Chapter 24

Deliora Arc – End

Ur

I sat on the front porch of my cabin. Inside, the mages were tending to their wounds from our battle against Deliora. A few days had passed since then. A makeshift facility was constructed, courtesy of my Ice Make magic, to house the dead body of Silver. An expert was set to come in to look at the body and make sure Deliora was truly dead, and if not, recover his book.

The door opened and Ultear stepped out with a steaming mug, "Everyone seems to be doing fine."

"I'm glad to hear that. Is Mira moving around?"

Ultear remained silent, so I looked at her to see an annoyed look on her face.

"Well?"

"Yeah."

"How about Gray and Lyon?"

"Cana has been keeping an eye on Gray. Sherry has been keeping an eye on Lyon."

I sat in quiet contemplation as Ultear took a seat next to me. This wasn't how I hoped this mission would have gone. I had hoped this would give the boys closure from the whole Deliora incident, but it seemed to only create more angst for them. And I had hoped to get closer to my daughter, she was never supposed to be in any real danger, but with everything that has happened, it didn't exactly go that way.

"And, how are you?" I asked her.

"I'm fine. A little banged up, but in better shape than Mirajane."

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit a that, "You really don't like her, do you?"

"No." she flatly responded.

"By the way, who was that pink haired girl you were talking with on the lacrima last night?"

That seemed to have taken Ultear by surprise, "Were you spying on me?"

"I just happened to see you talking with a young girl on the lacrima." I replied with a shrug.

Cana

Gray was once more wandering through the forest alone. I felt bad for my fellow guild-mate. I understood that he didn't want Silver to die. None of us wanted him to die, but I didn't understand why it hurt him so much. He had only just met the man a few days ago.

"Would you stop following me." Gray called back to me.

"Hey, you aren't the only one who can take walks out here."

"Well there are other paths in that case."

"Yeah, but I wanna walk with you!" I picked up the pace a bit, so I was right next to him and threw my arm around his shoulder.

"Cana, I want to be alone."

Gray gave me the cold shoulder, both literally and figuratively, but I persisted, "Come on Gray, we're worried about you. You haven't been yourself since the fight…hell you haven't stripped since then."

Gray looked down at his clothes and saw they were indeed still on his body.

"It's nothing."

"Gray." I looked him dead in the eye with a serious expression.

Gray stared back at me. I could see in his eyes that he was debating opening up to me.

"I promise, this stays between us."

Finally, Gray relented, "When Deliora destroyed my home...I thought I lost everything. I thought my mom and dad died in the attack, but...my dad survived."

"How do you know?"

"I wasn't sure until Deliora took him over…" Gray's breathing picked up and he was on the verge of tears, "But...he said that Silver was my father, and he was crying out for me."

"Gray..." I pulled him into a hug. I was skeptical of whether or not Deliora was just trying to get under Gray's skin by saying that.

"I had my suspicions when I first met him." Gray continued, "He had the same name, he looked like him, and when we thought we were going to finish of Deliora, he said the name of my mother."

I still couldn't be one hundred percent sure, but it did sound plausible that Silver really was Gray's dad. Though that made me wonder, how did he survive the attack all those years ago, and why only show up now?

I pulled away from Gray and looked him in the eyes,"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here."

Gray breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth a few times before choking out, "Thank you."

Lyon

I stood slouched at the island in the kitchen. Next to me was Sherry who was rubbing my back, trying to cheer me up.

"Mira-Nee!" Lisanna cried from the other room, "The doctor said you need to rest!"

"I'm fine!"

"It's not manly to ignore orders!" Elfman tried to argue.

"Well it's a good thing I'm not a man!"

I tuned the Strauss siblings out and thought back to the fight against Deliora. Ever since Ur took Gray and I in to learn Ice Make magic, I was always one step ahead of Gray. Better at everything than him. But when we fought Deliora, nothing I did seemed to work.

"Lyon-sama, would you like something to eat?" Sherry asked.

I looked over at the pink haired girl next to me. She had been with me ever since I joined Lamia Scale. Like Yuka, Toby, and I, she also lost her family to Deliora. Unlike me though, she fully embraced the new family she had made at Lamia Scale. I even suspect part of the reason she asked me out was to get me to open up to the guild.

"Sherry?"

"Yes, Lyon-sama?"

"Do you think I'm…arrogant?"

Sherry gave me a surprised look, "What? Of course not, what would make you think that?"

"I've always felt like I was better than Gray, but against Deliora…I really couldn't do anything."

"Well…uh." Sherry looked nervous.

"Tell me the truth."

"If you want the truth, you've been so arrogant it's been affecting your magic." Came Yuka's voice.

I looked up at my teammate and told him, "I wasn't asking you."

"You really think she's going to give you the honest answer?" Yuka asked.

I looked to Sherry for confirmation.

"When it comes to your magic, it's not as strong as it used to be ever since you stopped casting with two hands."

I took a deep breath, "That's was Ur was saying. My spells are off balance."

"You're a talented mage Lyon." Yuka told me, "I'd say you have what it takes to be an S-Class mage. If only you would stop taking shortcuts."

"I have to agree with him, Lyon-sama." Sherry added, "You're strong when you use your magic as Ur taught you."

I nodded my head in understanding, only for my stomach to start growling.

Sherry gave a light giggle, "Here, let me fix you up something to eat!"

Deliora Containment Facility

An older man dressed in priestly attire and a middle-aged woman dressed in similar attire were escorted through the vast icy corridors of the facility. They were led to the only metal room in the building. In this room in the center of the building was a middle-aged man on a metal operating table.

"Thank you, we will take it from here." The woman told their escort, "Please give Father Keith some space to do his work."

"Of course, Sister Seilah," the escort replied, "Please call us if you need any help."

The escort and the rest of the attendants in the room left per Sister Seilah's request, leaving the man and woman alone in the room with the demon. They looked over his body to observe the purple ice that was sticking out of his chest.

"What was he thinking? Taking over a devil slayer?" Seilah wondered aloud.

"Foolish as it was, he chose a good a vessel." Father Keith replied.

"What makes you say that, Keyes?"

"This vessel was one of my…experiments." The man replied.

"Really now? So, then his story was already over?"

"Perhaps."

"Yet, it would seem he had written a new chapter in Deliora's book."

"Yes, Hell's Core will be able to revive him at full power. With our help, he could prove a great asset to the Demon Gates."

"The Demon Gates?" Seilah questioned, her voice becoming disgusted, "Deliora is not worthy of that rank. He'd make better use as a foot soldier."

"We will see what Master thinks. But with Devil Slayer magic…he could be a powerful ally."

And that concludes the Deliora Arc! Thank you everyone for reading. I appreciate all the favorites and follows I have received since I begun updating this story again. Next week will begin the next arc.

As a final note, please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter/arc. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.