Hi guys (and girls, You won't find any sexism on my page XD)
LAST CHAPTER!
SUPER LONG CHAPTER!
I am slightly pissed off with the latest chapter of FT (453). I may have to rant on why Gruvia is such a shit pairing now. :(
RANT TIME! (Before the story too)
Okay, I have been a fan of many different shows and games so I have been prepared for the crushing revelation of a crappy pairing. But come on Mashima! Have you got no common sense?! Gruvia is the same bloody thing as Harry/Ginny from Harry bloody Potter! I am going to jump on the band wagon and say that Gruvia is even worse than that shambles of a pairing!
Gray has shown us all time and time again that he doesn't like Juvia like she does him! He has even said it out loud yet she paid no attention!
I haven't seen such a forced pairing in all of my time of watching show/movies and playing games. You are forcing a Gray, a character that has no interest in loving Juvia to love her back!
Honestly, I would taken Gratsu or Gray/Mard Geer over Gruvia! They make more sense than Gruvia by far! No matter how stupid it sounds! At least they have feasible reasons!
I really hope that you make Gray say no! Either that or you kill him or Juvia, because if they become a canon pairing then you would be spoiling your own show!
I do have respect for the guy for making the world in the first place but I really hope he beats this J.K Rowling disorder before FT ends.
RANT TIME DONE!
Other than that, how is life? Good? Oh well…
LETS READ!
::-()-::
Gray trudged slowly through the forest for the one hundredth, millionth time (Only slight exaggeration) that day, his right hand clutching at his re-opened wound once more.
He could barely see what was in front of him, the shrubs and bushes kept on batting him in the face and his body groaned in protest every time he raised his arms or legs to move.
"The bloody camp can't be that far now..." He muttered tiredly. It felt like he had been walking (or limping) for years now. "Okay, this is getting stupid now. Where are those bloody fairies?!".
As luck would have it, he finally saw the Fairy Tail camp and he grinned in relief. Mirajane and a newly awoken Levy were talking to Gajeel about Mavis knows what whilst Loke was sitting on a log with his head in his hands. He was obviously still sad about his interaction with him earlier…
The solid script mage must've spotted him because her eyes widened as she pointed towards him. Gajeel and Mirajane looked to where she was and the latter of the two rushed towards Gray, her expression worried but relieved.
"Gray! Is that you?"
Gray just smirked before his vision failed him as well as his body. He collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. Mira Levy's scared faces being the last thing he saw.
::-()-::
(Five minutes ago)
"Natsu!"
Happy's cry caught the dragon slayer off guard, he yelped from the shock and fell off from his hammock, landing head first on the ground painfully.
"Ow… That hurts." He rubbed his head and looked at his exceed curiously.
"Gee Natsu, you need to work on your balance more."
"Tch, whatever. I have got perfect balance. Anyway, what is it Happy?"
Happy looked at him excitedly. "I just found the last bad guy unconscious near the sea! You know what that means right?" he looked at his friend as if to say 'I know you know that I know what you now know'.
That was what probably confused the pink haired mage in the first place…
"No?"
"It means that the last bad guy is on his own and that means that we can go beat him now!" Happy exclaimed, fist pumping the air as he spoke.
Realization dawned upon the dragon slayer as he grinned from the new info.
"Alright! I can't wait to kick this guys ass! Let's get the others and go now!"
"Yeah!"
As soon as they were done speaking/shouting, Natsu got up and rushed away to get Lucy, Erza and Elfman. They had a guild master to beat...
::-()-::
(Present time)
She honestly didn't know why he was here, he just was.
Levy had woken up fifteen minutes ago after the absolute beating she and Gajeel took fighting those two stupid chicken people things. Even for someone of her intelligence she had no explanation for what they were so she had named them by what they looked like.
It just didn't sound to intelligent…
But now, she was currently fetching more supplies for Mirajane to help her save her old guild mate from his near fatal injuries. The surprising thing was how quick the ice mage was healing. Normally it would take the average human a few months at least before their injuries were nearly invisible. Gray however just needed a few smears and stitches and his body was practically healed!
His magic did feel different from when he was in the guild. It had always felt like something was missing, but she had assumed that he had that under control. Now it felt complete, as if he was slowly growing in power and magic and his growth wouldn't be stopping any time soon.
Levy knew that Gray was going to be a powerful mage one day…
"Levy! I need that paste quickly!" Mirajane's frantic voice rung through her ears and she quickly grabbed said paste before running over to the take-over mage and handing over the jar of whitish green crap.
Mira scooped up a small dollop of paste on her fingers and proceeded to gently smear it over Gray's torso and stomach.
Levy saw Mirajane's eyes raking over the ice mage's body and knew exactly what she was thinking. She saw the eldest Strauss sibling blush lightly as her eyes were seemingly trying to devour him. But there was something else in there too. Something deeper than unfiltered lust which made her smirk deviously.
Then she thought about the unconscious mystery mage lying on the bed and Erza. The new girl was a wild card in terms of Gray romance but even a blind person could see that Erza needed Gray. The many months of continuous broken crying from the red head showed that very well.
A bit too well…
Levy sweat dropped from the possible love square/triangle slowly building. If getting multiple injuries didn't kill Gray then the possible cat fight for him will most likely drive him into insanity.
May Mavis have mercy on his soul…
::-()-::
(fifteen minutes later)
"Alright! I can't wait to kick this guys ass!"
Team Natsu had finally made it to the downed airship. The ship landed before them and they all took the chance to rush up into the ship. Natsu got up to the top and knocked a massive hole in the wall, revealing the master of Grimore heart.
Natsu grit his teeth in anger. "So you were the one who hurt Gramps? Doesn't matter, you hurt our friends. Now i'm going to beat you to a pulp!" He shouted at Hades.
The man in question stood there looking at the group indifferently. He looked at Natsu before speaking calmly. "At last, the devil shall play with the fairies".
He pointed at Natsu and shot a magic ball at him. The dragon slayer jumped out of the way and sent a fiery fist towards him, he reeled back away from the dragon slayer but before he could react Elfman and Erza emerged from Natsu's flames, engaging him in hand-to-hand combat.
He was about to react again when a massive axe struck him in the back, hunching him over and leaving him open for Elfman and Erza to give him an uppercut to the chin each. Hades crashed on to the ground and quickly got back up in time to fend off Elfman and Erza again.
"Enough of this..."
he shot a chain at Erza, the chain instantly latched around her waist and he flung her into the massive man beside her, sending the two crashing to the floor.
"Fire dragons wing attack!" He turned around to see the quickly growing form of Natsu rushing straight towards him. He shot a chain around his head and was about to smash him away when Erza cut his chain.
He saw Natsu yell for Elfman, who grabbed him and used the momentum to throw him towards Hades again.
The fire dragon slayer sent Hades crashing into the wall and before he could do anything he saw Lucy and Wendy's magic form into a unison raid, surprising Hades and momentarily haulting him. Lucy and Wendy fired there unison raid at hades and sent him crashing through another wall again.
"Yeah! Take that you bastard!" Shouted Natsu triumphantly.
When they all heard Hades voice drawl out from the smoke they all stopped and looked back in shock.
"Usually, a mistake gets to be labeled as experience. But with a true mistake, there won't be experience to be gained..." Erza couldn't believe that he was fine after the beating they gave him. "Because the mistake you made taking me as your opponent will leave you with no future..." he ended his mini quote as his massive form slowly emerged from the smoke.
"Are you all done warming up? Because I am now taking the gloves off..." He looked at Wendy and shouted "KATSU!".
He watched the magical beam rocket towards the young girl, who looked at the incoming beam in terror before it blew up In the teams face, creating a massive smoke screen.
'Hmm?' Hades raised an eyebrow as he didn't hear the teams screams of unfiltered agony. Wondering what happened he blew away the smoke to see another figure wielding two icy blue swords, standing in front of Wendy.
"That hurts you know…" The figure spat darkly.
Lucy looked at the mage in front of them with shock…
"I thought you were unconscious!"
"Would've been better off that way" Spat Natsu, who was promptly ignored…
"Just give me some paste or stitches and leave the rest to me. I have a healing factor now." The ice mage grinned at Lucy confidently.
"A what?" Erza was still surprised to see him, but happy nonetheless. Her voice portrayed that.
"You'll see..." Gray grinned before charging at the Grimore heart master and delivering a powerful kick to his chin, sending him flying into the wall again.
"I actually felt that, but you have just doomed yourself to an inevitable death."
"I'll believe that when it happens, Ice-make: Armour!"
Gray's body was covered in an intricately designed icy armour that covered his forearms, forelegs and chest. "Ice-make: Armblades!" Two thick icy gauntlets spawned on his forearms and then two four foot, jagged ice blades appeared on the centre of his gauntlets.
Despite it's intimidating appearance and intricate design, Hades looked bored…
He pointed his fingers at Gray and shot multiple magical balls at him to which Gray swiftly dodged. The ice mage had made the blades to fool Hades into blocking. He dispersed the blades and punch Hades in the balls.
The Grimore heart mage fell onto his knees and was then kicked in the face which sent him towards Natsu who punched him high into the air and went to hit him again when Hades wrapped a chain around his ankle and threw him at Gray.
He couldn't help himself, he froze Natsu and kicked him back at hades who wasn't fast enough to move away from the frozen mage. The two crashed to the floor and Gray allowed his ice to shatter on impact, cutting Hades ever so slightly.
"Hey! What gives traitor?!"
"You make a good football Flame brain..."
"Shut up Ice princess!"
"I don't think I will Dickhead..."
"I'll k-ACK!"
The two were so into the arguing that they completely forgot about Hades, who quickly reminded them about his presence...
He grabbed Natsu and bashed him against the ground, knocking him out for the third time that day. He then threw him at Gray who sidestepped to the left and shot a bolt of ice at Hades.
Hades batted the thing away and started to quickly fire multiple magical shots again. Gray jumped over three and sidestepped to avoid the rest as he got close enough to grab Hades fingers and break them with some effort.
"Ahh! You little worm!" Hades grabbed Gray and pointed his non-broken fingers and his chin before letting off a powerful explosive shot.
It was at this point that Erza, Lucy and Wendy woke up. To see Gray flying across there heads and crashing painfully into the wall behind them.
"Gray, are okay!?" Lucy shouted at the ice mage.
"I'll live..." Gray got back up slowly and he and Erza ran at Hades to deliver a flurry of Punches and kicks as Erza swung her swords masterfully at Hades. As Gray tried to punch Hades in the face he felt Hades catch his fist and pull him into the way of Erza's sword.
Erza couldn't stop herself in time as her blade cut a nasty looking slice into his chest. Her eyes widened as her ears were filled with Gray's painful shout. It was her stopping from the shock that allowed Hades to fire his chain into her and pull her towards him so he could kick her away from the two again.
"Fuck!" Gray felt his blood leak out from his newly acquired wound. The cut was very deep and he was sure that if it were any further it would've been bye bye Gray Fullbuster.
Hades hoisted Gray off of the ground, He found himself struggling to stand himself as he did so. This ice mage was either holding back or he had forgotten about his other magic. One was more feasible than the other though and Hades didn't like how the one what was feasible was the one that meant that this 'Gray' character was stronger than him.
He couldn't let this mage live long enough to foil his plan, enough had been ruined and he would be dammed if he allowed this to happen to him.
"Remember what I said ice mage, you have outstayed your welcome..."
Gray grunted in pain and turned his head to face Hades.
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but I have a partner I have to live for." Gray spoke strongly, despite the pain. "I won't allow her to feel isolated ever again and dying to the likes of you would be a bad way of following through with that little promise!"
With that said Gray Formed two thick blocks of devil ice around his hands and he promptly smashed them against Hades head. The pain and shock loosened Hades grip on Gray just enough for him to slip out of his grasp before freezing over his new wound…
"Sky dragon roar!" Gray heard Wendy's attack from his left, turning in that direction he was fast enough to see her attack collied with Hades and push him back towards him. He nodded towards Wendy in thanks before preparing his ultimate Ice-make ability.
Gray stood with his eyes closed and his arms stretched out in front of him, his right hand formed into a fist which he then grabbed with his left. He gathered up a massive portion of his magic and opened his eyes and bellowed.
"Ice-make: Frost aura!"
Gray felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him for a second before he felt the aura work it's magic. He grinned at Hades with a new confidence and stuck his arms out at him. Unknowingly about to show his new magic the newly awoken team Natsu, who were in awe as it was.
Well, all but Natsu…
"Ice Devil Ice Cutter!" He jumped into the air and unleashed three fast volleys of razor sharp ice shards at Hades. Hades barely dodged the first two sets so the third threw him back a few feet before he got back up and successfully latch a chain onto Gray.
He pulls Gray towards him before trying to smash him into the ground, but he was surprised to see how much slower he was moving the nearer Gray got to him. He looked at Gray and he saw him smirk coldly at him before the ice mage landed his feet on his chest and jumping away from him, knocking Hades on his ass again.
"THAT'S IT!" Hades roared before he got back up and swiftly kicking Gray away from him. He started performing the formula 28 seal around Gray who looked around cautiously before realising What hades was doing.
His eyes widened and he looked behind him to see the shocked stiff Team Natsu, He mentally grit his teeth and then, against his better judgement, formed a very hard and thick icy shell around the group before making his own.
"Try this on for size… Absolute Zero." Hades muttered before releasing the seal.
Gray knew that focussing on the others would end up with him suffering in one way or another. This one just happened to be physical…
His makeshift cocoon only stopped the blast for a few seconds before it shattered to pieces and left him exposed to the intense explosion that felt like he was being crushed against the ground again.
"AHHHHHH! FUUUUCCC-" The explosion had just stopped but he already felt himself being stomped on by the Haggard looking Hades.
Gray felt the Amaterasu spell effects take effect as his magic felt like it had been dulled by a massive margin. Hades stomped on his head again and he could vaguely hear Erza and the other girls begging Hades to stop doing something.
What was it? Kill him, Hill him, MILK HIM?! No that one must've been his ears being assholes to him…
He looked up, his neck begging him to just go limp again and he saw Hades holding his buggered arm, Gray would've smirked if it wasn't for the massive magical ball that was slowly growing bigger and bigger every second.
He saw the Grimore Heart master looked over towards Team Natsu again before he started speaking again.
"If you must hate someone for this young man's death then I would suggest blaming the one who sent him here. It is his or hers fault for your 'Friend' here's suffering and soon to be death..."
He looked back at Gray, who to his surprise and chagrin was giving him the middle finger along with a menacing snarl. Everything went in slow motion as Hades released his massive magic ball, which started rocketing straight towards him. He heard Erza scream out 'NO!' before the ball erupted in a massive cloud of dark grey smoke…
Erza looked at the resulting explosion, she was devastated. She had just watched her best friend (And 'little' crush) die to the Grimore Heart guild master. She couldn't stand, she fell to her knees and just stared wistfully at the now quiet smoke screen.
"No…" She whispered. "No… No, No, No, No..."
Her real eye began to slowly moisten as she fruitlessly fought the need to cry back. She was about to do it to if it wasn't for the teary eyed Lucy wrapping her arms gently around the broken Red Head, Wendy joining after a few seconds.
"Flare?..."
The three looked back at the smoke to see a tiny flicker of what seemed to be lightning. An- LIGHTNING!?
The smoke cleared and the three girls saw none other than Laxus Dreyer standing in front of the downed ice mage along with who seemed to be a light orange haired young woman in a tight, blood red dress with forearm high gloves.
The woman turned around and her eyes widened in fear…
"Oh my god! Gray!" She picked him up and moved him away from the lightning dragon slayer and the Grimore heart guild master.
Towards the fairy tail mages. Flare had to bite her tongue and keep her composure around the fairies for the obvious reasons.
"You'll be fine Gray, you'll be fine..." She said to reassure herself rather than Gray.
Said ice mage laughed weakly…
"Just wait for the effects to wear off and i'll be up and kicking again Flare."
"Just let those fairies deal with him for now, please."
"Who Laxus? He is powerful but Hades will beat him quickly, He has many different types of magic and all he has to do is catch him in that bastard formula whatever seal and Laxus will lose." Gray explained tiredly.
"A bit arrogant are we?" Flare sadly teased… Gray just grinned and played along.
"Everyday of course..."
"Gray-san?"
Gray lifted his head to see Wendy shyly shuffling up to the two. He saw Flares face darken slightly and he looked at her, his face saying 'it's okay'.
Flare looked sceptical but she complied after a second.
"Hey Wendy. How's life?" He asked lightly. He saw her little face brighten ever so slightly from his poor humour attempt, he moved his head down quickly to avoid a piece of debris from the two mages fist fight.
"Do you need help Gray-san?" She asked, Flare had gone to help Laxus in fighting off Hades. So Gray just shook his head.
"The effects will wear off any minute now. Natsu looks like he could use the healing from the look of his face there." He pointed at the unconscious dragon slayer and Wendy smiled wearily before shaking her head.
"I've done all I can for him, he just needs to wake up now." Wendy replied. "Gray-san?" Wendy started, her face becoming serious. "What was that magic you did a while ago?"
Gray raised an eyebrow…
Wendy elaborated for him. "It sounded like you had said 'Ice devil', not 'Ice-make'"
Gray was about to explain when he saw Lucy rush over with something In her hands. She came towards the two mages and she knelt down next to Gray before hugging him tightly.
It started braking him down when he felt her tears on his (now naked) chest…
"don't you ever do something like that again! You had us all scared stiff Gray!" Lucy sobbed as she seemingly tried to squeeze the life out of the ice mage.
"I'm sorry?..." He would've apologised further if he hadn't seen Flare whiz past them and crash into the wall they had him lean against.
"Flare! You alright?"
"I'm okay, but we need help now!"
He looked back and he could see that she wasn't lying. Elfman and Erza were unconscious and lying a few feet away from the Laxus and Hades. Erza looked as if she had just been knocked out if the dust and debris wasn't something to go by.
His eyes widened when he he saw the familiar spherical seal form around the weakened Laxus, there were a lot more seals in the formula this time so the resulting explosion would completely ruin the ship Everyone was one.
"Shit! Everyone take cover!" The effects had worn off so he charged towards the downed Elfman and the now barely conscious Erza, He picked her up and he dragged Elfman away from Hades before laying them down and facing the scene before him.
"Ice-make: Wall!"
The ice covered the entire width of the room perfectly as he heard Hades shout out 'Formula 100'. His eyes widened as his eyes almost popped from his skull at the exclamation.
100?! Really?!
"Shit, shit, shit shit shit shit!" He couldn't keep his language tight as the ship was about to be blown up completely.
That didn't stop Erza from weakly chiding Gray for his language…
"Gray… keep your… language in… check or I will turn you into… a pulpy… mess..."
Annoyed or not, Erza was still scary even when half conscious.
Not to him as much anymore, but he still knew that she would actually do it…
"Sorry! But I can't knowing that Hades is about to wreck half of his own ship with us all on-board!" His sarcastic reply was met with a helmet weakly hitting the back of his head…
"Ow..."
Anything else he had to say was cut off as his voice was drowned out by the following explosion that wrecked his shield within seconds and sent him back five feet to the others. He was the only one close enough to be forced back and he felt like he had been hit by a train, so he felt pity for Laxus at the moment.
After what felt like years, the explosion died down and the group saw the downed Laxus talking to Natsu. He did something to the younger dragon slayer and Natsu was suddenly beating Hades around the place like it was nothing.
It's about bloody time too the git did something other than lay on his back all day…
Natsu finally lands a direct hit on Hades with what seems to be a new dragon roar. Lightning flame dragon's roar.
Gray got up and walked towards the seemingly defeated mage, only to be stopped by Natsu.
"Your better at acting than I thought, but I haven't fallen for your tricks just yet! I will make you pay for hurting us like this bastard did too!" He exclaimed before running up to Gray and punching him straight across the cheek.
Gray stumbled before catching Natsu's fist and swinging him into the wall. The fire mage sent his new roar at him to which he countered with his own. Shocking Natsu as he didn't see the first one.
"Ice Devil Rage!"
Gray knew that Devil slayer beat god slayers who beat Dragon slayers so for Natsu to face him now when he had full control over his inherited magic was just shitty luck.
"Try melting that, but me and Flare have a bounty to collect so If you'll excuse me..." Gray walked up to the seemingly beaten Hades, but before he could even touch him he was grabbed around the neck and slammed into the ground numerous times before he was thrown back to the group again.
Dazed and tired, Gray looked up and to his shock (and chagrin) Hades was back up on his feet again and re-quiping into a new attire.
'Oh come on!'
"Makarov has trained very powerful brats. And you and your partner are also an enigma Absolute Zero..." He seemed perfectly fine! Even the wounds Gray gave him were doing nothing to him now. "But now, I am going to show you all something spectacular."
Saying that, he removed his eye-patch, revealing his Demon's eye.
"I will show you the abyss of magic…" He stated ominously. "Such limitless potential that is beyond even your wildest imaginations."
He finally opened the dreaded eye and the world seemingly turned into a miasma of dark purple swirls and clouds. As Gray looked around he saw the others frozen in fear, he couldn't blame them and he would be a hypocrite if he told them to not be scared.
He was fairy shit scared too if he was honest…
The massive magical output was so daunting and malicious that even Erza was shaking slightly. If things weren't bad enough, Hades started to create these weird entities that slowly clambered towards the group.
"G-Gray… do something… P-please." He heard Flare plead to him and he knew that someone had to do something fast. He certainly wasn't going to let this bastard hurt his partner, or his former friends for that matter.
But Hades was just emanating all of this tremendous power and the thought of facing those demons scared Gray more than he let on. Memories of Deliora came up and Gray felt so small compared to those little demons.
Even if he was a Devil slayer…
But then again, his slayer magic was made to kill demons wasn't it? He got up shakily and stood completely still, gathering up a sizeable portion of his magic and concentrating to the point where he had almost forgot about the impending danger slowly closing in on them.
"Gray! What are you doing?!" Erza shouted in fear.
"E-Ending this..." He replied. Taking a shaky breath, he clenched his fists and let out a cry of anger as he thrust his hands forward and letting out a massive field of ice coat the damaged ships entire surface.
The ice was his devil ice so the demons instantly died down to rubble again as well as Hades miasma of demonic magic to fade slightly. Surprising the former guild master.
"Now what do we have here?..."
Gray let his magic surround him as he saw an icy blue aura envelope him. He stared intensely at Hades before rushing at him with renewed vigour.
"Ice Devil Blizzard Fist!" he landed a direct hit on Hades and was grinning mentally when he saw him stumble back with a pained expression on his face.
"What?" Hades grunted. "No..." His eye widened as if he had realized something bad.
Gray grinned, the demonic aura surrounding the ship had dissipated. "What wrong? Something bad happen?"
Hades Growled. He tried to impale Gray with a chain but he was sent into the air by Erza and he was smacked into ground by Capricorn.
Wait, Capricorn!?
"Beast arm: Stone Bull!"
Elfman used his vulnerability to strike him into the air once more where he was smashed into multiple walls when Flare wrapped her hair around his ankles before she swung towards Gray and Erza.
"Ice Devil's Zeroth long sword!"
"Black wing armour! Moon Flash!"
With the effective capabilities of a unison raid, the two sliced past Hades, letting him drop to one knee. He looked buggered, his clothes were once more sliced and ruined, his face was now bruised and slightly bloodied and Gray couldn't even feel the man's magic anymore.
He was defeated…
"Now will you please stop getting back up?" Gray breathed out. "Me and Flare need the jewel so here is how it's going to work. I am going to walk up to you and knock you out, you being the 'nice' individual you are will comply with my fist and allow it to happen. Got it?"
Hades didn't move from his position, but he looked up after a few seconds. "Why don't you just kill me now?!"
Gray shrugged tiredly. "Tempting, but I don't exactly want to take a life. Anyway, even though we still get paid for your death I bet it won't be to big, so you are spending your life in a nice translucent crystal like box from now on..."
As he finished, he walked up to Hades and kicked him hard in the face. The massive man fell down unconscious and Gray grinned for the hell of it.
"Okay Flare… Let's wrap this u-"
Gray wasn't able to finish as Natsu smashed him so hard across the face he blacked out, Before he passed out he was sure he felt his nose break.
"Wanker..."
::-()-::
"What the hell did you do that for you idiot!?"
Lucy hit the fire dragon slayer over the head multiple times which left him on his knees whilst holding his head to protect it from her fists.
"He was about to attack Luce! Please stop hitting me! It hurts..." Natsu saw Lucy's face and he knew that his (logical and obvious) reasoning hadn't calmed her.
"Gray stopped us from becoming a pulpy mess on the floor! He also saved Wendy from that Katsu spell!" She shouted at him whilst continuing to hit over the head. "He put himself at risk to save us!"
"He said he was on a job..."
"Same difference!"
"I could've taken the guy on!"
"Sure… Gray needed help and he can completely stomp on you!"
"Can not!"
"Can too! Also you and Elfman were the ones who were knocked out for most of the fight whilst everyone else was either fighting or healing!"
"So What!"
"So, that means we actually did something to help and that you were not as strong as you think you are!"
"I can use Lightning and fire in one now!"
"yeah, and Hades just brushed it off! Not only that but even when he was still conscious you tried to attack Gray instead!"
"He's a traitor!"
"Yeah Lucy! Gray did the most unmanly thing by betraying his own family!"
"Keep out of this Elfman!"
"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP!"
The three mages went white when Erza screamed at them. They must've grated her nerves way past their limits for her to shout like that. They looked at the Titania and she was looking at them with a pissed off expression.
Again…
Flare took the opportunity to pick Gray up and walk away from the crumbling Team Natsu.
"Hey! Flare right?" The hair mage whipped around to face Lucy. Her expression darkened.
"What is it blonde?"
Taken aback by her angry words, Lucy carried on. "I-i wanted to invite you back to our camp, Gray needs some treatment not only for that broken nose but for those burns and cuts."
"Why would I go along to a camp full of you fairies?..." Flare spat.
"I carried Gray to our camp when I found him nearly dead." Erza answer, wincing at the memory of seeing Gray so close to death. A blush crept up onto her face when she remembered feeling his muscular body against her.
It wasn't big but Flare caught it and her eyes narrowed…
"What are you trying to say?"
Lucy spoke up again. "I am trying to say that Gray will be in a familiar environment, thus he will probably not freak out when he awakens."
"Um, excuse me Flare-san but didn't Gray take you there after you lost against someone?"
The hair mage looked at the young girl. "wait, Gray brought me there?" She didn't know why he would that. He hated Fairy Tail.
Lucy replied to her silent question. "He allowed a small group of his old guild to meet him and explain why they betrayed him. Wendy said that she was getting those who either heavily regret their decision or those who were against it in the first place and taking them to see Gray."
She took a breath.
"He has given some of us a second chance okay. We want to help him because the last time we didn't believe him he ended up suffering from our wrong choice..."
"It wasn't wrong..." Natsu was ignored again.
Flare saw the look on the celestial mage and could see that she was being genuine. It did make her think because the last time she checked the Fairy Tail guild was just a bunch of egotistical assholes who only care for themselves…
She couldn't be wrong… Right?
Eitherway, she knew that she had no choice since Gray had got their old camp burned to ashes along with their medical supplies. It looks like the only option was to go with the fairies.
Bollocks…
::-()-::
Makarov had been up for an hour…
He couldn't feel his chest at the moment thanks to the gargantuan wound Hades gave him. Luckily Juvia had found him and brought him back to the camp and Mirajane had been kind enough to treat him.
Now he was awake and he found out about Grimore heart, Blue note (from Gildarts) and the multiple injuries that had taken place during the ordeal.
He also heard about Gray and his new partner…
The guild master didn't know how to feel. He felt grateful for the former fairies arrival, he has potentially saved his children's lives, but he had NO right to be trespassing on sacred ground!
Gray was no longer a member of Fairy tail and that was that. He wouldn't go back on his decision just because of this. He still put one of his own in danger willingly, he had a reason but he still did it willingly.
Unfortunately, due to the invasion and the chaos that Grimore heart brought to the guild the S-Class trials would have to be cancelled. There was just to many casualties to willingly allow the trials to go on.
"Master..." Mirajane's voice rang out through the tent. It sounded urgent, he hopped off his bed and made his way to Mira. Looking past her he could see a group of eight. To his eternal relief he saw Team Natsu and to his shock he saw a limping Laxus.
Then he saw a orange haired women who looked vaguely familiar to him carrying a beaten up Gray. The ice mage looked like he had been hit by a train. Multiple scorch marks marking his skin in various places as well as deep cuts on his chest that were bleeding a little.
"Flare… Can you put me down?..." He heard Gray ask his partner grumpily and his eyes widen as he remembers were he had heard of her from…
"You..." He felt his anger rise as the Raven Tail mage approached the tent, holding the now limping ice mage. It was bad enough that Gray was here knowing that this was sacred ground but having a RAVEN TAIL MEMBER on the island to was just too much.
He would have to address that later however, he needed to announce the bad news to hid guild…
"Quiet." He announced, he saw that his voice hadn't reached very far as Natsu and Gajeel were still in each others faces. "Quiet!" Still nothing…
Alright…
…
…
…
"QUIET!" He yelled, luckily this time he managed to scare the shit out of the two as well as some of the others. He motioned for them to gather around, his face tired looking.
"Listen up brats! You have all done very well in facing off Grimore heart." He saw Natsu and Elfman's grin smugly at the praise. "However, our trials have been interrupted to the point of where our necessary mage's and equipment have been damaged."
Natsu looked at the master and hesitantly asked. "What are you trying to say Gramps?"
Makarov looked at him with regret. "I'm afraid that I am going to have to cancel the S-Class trials for this year..."
"WHAT!?"
Outraged, Natsu told him, well yelled at him that he didn't have to cancel the trial as they could just fight eachother. That however was quickly dismissed by the guild master. Even though others were against his decision they tried to keep Natsu from overreacting.
That didn't stop him from pestering him…
"QUIET YOU BRAT!" Makarov was not in the mood for this. "Okay, listen. I will make an exception for you Natsu."
"WHAT!" Came the shouts he expected from the many members of the guild. He heard Natsu cry out "Yeah!" when he held his hand up. "I will let you become an S-Class mage, if you beat me in a fight..."
With enthusiasm, Natsu engulfed his body in a blazing inferno before stating his readiness for the fight.
Makarov just straight up punched him into a tree, squeezing him between his now massive fist and the now bent tree.
::-()-::
"Honestly Flare. I am going to be fine." Gray persisted. "Mirajane is one of the best when it comes to treating injuries."
Mirajane blushed at the praise. "Why thank you Gray! I'm more than happy to help."
Flare decided to ignore the praise her partner gave the woman…
"Gray. She is one of those fairies! You know what happened the last time you were with them. Do you really want to do this?!" Her response didn't seem to faze him, besides the momentary twitch in his eye.
"Some of them didn't want me to suffer, others heavily regret their decision." Gray replied. "Trust me Flare, Mira didn't even want to have a punishment for anyone. She was just as shocked as I was..."
He didn't expect her to give him a betrayed expression… Honestly…
"I-I-" She didn't finish her sentence before she ran out of the tent towards the lake, leaving Gray flustered and confused. He looked at Mira, who looked back sympathetically.
"I don't know her, but i'm sure that she'll be fine." She tried to reassure him. Although he was sure that he heard a hesitant tinge in her voice. Was he hearing things now?
If only he knew…
"Damn it… Hopefully, but I should probably make sure just to be sure..." He got up but he was promptly pushed back onto the bed by Mirajane.
"You need a tiny bit of paste on your shoulders Gray, it will help you heal faster." Mira chided.
"But-"
"Please… your friends don't want to see you hurt more than necessary, I don't either..."
"Wait, what do you me-"
"I promise it will be quick..."
Gray could've kept on arguing, but what would he had gained from winning it. He sighed and allowed Mira to rub the gross feeling paste onto his muscular shoulders.
He heard her sigh every now and then and he couldn't what type of sigh it was. He felt much more tension leave his muscles as she continued to rub the paste in.
"That feeling good Gray?" She asked him.
"It feels pretty good, relaxing if am being honest..." He sighed "You're pretty good at this Mira."
"Thanks..."
Gray and Mirajane continued to stay in the tent for a few minutes to let the paste do it's job. Gray couldn't do much other than think about the paste and Flares random fit. Mirajane just thought about the feeling of Gray's new body (shoulder muscles) relaxing into her touch.
It felt more than satisfying, and not a little bit of a turn on for the barmaid…
"Thanks..." She heard the ice mage say before he patted her shoulder in thanks and left the tent. She sighed in disappointment, and to think that she was 'that' close too.
"Oh well, I guess now isn't the perfect time..." She said to herself before going back to packing the medical supplies up.
::-()-::
She couldn't believe him!
After everything they had done for the last few months and he goes and trusts those fairy assholes instantly! She thought that she had found her true friend and he betrays her…
They were all the damn same…
"Flare..."
She tensed as she heard his voice. He wasn't the ideal person she wanted to see right now. Turning around, she saw the ice mage look at her with a concerned look on his face. He seemed worried.
"Are you okay?"
Okay? Yeah, sure…
"Yeah..." Her voice came out cold and creepy like when they first spoke to each other. He winced, what had he done to get that treatment?
"Okay, i'll bite." He spoke after a few seconds of silence. "What have I done to deserve the 'Dot Cotton treatment'?"
He got silence as a response…
Well, for a few seconds anyway.
"Why do you have to go back to those bastards…?"
"Hmm?"
"Why do you want to go back to the Fairy Tail guild!?"
Her scream took by surprise. Was that the cause for her anger?… It didn't even make any sense!
"I do-"
"NO!" She shouted again before taking a deep breath. "No… All I have ever wanted was that one person to just be there for me, to not leave me for something else and leave me wondering what I had done to deserve the abandonment…"
Gray's eyes softened at her confession.
"You have been the only one who hasn't left me within two weeks. Now it's happening again and I won't be able to take it if you do! Please don't leave me, don't leave alone like others before you have..."
Flare couldn't stop the tears that flowed from her eyes when she finished. She had gave her reasoning to him and now all she could do was hope for the best. But luck had never liked her all to much so she doubted that he would stick around.
So when Gray hugged her and rubbed her back in comfort she was pleasantly surprised…
"You know why I had chose this particular mission?" When she shook her head he elaborated. "Well I knew that you hated Nulpudding, Ivan and co' so I had gone out to do a little shopping."
"What?"
"You have always complained to me about your room and how it creeps you out and truth be told I don't like my room much either. I prefer my old house to that any day of any week." Gray saw her eyes widen and he grinned.
"You don't mean..."
"Yup. There is this beautiful looking cottage that sits by the lake in the town. It has three bedrooms and a nice and spacey living room. It costed an arm and a leg but I said that I would get the jewel to the couple two weeks from now."He took a breath before continuing on. "In short, I went house hunting for you and me… Not for what you would think." He grinned as he explained that he wasn't a pervert to the blushing Flare.
He dried her cheeks and let her go. "You are not going to be alone as long as I am alive… That is a promise..."
With that said he sat down to rest his legs as he looked over the cliff-face. The scenery was astounding with the trees and birds created a peaceful ambience that engulfed the two mages. A gust of wind gently blew against their faces to cool them down (although Gray didn't need it).
However, the peace was disturbed by a ear piercing roar that seemed to come from every angle. Not only that but Gray felt a massive sharp pain strike his entire body, he flopped onto his back and thrashed around screaming in sheer agony as the roar continued.
"Gray! What's wrong!? Please tell me so I can help!" Flares voice rang in his ears.
"F-F-Fucking pain! It Fucking Hurts! AHHHH FFFFFUUUCCCKKKK!" His screams became piercing as the roar died out. Luckily, as the roar died down so did the pain. Gray laid still for a moment to regain his senses and his energy.
He opened his eyes to see the hair mage looking down on him with a frightened expression plastered on her face.
"That. Was. Shitty..."
Before Flare could respond, a massive shadow loomed over her and Gray. Looking up her eyes landed on a creature she thought was extinct…
A Dragon…
::-()-::
I know, I am such an asshole… But this sets up the premise for season 2 when I complete TOI.
The side story finally has a name.
'ONE'S PERSEVERANCE'
I won't give away the side stories summary yet until I get through a few chapters of TOI, my rule in writing. XD
TRIVIA TIME!
1: If you had to choose a melee weapon (Dual-welding allowed) of your choice, what would it be and why?
I would go with a pair of scythes and I would use them like Death from Darksiders XD. That would be badass!
2: If you were an animal what animal would you be?
A Viper… I think reasons are not needed for this decision…
3: What is your opinion on Chapter 453?
It has become my least favourite chapter for the little reason that Gruvia seems to have been finalised as canon. I mean, I am used to crappy pairing becoming canon (Harry potter0 but really? I would rather have Gray/Master Bob/Ichiya over Gruvia. At least those characters are decent…
Before I go, I would like to thank all of you who has stuck with me throughout this season. I know the Tenrou arc was slightly disappointing and that it could've been SO much better, but you all persevered and continued to help me make the first season the best I could make it.
If it wasn't for you guys, the story wouldn't be nearly as good as it is now. :)
Lilymoon9 was the first reviewer for this story, little bit of trivia for you.
I will leave you with this bunny
()()
(oo)
(_._)
He is fucked up isn't he XD.
Oh yeah, and be sure to leave a suggestion for the next Gray pairng as the interlude one-shots will be making a comeback for a bit whilst I make some final preparations for TOI.
Thanks for reading and as always stay cool,
-viperhat
P.S. 8100 words long! plus the few words I am writing now… wow… Told you this one was long. XD