Chapter 24: Silver and Ur
(Somewhere to the north of Castle Heartfilia)
(Gray's POV)
The Vulcan exploded in a shower of blood and guts.
"We can't have you standing in our way!" Silver Fullbuster yelled. He inhaled the glacial air deeply before bellowing, "Slow pokes! Let's move! We can't have that demon keeping the little lady a moment longer."
Gray hid his face behind his hands in an attempt to block his father from his view. Silver's echo still resonated through the mountains. Even though there was nothing out here but wildlife, he wished Silver could tune his enthusiasm down.
THIS WASN'T A FREAKING VACATION!
Ur Milkovich-Fullbuster frowned, "Don't be embarrassed, Gray. He does not get the opportunity to play much. This is an adventure"
Lyon Vastia said, "I honestly don't see why he has to be out here. He could have just sent me to do Gray's job. I would rescue the damsel in distress that Gray so pitifully lost." He was Silver's first guard –the one whose head would role if anything happened to the Count of Galuna - and he was Gray's life long rival.
"Don't worry so much Lyon. Live a bit!"
"I'm just saying. When we are in public, it is customary to take a whole battalion of guards with the Count . This territory is more dangerous than any city."
They just had to bring Lyon with them, didn't they?
"Gray, calm down. Your face looks as if your brain might burst. Lyon, don't be an ass," his stepmother warned.
Gray smirked, "Yeah! Don't be an ass, Lyon."
Ur punched him right in the gut. "DON'T MOCK ME GRAY!" Then she glared at Lyon, promising retribution if he made one more smart comment toward Gray.
Lyon and Gray both shivered. Ur could be the scariest creature they ever faced.
They were silent for a little bit...
"It sad how an ice mage like yourself, born from a famous line of wizards is so hot headed." Lyon teased. Gray ignored him. Lyon had been around him long enough to know the cold attitude Gray usually wore, was all an act to keep people at a distance and Gray was actually very emotional underneath.
Ur growled at Lyon, who immediately shut up.
Gray figured he had the worst luck. Even though he tried to live without caring for people, he had these connections… these bonds that always made him remember…
Remember his heartbreak and loss…
And because they were all traveling together...
In the mountains... He couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach that something bad was going to happen. It was almost as if his life had been cursed. People he cared for, always ended up getting hurt.
Gray's mother, Princess Mika, had died years ago in the mountains when her and Gray were visiting a neighboring kingdom. A demon of Zeref's had attack the riders. Mika and Gray had been slung from their carriage. Trying to escape was no use. Deliora with his breath could wipe out whole landscapes for miles. Mika had used their family's secret technique, Ice Shell to destroy the demon. Her body had been morphed into a giant ice cage that had slowly drainged the demon's life until he crumbled into dust, but magic always comes with a price. This particular spell had sacrificed his mother into becoming the cage so when Deliora died, she did as well.
Mika had been his first teacher. The one who showed him how magic before Ur or his father got to train him in the ice and demon slaying arts.
Half frozen and knocking on deaths door, Gray had walked away from the carnage, away from his mother, away from the life that had all changed in a moment.
Gray knew that if he stopped walking he would die. He was not even old enough to know how to survive in the cold, but he was exhausted that he would surely fall asleep if he stopped. Then the ice would kill him.
It was just so cold…
Willpower alone kept him moving though the temperature was well below zero.
He had eventually been found by Ur and her daughter Ultear who had heard the commotion from the battle from miles away. They were "yuki-onna" snow witches. Gray was sure they were going to kill him, but they hadn't. They tended to his wounds and took him in.
Ur was the daughter of the immortal InVel and a demon. Ultear's father had been a human that the yuki-onna had captured and tricked into living with her.
"Gray FOCUS!" Ur yelled.
Gray barely had time to react as another Vulcan tried to wayhlay him. The creature did not live for very long as Gray created a spear that stabbed its head.
Lyon said, "So childish. You should pay attention."
"Mind you own business, Lyon."
The small group continued forward. The forest seemed quieter than before. At least nothing was trying to kill them…
Ur and Lyon took a step and suddenly they were falling. Gray started to say something but the ground disappeared from under his feet too.
Anyone who lives far north knows about the dangers hidden under the snow. Treacherous traps lay in wait to ensnare unsuspecting travelers in the form of holes frozen that had thawed. Any weight placed on the surface could trigger the thinning ice to cave in itself, leading to common unexplained vanishings throughout the mountains. This is why it was important to not travel alone.
Silver was too far ahead to realize the danger.
Gray felt time slow as his body began to be pulled down by gravity. His reflexes dulled by his earlier memories.
Thankfully, Ur's reaction speed was fast. "Ice Make Net," She cried.
Gray's body hit the net causing him to grunt from the impact before rolling down on top of Lyon.
"GETOFFME!" Lyon screamed pushing Gray almost off the net.
"Thanks Ur." He complemented her on her quick action before picking himself up and dusting Lyon's contamination off.
Lyon mocked, "Aren't you supposed to be a capable warrior?"
"Shut it!" His family distracted him to no end, which is one of the reasons he had tried to get as far away from them as he could.
Second reason he hated being around his family. They always treated him like an invalid, incapable of doing anything by himself.
Gray had lived with the Ur and Ultear until he convinced himself they were evil and escaped. Ur had been too pissed to follow him (Gray throwing her kindness back into her face), but Ultear had tried to retrieve him. She was only a few years older than him and they had become really good friends.
Ultear had caught up to Gray somewhere in the Wilds. That was were the two had been captured by bandits and sold as slaves in Bosco.
As slaves, they met two other children, Lyon and Meredy. When Bosco had banished slavery and the Gray and Lyon had been released, but Ultear and Meredy disappeared.
Gray and Lyon had lived on the streets as pickpockets, common riffraff. Until they stole something from the wrong person.
The man named Gildarts Clive had been a friend of Silver's and recognized the strong resemblance in Gray.
He had taken the boys to the castle where they had met Gray's father.
A rags to riches story… Well riches to rags to riches…
It actually was a funny story how Ur ended up married to his father.
After Ultear had fail to return, Ur had went looking for the two children. She never found them, but she eventually caught up to their trail around the time Gildarts had taken the boys to Silver, who had welcomed them with tears.
As a commoner who married into royalty, the Bosco officials had dubbed Silver, the Queen's Consort, instead of officially declaring him a king. That title had gone to Mika's closest male relative instead. Silver therefore had been given a lower title ("Count of Galuna") and a seat in the Court of Lords.
Ur had attacked the court trying to free the children. It lead to an epic battle between the demon and Silver who had inherited ice magic from his father. Ur actually won the fight. Gray and Lyon explained the misunderstanding making Ur spare Silver's life. She had left to find her daughter leading to an obsession by Silver to find the beautiful witch. Around this time, Gray and Lyon joined the military. Then Gray had left to join Heartfilia's group when Ur married Silver. Ur had apparently found Ultear, but she did not discuss it with anyone. She had only told Gray that Ultear and Meredy were still alive.
"What is this place?' Ur asked as she allowed the net to creep toward the bottom of the pit.
Lyon slid down the side. "Let's explore."
Silver yelled from the top, "Everyone alright?!"
The reason why Gray had finally left Bosco was because Ur told him a secret about Zeref. Zeref was probably not behind the raid that killed his mother. The one in charge was probably END, the demon king. Gray had made it a personal goal to kill this END, whoever he might be and that was the third reason he had moved. Become a pawn for Jude Heartfilia ensured that he would always be on the front lines if Zeref's demons ever attacked.
Gray crouched, muscles tight and hard as he picked up the dark colored rock on the cavern floor. It was strange that now snow fell with them. Actually the temperature was so warm in the pit that he was surprised any ice had covered its mouth.
A metallic smell filled his nostrils. He jerked back as the ground he touched started to ooze blood. The red residue was already leaving a stain on his sleeve.
"Are you hurt, Gray? You are bleeding!"
"No the blood was already here." His heart raced as he tried to think of what to do. He could sense something powerful in the cave that he now stood in. It reminded him a bit of the demon that kidnapped Lucy.
"Hey I think we should investigate this place!" Gray called back up to Silver, who leaped to join them.
He landed gracefully causing Ur to smile.
"That's my sexy hubby." She made cat calls at him.
"CAN YOU TWO BE SERIOUS FOR TWO SECONDS SO I CAN THINK?!" Gray shouted at them causing some ice to shatter.
Ur puckered her face mischievously at Gray trying to be the responsible one. Lyon just seemed annoyed by Gray's outburst. Silver laughed and reached over to dip Ur before kissing her.
"One day you will learn that one happy waifu equals good lifeu. And maybe will get you a reward when you come home everyday." Silver commented. Ur kissed Silver again.
Lyon rolled his eyes while Gray tried to puke. Seriously, no child wanted to witness their parents acting like horny teenagers.
SIlver frowned, "You feeling what I'm feeling?" Gray nodded. He was only too glad to turn the attention back to the situation on hand.
"Do we have something to light our path?"
Lyon pulled out his saber which had a fire element to it – standard issue for the royal guard. "I suppose I will lead." He joked. Silver and Ur brought up the rear.
As they got closer to the strange feeling intensified, Gray started to worry if it was coming from one thing. It felt like a whole group was in front of them, radiating a tremendous energy.
Maybe they were about to discover Zeref's lair.
"This cannot be good." Lyon muttered.
The tunnel ended at a pile of snow. Silver made quick work of clearing the obstacle.
Climbing out into the bright of day, the Fullbusters saw they were in a huge crater.
Ur meditated with her senses for a bit before saying, "This is…. Fresh. Like this hole has only been here for a few weeks. Something emerged from the earth and made what we are standing inside."
Gray gaped at the size. Whatever had sprung from underneath ground had to be enormous… like Deloira.
"Was it a demon?"
"A demon didn't make this."
"What did?"
"A dragon. "
The searched the site for what seemed like hours until Lyon asked, "What is this? "
He held up a set of broken keys.
Ur snatched the items away. "These are binding celestial seals for making shiki contracts, but they are broken."
"Why would someone break them?"
Silver said, "To make a spell similar our family's Ice shell."
Ur nodded. "The main difference is what is being sealed is frozen in a separate space and time instead of just frozen in ice. It's based around celestial magic. I had heard of a clan that could use the magic of the stars better than anyone else in history. But whoever broke these keys, died when they did it."
Gray looked closer at the keys. He was almost positive they were exactly like Aquarius's key that Lucy wore around her neck.
Had this been the dragon that had killed Layla Heartfilia?
A pulse of energy radiated out.
Silver yelled, "Get down!"
Everyone ducked as black bombs rained down on them causing rock and ice to fall.
"Cowardly surprise attack!" Lyon said before standing up. He then fell again. Red seeped into his blue uniform. "I think I might have been hit."
Lyon gurgled as he coughed up blood.
Next Chapter: Mavis's Garden
AN: I still apologize for last chapter. One day I will go back and edit it, but these tests are zapping my creative energy. Initially this chapter and last chapter and one other were together but so much was happening… it needed to be spread out. The next part of this was pushed back. I hope you don't mind a bit of jumping each chapter. So Virgo was kidnapped last chapter. Cana saw Gildarts. Juvia is following Virgo. Lyon just got hit. And Natsu might have hurt Lucy. Stuff keeps piling up. How will this all end?
Hope I get to write soon but I know I have a test Friday and 3 tests next week plus two quizzes and a presentation/paper due the week after that. So the updates will be slow now. Weekends will be my main time to write.
Sidenote: Ur, Silver, Gildarts story from this chapter almost could be its own fanfiction. What do you think?