was all her choice; if she wanted to go and help Gray at the top of the ruins, she was free to do so, but Ryota and he were kind enough to inform her of what her actions would do. She was free to help him, yes, but that also meant she would be hindering his growth.
Normally, she would notice these simple details, but the mere idea of losing people scared her, which was why she snapped at the Councilor when he tried to calm her down.
"I don't know, Miss, I didn't see him." The white-haired replied with a confused expression, grinning inwardly at his acting. The sage didn't tell him what happened, but he wasn't a fool, no, far from it. If this girl did something to him, he would be more than glad to show her why no one messed with the pink-hair's friends. "I was taking a nice nap just before you arrived."
"I can see pass your façade, Belcross." Erza told him in a no-nonsense tone, narrowing her eyes at the only person in the room who could tell her where the Councilor went to. "Tell me where Luminer is or I'll-!"
"Heh… or you'll what? Don't get so uppity and dangerous now when you've no one to vouch on your favor with me, Titania." Nova dropped his happy smile and clueless façade after those words, gazing at the woman with a cold stare of his lavender eyes. Yes, he was pissed too, more for not being trusted upon by his friend but, whatever. "And why should I tell you anything? You ain't my boss," he gave a few steps back and grinned mischievously. "I can't care less for your questions or threats, girl."
"Tell me where he is! I need to – no! I must apologize!" The knight told him quickly, her mind catching up to what the white-haired was about to do and making her run forward to stop him.
"Soooooorry but nope! My lips are sealed!" The wizard turned himself into lightning, blue lightning, much to the woman's shock, and left the place by carving a path of destruction through the floor and walls, heading all the way to the ceiling towards the hole and leaving the precinct. "See you later~!"
"W-wow, where the hell is he going?" Ryota asked when he saw the blue lightning coming out from the breach on the floor and heading to the forests outside the temple.
"Did he get mad or something?" Lucy wondered out loud too, stepping close to the border of the hole and gazing down to the scarlet-haired woman who was alone in the room. She wasn't an expert or knew the woman that much, but the sight of her right now told her that something was seriously wrong. That fact, the sudden departure of the white-haired wizard and the lack of pink hair in the place only made it the more obvious. "Er-"
"Leave her be, Lucy." The black-haired wizard told her lowly, stepping pass the hole without giving a single glance to the person downstairs. He had an idea of what happened but he didn't want to get involved. It was a personal matter, after all. "Let's go, we have to keep watch, remember?"
"Y-yeah… but…" The blonde tried to say anything but nothing came to her mind. Even if she did manage to convince her partner, what could she say to the knight? She didn't know the full story nor had any past experiences to share and try to cheer her up. She sighed and stood up; the man was right. "A-alright, Ryota…"
Deliora's chamber…
Finally reaching the end of the tunnel, Luminer found himself staring at a pretty familiar sight he hadn't seen in a while. In front of him was the frozen sculpture that had the demon Deliora sealed within, still waiting to be released by the power of Moon Drip so it could break havoc across the lands once more. He didn't know anything about it, nor the extent of its power or how anyone could manage to seal it, but he still knew it was a bad idea to have unsealed.
"I knew you would follow me, Luminer." An old man with green hair and a strange mask said in between cackles, his gaze fixed on the demon under the ice, calling the pink-haired boy by its faux name since they currently were in a place that was not safe to be talking freely. The beach was a special case, since no one was around and the scarlet-haired woman was out for the moment. "Why're you always so predictable?"
"Siegrain told you to unseal this demon, didn't he?" Luminer asked straight to the point, bearing a face of seriousness when standing next to the short old man. His arms crossed and his eyes looking at the demon with boredom. His partner knew him well enough to figure something was off.
"Okay, you're talking business, that can only mean one thing." the old man glowed brightly for a split second and changed into a gorgeous woman of long, purple hair and pale skin. There was no trace of harm dealt to her, despite the heavy beating she took at the hands of the white-haired wizard upstairs. She directed her eyes to the pink-haired and saw him staring at the demon with no other emotion but boredom in his eyes. Yeah, something went wrong. "I take it Titania said something to push you away?"
"Why did he ask you to do this?" The pink-haired continued to evade the subject, keeping his feelings bottled inside and only thinking on getting off that island after having some questions answered. The woman with him sighed tiredly; there was no way to by-pass his wall when he was in this mood.
"No reason but to annoy me." Ultear answered with every bit of annoyance in her tone, rubbing her forehead with one hand. The sole memory of his order to help this group of rogue wizards unseal the demon brought a headache to her. She casted one glance of contempt at the ice and turned around, not wanting to look at it any longer. "I have some connection to this ice; he found out about it and sent me to oversee the operation."
"Hmph, figures…" Luminer closed his eyes and titled his head down, thinking of something before marching to the other path leading outside the cavern. If he dared to go up the stairs, he would find the wizards again and that was the last thing he wanted to do. "I'll return to Era now, I'll tell him to stop bothering you if possible."
"Returning to Era…? Now?" The purple-haired beauty repeated in surprise. Yes, this pinned it down completely. Something went wrong upstairs. Not that she cared… much… it was interesting to know the workings of the pink-hair's mind, especially with subjects as rare as this. She heard him proclaiming a passionate speech earlier that day and now he was bored and wished to return to Era? Of course she wanted to know why. "Thanks a bunch but… what happened? Lost the source of your fascination?" She snorted in amusement and asked teasingly. "You got rejected, didn't you?"
"…no, I didn't." Luminer opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder, shocking Ultear with the forlorn glint of his eyes. He left his wall recede for a moment with his friend, knowing well he could count on her and Jellal to help him now. No. He should have trusted in them from the very beginning. Just as the man of blue-hair told him; everyone outside their little group was not welcomed. "How can one be rejected when you're not friends to begin with?"
"…good question." The woman answered lamely, not knowing how to respond to that. She saw the man drop his shoulders his surrender and walk towards the exit with nothing else to add, leaving her on her own to deal with the rest of the mission. She wasn't well versed in the subject to give advices about it, even though she did knew her fair deal, she mostly used it for taunting and other vile ends, she was at a loss for something that was serious. 'Wait a second there… why do I care?' She shook her head and looked over her shoulder when she heard footsteps coming from the stairs, shifting back to her disguise of Zalty to keep herself hidden. 'Titania is a threat to our plans, if she ditched Natsu, I shouldn't care about it, it's more, I should be glad.'
"I heard something down here." A feminine voice said to no one in particular, stopping at the end of the stairs and inspecting the cavern only to find an old man of green hair and strange mask was waiting for her. Erza summoned her sword and gave a step forward, knowing well when an enemy made an appearance. "Who are you?"
"Nishishishishi!" 'I only need to focus on my task.' Zalty snickered quietly and raised a hand; supporting a small orb with his palm and making it float in front of him afterwards. 'Though it's not a bad idea to get some payback, this girl did hurt one of our own after all.' "Oh, a visitor! Are you perhaps here to destroy the demon?"
"No and yes, I'm looking for someone right now, the demon will be dealt with by one of my friends." Erza proclaimed warily, seeing the orb floating ever closer to her at a slow pace. She got into a stance and brought her sword up defensively. "Have you seen a young man of pink hair go through here?"
"Maybe, maybe not! Nishishishi!" 'Isn't this so sickeningly romantic?' Ultear a.k.a. the old man of green hair smirked widely, moving his hands around to make the floating orb multiply in a matter of seconds, surprising the knight at the sight of a dozen orbs ready to attack. 'I'll have such a thrill with this.' "Sorry but my lips are sealed~!"
Zalty swung his hands up and the orbs rushed at full-speed against the knight of scarlet-hair, prompting her to jump, dodge, swat or parry the orbs to keep herself from harm's way whilst the old man laughed at her predicament.
'I'll have a good long talk with that moron once this is over,' Ultear thought mirthfully, dodging a blade to her head with a mere tilt of it to the side. The orbs were pretty good at slowing the Titania down but they weren't enough to defeat her. She wasn't capable of holding the woman back for long, at least, not without showing her real power, but it was alright. She figured the small distraction would allow her associate enough time to escape. 'He'll owe me big time for this.'
At the top of the ruins…
The battlefield was akin to a cavern of diamonds, stalactites and stalagmites all around, blocking the way and sight, keeping the secrets of the place from anyone who dared to enter. Though in this case, the place was a massive glacier of ice, the stalactites and stalagmites were either hanging from the icy roof or rising from the frozen ground, and the cause of all of it was not a God hiding a treasure of old or Mother Nature after centuries of carving.
No, the reason for such a thing to exist was two men who once considered each other as brothers or something close. They did study under the guidance of the same woman all those years ago, back in the northern country, when they both lost what they held dear and were taken in to give their lives a new meaning.
Though through the course of the years, both men changed drastically; one of them learned the lesson and moved on, adjusting to the shifting passing of time with his mind almost forgetting everything that happened, while the other one, the other one became obsessed.
Not for the freedom he currently held or because of drunkenness for power, no, it was because his goal was shattered those many years ago, by the same man he was fighting now.
"Give up, Gray!" Lyon shouted as he launched another flock of ice birds to his rival, seeing his strike being countered by a dozen lances of ice. He rolled to the side when one managed to pierce through his attack and glared at the other man. "It's futile! Nightfall is almost here and the ritual will continue!"
"Shut up! I will stop you!" Gray replied with the same intensity, joining both hands in fist and palm before bringing them down to the floor. The magic flowed through the ice and made a path of spiky shards towards his opponent, who merely moved a hand and lifted a shield before him to stop the offensive. "Do you even know what happened!? Ur is still alive in the ice! You cannot melt it knowing that!"
"Ur? Alive? You're making me lose my sides with your idiocy, Gray!" The white-haired man moved his hand again and, while he laughed hysterically, a giant bear of ice launched itself at the black-haired, who only made a giant hammer to counter it, glaring at his rival beyond the shower of crystals between them caused by the mutual destruction of their spells. "Ur is dead! Face it! Once the ice is melted, Deliora will be free, and by defeating him, I'll have surpassed her at last!"
"Get your stupid mind out of that obsession, dammit!" Gray placed his hands on the elbows opposite to each and ran them down swiftly, covering his arms in ice that was as sharp and pointy as any real sword made of metal. He rushed towards his enemy and former senior while dodging the sudden spikes that appeared on his way or the projectiles shot by the white-haired man, jumping high when he was but two meters close to this target and getting ready to slash. "What do you think she would say if she saw us like this!?"
"Who the hell cares!?" Lyon answered back through gritted teeth, making a long sword of ice with one hand and holding it with both to parry the strike from the other man. He stepped aside and turned around when the man landed behind him, lunging to strike and finding his sword to be blocked by the wizard of Fairy Tail. He looked at him with all the apathy he could feel towards his mere existence. "You're nothing but a coward running from your past, Gray. You're still feeling guilty over what happened at that time and you cannot – no, you don't want to accept that Ur's dead was and is your fault."
"Look who's talking, moron!" The black-haired wizard answered through groans and clenched teeth, pushing back the sword with both of iced-blades, keeping their heated glaring contest in check so he could reach the other man with his words. "I'm not the one trying to beat a frozen demon or trying to surpass someone's who isn't here anymore! I moved on with my life and you should've done the same! For Ur's sake!"
Lyon remained quiet for a moment, glaring even more intensively now and pushing the blades back harder, even though both his sword and his enemy's blades were close to breaking. Yeah right, as if he was going to give up his childhood dream to move on with his life. What had life to offer him? The strongest wizard he ever saw was her, and she was gone now, all because of the insect standing before him.
"Shut up." He stated coldly, forcing the weapons a bit more and breaking them both, the slight moment of shock from Gray allowing him to take hold of the man's shoulder and bring him forward to meet a newly created blade in his free hand.
The blade pierced Gray's abdomen.
He stared at the shoulder of his past senior and then coughed when something bothered his throat.
Even if his vision were getting blurry, he was sure that what was staining the floor between was blood.
His blood, the same one he just coughed and that was also dripping from the stab he got to the belly.
He could barely make out the words spoken by the one who held the blade lodged in his stomach.
"Don't make me waste my energy… I have a demon to fight after this."
To be continued.
AN: Please don't hate me for what I did in this chapter! *flails his arms around in panic* I swear to Mother Mercy I have a reason and a plan and a plot and an explanation and all of that! Just wait for it to be revealed! *nods repeatedly* I seriously have a good reason... or so is what I believe. *puts a clueless face* I think... I think I forgot about it. Oh... fuck... *facepalms*
Anyhow, please, share your thoughts on this development. Good, neutral and bad reviews are welcomed... the latter is less welcomed than the other two but whatever, I can't be picky at this point of the road. *sighs and waves a hand* Just drop a review, 'kay? I'll be sure to write the next chapter faster than this one, especially now that Stargazer got ignored. It might take me a month or so to gather the will to write for that story again. *rolls his eyes* That's what happens when you venture into unknown territory, heh. I really need some encouragement now.
Saludos.