Back with the continuation

"speaking"

""thinking""

On with the story

With END

He was sitting on his throne with a bored expression as he was alone after Kyoka and Sayla left to do his orders

"I'm bored" he said casually as he yawns

His eyes then looks to the chess set near him

END stands up before walking towards the chess set and sees that a few pieces were destroyed

He reached towards one piece as he stares at the figure of Silver

""who are you?"" he asked in his mind as he can sense that this man was not an Etherious

With Gray

Gray was teleported away with Silver, far away from the others as the Ice Make wizard stood in front of Silver

Fully prepared to fight his opponent at the onset, Gray was surprised when he found that Silver wanted to talk before they engaged in battle. Gray begrudgingly obliged his request and in return the demon revealed all of Tartaros' plans to the Fairy Tail wizard.

"3000 Face bombs?" Gray questioned. Unsurprisingly he was skeptical of the demon's words. "Why would the council build so many of those things?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, kid." Silver shrugged.

"And you brought me all the way out here just to tell me that?"

"Don't get me wrong. I wasn't trying to help you or anything. I just wanted to see the look of despair on your face when I told you."

Gray smirked. "Sorry to disappoint you, pal, but that's not happening anytime soon."

"Damn, too bad." Silver sarcastically lamented. "I was hoping to enjoy myself for a bit before I killed you."

Gray stared at Silver in silence again as an old feeling was rising in his hear

"Something on my face?" Silver probed.

"You know who I am, don't you?" Gray asked. He didn't know why he did. He just felt that it was the right thing to ask at the time.

"Yes I do." Silver answered. "I know you very well."

"Your face and voice…they seem pretty familiar to me. There's this weird sensation in the back of my mind that keeps telling me you're someone I know you're not." Gray had visions – or rather memories – of a once quiet, snow-covered, mountain town. All burned to ash by a monster with no care for human life. Among the most vivid of these memories was of a boy desperately reaching out for the dead body of his father. A man who looked just like the demon before him.

"Who the hell are you?" Gray glared at Silver, but the demon continued to smirk in self-satisfaction.

"You've already realized who I am…" Silver began. "I'm your father."

"Stop messing with me!" Gray shouted. "My old man is dead! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Guess you need to check them because I really am your father. I am Silver Fullbuster."

"Stop lying!" Gray thrust out his arm, creating multiple blades of ice, and sent them forth to attack Silver.

Silver swiped his arm, destroying all of Gray's creations with his own ice. Gray clenched his teeth and ran forward in a rage, lunging to Silver with a punch.

The demon evaded and Gray swung again, but this time Silver blocked with his forearm. His amused expression unchanging he froze Gray's fist and wrist before pushing him back. Gray landed on the ground with a hard thud as the ice holding his arm broke apart.

He stood up again, all the while denying the feelings he felt inside.

"I'm taking you down! There's no way you're my dad!"

Silver snickered at the young man before breaking out in a full blown fit of laughter. Gray was nearly foaming at the mouth with rage.

The Fairy Tail wizard clasped his hands together to activate his magic, but a swipe of Silver's hand stopped him. Silver's explosions of purple ice pushed Gray back into a pile of rubble.

"It's true, I am your father." Silver reiterated. "But I'm someone else as well."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"It's real simple when you think about it. You and I are important to one another, Gray. It's always been our destiny to fight against each other!"

Gray gathered his power in his hands. "Our destiny? You're delusional."

Silver swiped his arm again, this time the ice he summoned managing to make Gray break through the rock he was standing in front of. "I don't blame you for being confused. I guess I'll start by explaining how I got this body."

Gray struggled to his feet as he listened to Silver speak.

"This body I have now is just a vessel. In other words I'm borrowing it. I know you humans have a thing against stealing but the law doesn't count if the body is dead now does it?" He grinned darkly. "All the demons in Tartaros originated from the Book of Zeref. Including myself."

Gray's eyes went wide in horror. "What?"

"Staying in demon form is a hassle though. That's why I appear as a human most of the time. And since I was going to be human most of the time, I decided to at least choose a good looking one." He patted his chest. "That's where this guy came from. I've been using this body for a long while now. Guess you could say I've gotten fond of it."

Gray was trying his best to comprehend Silver's words, but none of it was making sense. ""Stolen? He stole my dad's dead body? What the hell is going on here?""

"Although, it might be my choosing this body that brought us together." Silver chuckled. He then grinned once more, malice dripping from his tongue as he spoke his next words. "Do you know how long I've waited for the chance to kill you with my bare hands?"

"Don't use that shifty logic to justify taking my dad's body for a joyride, you demon bastard!" Gray snapped. "Besides even after you say that, I have no idea who the hell you even are! What's your problem with me?!"

"Oh I have a big one with you, Gray." Silver answered. "Same goes for Lyon Vastia and even that wretched spawn of hers, Ultear. Anyone connected to Ur."

Gray's eyes slowly opened wider. The true identity of just who he was facing was beginning to be made all the more clear to him.

A sadistic smile pulled on Silver's chapped lips. "That damned woman…she imprisoned me for over a decade. Remember?"

Gray's eyes opened as wide as they could and he began to shake with fear. "No…"

"I'm the demon Deliora!" Silver roared. "Don't you remember me, Gray?!"

Gray stared at Silver in hushed shock. Because of this wild proclamation he was forced to remember his final days with Ur. Forced to relive the day when she sacrificed her life to save him and Lyon from Deliora's wrath. He clenched his fist and it began to shake.

"You're lying." he reasoned. He thought back to Deliora's body crumbling on Galuna Island. Was it a lie? No, it had to be real. There was no way that Deliora could still be alive. "Ur killed Deliora."

"She did." Silver nodded. "It took me ten long years to die, but thanks to Hell's Core I was brought back to life."

"You…you're really Deliora?" Reasoning and logic began to give way to revenge and wrath as Gray clenched his fists even tighter. He was squeezing so hard that he began to draw blood from his own palms.

"What? You don't believe me?" Silver teased. "I could transform if you want. How about I assume the form I used to kill your parents?"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Gray let out a shout of anger as he rushed towards Silver the former laughed maniacally

With Natsu and the others

Natsu and the others were still in battle against the three Etherious as they were proving to be a bit hard to defeat

"Water Slicer!"

Juvia swings her hands as a scythe like shaped water attacks Keyes who evaded the attack and flies towards Juvia and knocked her down to the ground with his staff.

"The story of the boy Gray will end on this day." Keyes announced, floating and solidifying before them. He tapped the bottom of his staff on the broken Earth.

Juvia felt something in her click and she narrowed her glare at the necromancer, her pupils shrinking in her anger.

"What did you say?" she growled.

"I see what shall pass." Keyes explained. "He will once again fall into despair in the face of calamitous power. I foresee that the student will follow the same path as the Master."

Keyes chuckled as he holds his staff up before slamming it down to the ground

As skeletons came sprouting out of the ground and started to attack Fairy Tail

With Gray

"Deliora!" Gray roared. He sprinted forward, activating his magic with the slam of his hands.

"Let's see what you've got, remnants of Ur!" Silver exclaimed at Gray

Gray summoned a geyser of ice but Silver jumped in the air to evade.

Silver thrust his palm towards Gray's creation, breaking it into shards and using those to attack him.

Gray dodged the flying projectiles by jumping up but Silver met him in the air, blasting him off of their fighting platform with a block of ice.

"Dammit!" Gray looked at the distance he was to the ground. It was a long drop. There was no way he would land safely. Thinking quickly he created a platform mid-air and jumped from it. He repeated this process on multiple platforms until he was sailing mid-air over Silver.

"Impressive." Silver complimented

Gray held his hands over his head, gathering as much energy as he could.

"Ice Make! Cold! Excalibur!"

Gray creates a giant blade as he swung it down at Silver who used his hands to catch the sword before he took a bite out of the ice sword.

"What the hell?!" Gray exclaimed as his weapon was eaten by Silver.

"Did you forget that Slayer-type wizards are immune to their own element?" Silver laughed.

"Since your one of Ur's flunkies, all you know is Ice magic. That's why I chose to learn Ice Devil slayer magic!"

"So what if you're immune? I'm still going to beat you!" Gray declared.

"You would like to think so, wouldn't you? Watch this." Silver snapped his fingers and shards of ice emerged from the cuts on Gray's body.

"Gaaaaahhh!" Gray cried out in pain as Silver smirks evilly

"This is great! Perfect even! The twisting features of pain in your face and eyes! It's all wonderful! After I finish you I'll take care of Lyon! Then Ultear but wait..." he smirked evilly. "She's already dead, isn't she?"

Gray gnashed his teeth in anger. "You don't get to say her name!" He raised his fist above his palm and slammed it down.

"Ice Impact!"

Silver caught the hammer with his bare hand and began to feast.

"You don't listen well do you? Slayer type wizards can devour their nature elements!" Silver told him before he started puffing his cheeks with air

"My turn now." Silver said as Gray's eyes widen in surprise.

"Hyoma no Gekiko!"

Gray tried to block but he was blown away by the fierce blizzard from Silver's mouth and was sent flying through the air.

"gah!" Gray crashed down as Silver smirks while chuckling

"ahahahaha!" Silver laughed at Gray

Gray struggled to his feet, his body covered in cuts and bruises.

As he keeps hearing Silver's laughter the more he started to remember his father

""Grow up to be strong, Gray.""

His father's words rang in his head as Gray stands back up and glares at Silver

"I'm going to kill you…if it's the last thing I do."

"Give it your best shot!" Silver taunted, the evil glint in his eye growing brighter. "Your ice doesn't work on me, boy!"

Gray pressed his hand on the ground.

"Ice Make! Cannon!"

As soon as it appeared, the cannon fired at Silver.

Silver scoffed at his attempt.

"Pathe- gaah?!" Silver said before he was interrupted as a rock hits his chin

"What the hell?!" he looked over and sees the rock flying away.

"You created an ice cannon, but used the rubble as ammo?!" Silver exclaimed before he looked back at Gray and sees that he had made more Cannons and started rapid firing at Silver with any rubble he could find.

"That's enough of that!" Silver shouted. He clenched his hand into a fist, covering the entire battlefield in ice. "What are you going to do now, boy?"

Gray looked around at the frozen wasteland and grinned. "You've just dug your own grave." He placed his hands on the ground and his body began to glow, surprising Silver.

"What is this?"

"This is the ice you used to freeze Sun Village right?" Gray rhetorically asked, his body glowed even brighter.

"I can pass it through my body and use it in my own magic. I know that slayer wizards are immune against the same element, but that isn't the case when it's their own does it?"

Silver's eyes went wide at Gray's summation.

Gray turned his body and stuck out one of his hands towards Silver. "You're done!" a force of purple ice and snow shot forth from his hand and engulfed Silver, but much to Gray's alarm he stood his ground.

"Yeah it's true that I can't eat my own ice." The demon said.

"But that doesn't mean it'll hurt me. Ice is still ice no matter who uses it." He looked at the shock in Gray's expression and his satisfaction grew.

"There it is. There's the look of fear I've been searching for. You remember yet? The fear from the terror Deliora?!" Gray attempted another attack but Silver swiped his hand, creating spikes of ice that knocked Gray away.

"What happened to all that vigor?" The demon mocked. "Are you too scared to fight back now?"

Gray tried to stand but Silver stepped on his ribs. He then proceeded to repeated stomp and kick the downed Gray whilst berating him.

"That's it! Struggle in vain! Let me see the look of pain on your face! Grovel for your life, human!" He swung his hand, covering Gray in ice spikes as he knocked him away again.

"You really thought you could beat me? You're still that same pathetic kid that wet his pants the last time you faced me! Ur learned this lesson so why can't you?! A human can never defeat a demon!"

Gray once again staggered to his knees, blood dripping from his mouth. "I don't care…what you say!" he glared at the cocky Silver, though one of his eyes was closed shut. "I have to win this fight!"

"How do you plan to do that? We've established over and over again that ice doesn't work on me, I basically stopped any attempts at a physical attack, and you can't think that any emotional appeal is going to save you."

Gray's haggard breaths ached in his chest. "There's…one more thing…I can do." He spread his legs apart and crossed his arms over in front of himself.

"Iced Shell!"

Silver's eyes briefly widened in fear before he returned to his trademark smirk.

"You're bluffing. The same spell Ur used to seal me? Are you willing to give up your life for that? That spell is useless now that I've learned Devil Slayer magic."

"So you're man enough to test out that theory?!" Gray challenged.

Silver was starting to get worried the longer he looked into Gray's eyes. "Stop bluffing! You'll die!"

"We'll see about that, Deliora!" Gray roared. His body began glowing.

"Not again!" Silver swiped his arm to attack Gray, but the ice wizard broke apart on contact. "An Ice sculpture?!"

Gray appeared behind the demon. "This is for my family…and for Ur!"

"Damn you!"

""don't cast that spell again, using it is the coward' way to die"" Gray recalled the words Natsu said to him on Galuna Island and he briefly wavered.

Gray then started seeing images of his friends and family in his mind before he sees Ur who was smiling to him.

He closed his eyes before refocusing on the frightened Silver.

""I'm sorry!""

"Iced! Shell!"

As he opened his arms to unleash the spell, Ultear appeared in his mind, along with the last words she spoke to him.

""To atone for my sins, I will protect the ones that I love.""

"s-stop it!" Silver exclaimed as he froze Gray in ice before he sees him behind him

"an ice Sculpture?!" he exclaimed in surprise as the fake Gray crumbles to pieces

"for my family… and for UR! I'll make you pay!" Gray exclaimed

"damnit!" Silver shouted as Gray unleashed Iced Shell as a blizzard flies towards Silver

"it won't!" Silver grunted as he focused the energies of Iced Shell and redirected them towards an astonished Gray.

"work!" he shouted.

Silver was fooled yet again. "Another ice sculptures?!"

""I'm sorry everyone"" Gray voice out in his mind before he appeared behind Silver with a projectile in his hands

""I was forgetting something important!""

Silver turned around and sees Gray holding an iron ball

""I ain't dying today! Cause I don't want to see my friends cry!""

Gray readied the iron ball as he stretched out his hand as far as he can

""Where did he get that ball? From the rubble?!"" Silver looks in shock before his eyes spotted a crate full of iron balls

Ice started to appear around the iron ball as the ice forms into a giant hand

"Ice Make! Vambrace!"

Gray hurled the iron ball at Silver as the iron ball pierced through his abdomen.

Silver spit up blood fell backwards, lying flat on a platform of ice. A smile slowly crept across his lips.

"Nice…one…" he coughed out

"You can stop with the act." Gray said. Through their battle, he had come to a realization. "I already know you're not Deliora. You're really my dad, aren't you?"

Silver looked at Gray before looking back up to the sky. "Just finish me off…"

"Answer me!" Gray demanded. "You are my dad! What the hell are you doing in a place like this?!"

"I was waiting…for you to kill me…" Silver admitted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I may have been your dad at one point, but not anymore. I haven't been human for a long time, but I'm not a demon either. I'm a dead man. I've been dead for seventeen years now."

Gray looked at his father in ever growing shock.

"That doesn't make any sense." He said as he looks at Silver. "If you're dead, then how can you be here with me right now?"

"A necromancer…" Silver began. "He chose to use my body in an experiment of his."

"An experiment…?!"

"Yeah." Silver nodded.

"He wanted to see just how close he could get to bringing someone back from the dead. I was just one in a line of hundreds, probably thousands, of other subjects, and it seems I'm the only one that 'survived'. If you can even call it that. I'm more of a puppet than anything. But even so…" He grinned as wide as he could, but Gray could feel his father's overwhelming sadness.

"Everything I've done since then was to rid the world of the demons who took my family from me!" he shouted.

"When I joined Tartaros, I did anything I could to rid the world of the demons without them catching on. I succeeded a few times. I even messed up a few of their plans without them realizing it, but I made a mistake when I froze that Village back then, I thought that the fire was a demon of some sort..sorry about that"

"I had created this whole plan that would wipe out the guild once and for all, but then I found out you were alive…you were so strong and so brave during that fight against that masked guy in the Grand Magic Games." Silver grinned as he remembers seeing Gray on a Lacrima screen where he was fighting Rufus

"I couldn't help but tear up. I was so relieved that you were alive. I had heard rumors about Ur taking on two young boys as students but I never thought that you were one of them. I was so proud at how strong you had become. I also realized something else…" he held his shaking hands over his face, gazing at both the past as well as present blood on his hands.

"I didn't have the right to fight for you…or your mother…"

"So you just decided to die…?" Gray surmised.

"I've been dead for years." Silver reminded. "I decided to end it. Just end it all and leave my mission to you." Silver sat up, his eyes locked onto the ground.

"No one asked you to do that!" Gray shouted. "Don't just go pinning things on me out of the blue! I didn't even know you were alive until now!"

"I know it's a lot to take on, and I'm probably the worst father in the world for pushing my problems onto you, but I know you'll do fine. I know I said some awful things to you…and for that I'm sorry, son. I don't deserve to be in your thoughts after the things I've done."

"That doesn't matter." Gray asserted. "You're still my dad."

"No!" Silver protested, tears running down his cheeks.

"what kind of father would hurt his own son!"

"you are" Gray muttered out

"Finish me off, Gray! I can't take this pain any longer…"

Gray created an ice sword as he readied it beside him

"So you really want this? You really want me to end your life once and for all?"

"Please…" Silver pleaded. "Reunite me with Mika…"

Gray hesitantly walked towards his shamed father.

"Don't hesitate, son!" Silver shouted. "I helped Tartaros with Face! I did nothing when they abducted a little girl! I murdered council members! This is what I deserve! I am your enemy!"

"Yeah…" Gray said. "Even if you are my father, you attacked Fairy Tail. You hurt my family! I can't let that slide!"

"I don't blame you, son. That is what it means to be human." Silver agreed with a sad smile.

Gray walked closer to Silver, but dropped his sword. "I know what I have to do but I can't do it!" he cried, tears surging from his eyes.

"Even after all you've done, you're still my dad! I can't kill you!"

Silver looked to his son with proud eyes as he smiled to him

"Dammit…dammit…" Gray repeated in frustration. He wiped away his flowing tears, falling to his knees on the ice. Silver rose and walked to him, wrapping his arms around his sobbing son.

"It doesn't really matter. My body won't last much longer anyway."

"Dad…" Gray said through his sobs. "Can we stay like this a little longer?"

Silver smiled softly, tears once again streaming down his face as he clutched his son closer to him.

"Sure, son. For as long as you want." He told him as he held his son after.

"You've made both your mom and I so proud!"

Gray wrapped his arms around Silver's back as he continued to cry.

With END

"I see, so he was the reason the numbers of Etherious in the guild was weakened," END said as he crushed the chess piece in his hands

"fate is such an amusing thing" END grins before he cackled

That's a wrap!

Bye bye