Hello fellow clumps of somethings…
So, the exposure mini arc is moving on to it's second chapter. Deliora is practicaly on Brago's front door and Gray is bloody sleeping!
WTF!?
let's see what happens…
LETS READ!
:::-((x))-:::
"GRAY!, GET UP NOW!"
Gray had no idea what was going on, at one blissful moment he was sleeping and having a rather lovely dream and the next he was frightened out of said dream by his fathers loud shout piercing the silence that not only ruined the silence in his room, but it also scared the ever living shit out of him.
Sleep was still affecting his young body as he groggily got to his feet to then hear the roars that emanated outside of his room.
To say that he was now wide awake would be perfectly correct right now…
"W-What was that dad!?" he winced as he heard the fear in his own voice, he had no idea what was happening and he hated being scared. The sooner his father told him what was going on the better in his opinion.
"JUST GET DOWN HERE, NOW! QUICKLY!"
He hurriedly dashed towards his closet and slapped on his black gear, this time putting on his more flexible black cargo trousers and his Black long sleeve shirt with the usual steel toed boots. He knew that whatever had got his father like this was dangerous so he also put on his leather jacket and gloves before he rushed downstairs to his frantic father.
Silver saw his son and got onto one knee. "Okay, listen Gray." His tone was hard but worried. "You have to get out of here now. Go and get jade and run, as far as you can! You understand right?"
Gray looked at him with apprehension. "Just tell me what's happening Father!" he couldn't keep his voice from cracking as he spoke. "W-Why do I need to run? Why are you scared? What's happening?!"
His father didn't answer and quickly shoved him through the door. Gray was about to ask him again but when he turned around he stopped half way when he saw the massive body of what looked like a demon.
As the demon blew up another house the light from the fire lit up it's ugly face. Gray's eyes widened when he realised that the demon that was attacking his town was the demon he had researched on during his training: Deliora.
His attention was taken away from the demon and back towards his father when he grabbed his shoulders and roughly turned Gray towards him.
"Run. Run and do not stop running! Not even if you are tired! If you must you can grab Jade and her baby brother before getting out of this village okay!?" After seeing the demon and the destruction it was reigning he now understood his fathers panicked words. But he knew that no matter how powerful his father was he would never be able to stand up against a demon of Deliora's calibre.
If he was planning on fighting he would die…
but he also knew that Silver was stupidly stubborn and wouldn't take any chances on his safety. Arguing was useless.
The look in his fathers eyes was enough to send him sprinting away from the house just as it was struck with the crackling blast of roaring fire.
He felt bad for leaving his father, but Jade and other people were still out there and they were in just as much danger as he was. He used that one thought to drive his body to jump over high piles of burning wood and tinder and duck under the multiple fire blasts from the giant demon.
Although, he did get burned a few times. Not only that but he had also bad cut up slightly from the sharp pieces of shrapnel like wooden splinters, but his friends house was now in sight and the trek had only made him realise just how far Jades house was from his. He had been running at full sprint with his magic backing him up for 10 to 15 minutes, Brago may had been considered a small town, but it was still colossal in comparison to many.
Gray had just experienced that fact fully…
Quickly approaching Jades home he could just about see the figures of Jade and her baby brother in her little arms as she cried out in desperation. His eyes went wide as saucers when he saw Clint and Ayumi Trapped under lots of burning rubble. Unfortunately, Ayumi seemed to have been pierced through the heart by a massive chunk of what used to be the families roof, killing her almost instantly.
Clint didn't seem much better. His legs looked burned to a crisp and he seemed to be sacrificing his hands to keep the bigger portion of the blazing wood from falling on him completely. Gray felt horrible for the man he had come to respect as his friends father and knew that he was not going to be able to get him out alive. Tears prickled at his eyes at the thought of his friend losing her family like this.
Steeling his nerves, he decided to help as much as he could first. He rushed in, surprising the two and startling the baby before he encased his tiny hands in gauntlets of purple ice before grabbing the rubble Clint was holding up and lifting it high enough so Jade could get him out.
Unfortunately, Demon fire pitted against a kids Devil ice was just as effective as there non magical counterparts, meaning that rubble was slowly burning his hands. Gray grit his teeth in agony just as Jade had helped her father out of the rubble. Gray let it go before he let out a low growl, signifying his pain for the three to hear.
"Jade..." He growled insipidly, the fire had done a slight number on his hands.
"Gray… Please help me! My mum is dead!" She cried loudly, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. "I don't want to lose my Dad to! I can't take care of little Macbeth on my own! Please, just help him!"
He knew he couldn't spare the time. Deliora would probably bring whatever was left of the house down upon them all. He could see Clint looking at him from behind Jade, he seemed to know what the little boy was thinking as he nodded weakly which Gray mentally cried harder for the decision he was about to make, Jade would hate him and would probably leave him forever.
Gray knew this yet he knew that he would rather have his best friend and her brother alive and after his blood instead of dead when he could've done something.
His resolve to save her forced his body to make the decision he made, grabbing Jade and her little brother (who he now new was called 'Macbeth') in his arms and dashing out of the house just before a massive stream of fire engulfed the Preston household, destroying it in mere seconds as the few remaining supports caved in on Clint.
Gray could hear his friends cries and screams and thought what he had done to her and little Macbeth was unforgivable, even if it was with the purist of intentions. He could feel her fists pounding his back as he ignored the slight pain from her and continued to rush through the town towards the mountains. Reaching them minutes later.
The heat could still be felt, even from Mt. Hakobe. Gray no longer felt Jade's fists hitting his back as she had given up a few minutes before hand. He gently put her down along with Macbeth and turned around to go back for his father before he his legs were forcefully buckled from behind him, a pair of hands pushed his head into the snow roughly and he looked up in time to see Jade's fist connect with his nose, breaking it and making him cry out from the pain and shock.
Her enraged, hate filled glare hurt more than her fists though…
"YOU BASTARD!" he caught her fists in his hands and froze his nose over to numb the pain. Jade struggled in his grasp but wasn't able to break it, he was just to strong."YOU LET HIM DIE! MY DAD NEEDED HELP BUT YOU JUST LET HIM DIE IN A FIRE!" Her tears seemed to mock him at his loss of companionship as they rolled harshly down her face.
Gray looked at her, the fear and pain had finally got the better of him. "He was dying Jade!" He started loudly, sadness and anger clear in his voice. "I couldn't do anything for him after that rubble fell on his legs! He would've died from his injuries eitherway, I'm sorry but that is what would happen!"
He shoved her back roughly, making her fall into the snow. She had given up on fighting him and had traded it in for glaring at him hatefully.
He just looked at her, quickly calming himself and letting guilt seep into his soul for shoving her and being indirectly responsible for her dad's death. "You saw the fire that took the house down right? If I had tried to help him not even my ice could've stopped the fire from killing us. I am not strong enough. I may never become strong enough" He ended before roughly wiping some of his tears away.
Jade didn't care…
"I hope you die, you- you cursed child! Go and DIE!" She said before taking him by surprise and kicking him down Mt. Hakobe, Gray screamed as he slid down the snow, he tried to create something, anything! But he was sapped of energy. He had not gotten much sleep and was still drained from the day before. He closed his eyes and sadly accepted his fate, but as he hit the ground he realised that he could open his eyes and see where Jade had kicked him down. His breathing grew heavy, Jade had tried to kill him, in a fit of rage but still. Not only that but she had resorted to calling him the one thing that bullies had used to break him once upon a time. Hearing it now wasn't much of big deal but from Jade?
It hurt… A lot!
Little did he know that that was the last time he would see Jade Preston for a long while. His first true bond of friendship now shattered and torn apart like a piece of used tissue. Gray remembered her words, her face and her latest action and he vowed to never trust anyone fully ever again. After that he could never let someone get close again, he wouldn't allow anyone to hurt him like that again.
Even if he expected it…
Suddenly, the dark smoky sky was lit up by a massive sphere of fire, it shone brightly and looked like a miniature star in it's own solar system, but Gray quickly realised that said star was heading straight towards him.
'Shit, Father!'
:::-((x))-:::
If you had told Silver that he would be fighting one of the demons of Zeref to keep his town from being destroyed completely he would've laughed heartily, before freezing you and chucking you on the next train to Stransted village.
Now… Well, he would've thanked you and prepared to fight ff the overwhelming demon.
"Ice devil: Rage!" He shouted and a torrent of biting cold ice and snow shot towards Deliora looking like it would hit the monster back. Deliora however just swatted the blizzard away and sent a big ball of fire at him.
Silver reacted by summoning a massive hammer before swing and knocking it up into the air and towards Mt. Hakobe, he smirked grimly, Baseball skills should be kept in to grounds of the game, not used to save his own life.
Using the momentum from his previous swing, Silver launched the massive hammer at Deliora who tried to counter by letting out a long, drawn out breath of fire. But the hammer didn't melt in time and connected with the demons head, sending him back by two steps before regaining his balance. The demon roared in anger before stomping his foot to sending an expanding path of fire towards Silver who was now on the ground.
The slayer grinned and jumped high enough to escape the inferno's path before creating a disc of ice over the fire to land on. His smirk quickly turned into a gape of fear and shock.
Deliora had sent another stream of fire towards him right after the ground stomp, Silver had no time to react and quickly realised something before he was sent into the inferno.
He had been tricked… The demon had not only been strong, but he was also very smart and clever with his fighting.
And he knew that as soon as he had jumped up to get away from the attack that he had been a goner. He fought back tears of shame, he had failed to stop Deliora, he had failed to save Brago, he had failed to even stall the demon.
But he had also failed Gray, his son…
He knew that as soon as he felt the flames lick at his pale skin as he fell through the first layer of the fire. His skin was peeling from the heat and his vision was fading fast, he hit the ground only to be impaled in multiple places by the rubble that now littered the once great town of trade.
'I guess I will be part of the sombre scenery' he thought bitterly. 'I'm sorry Grayson.'
And with that thought, his vision started to finally black out, he only got a glimpse of the ice stopping the fire before disappearing and the lone figure of his son running up to him franticly.
Silver Fullbuster was now dead…
:::-((x))-:::
"DAD! DAD!" Gray shouted at the corpse of his now late father. He grabbed his body in his arms and shaking him roughly, trying to wake him up, as if he was not dead but dreaming.
"COME ON! STOP PLAYING AROUND! WAKE UP!" he shouted, hoping he would get some sort of reaction, He didn't want to lose his father, not now.
"Please… just do something, anything!" Hugging his fathers head, he rested his chin on top and cried. The fact was starting to set in, His dad was dead, Silver Fullbuster, his father and mentor, was dead.
"Please." He gave one last try and not getting an answer once more.
His world had now become black. He had lost everyone in the shortest space of time possible. He would never see Jade again (Nor did he want to now), he would never play his guitar or piano again, he could never help Mr. Wright with his fruit stall ever again and he would never have anyone close to him again.
He was alone…
One soul in a sea of corpses and cinders, of smoke and burning flesh.
One worthless soul who shouldn't be alive…
Suddenly, he heard the roar of the beast that had taken the light from his darkness. He quickly found his magic and somehow felt his magic reserves grow and multiply to hold the amount of anger and hate that had started fuelling his magic.
Deliora would die a painful, slow death.
Getting up and slowly trudging towards the colossal demon he felt his aura freeze the nearby area as he sucked in a heavy breath to stop his even heavier breathing.
He let his breath go with the most enraged and demonic sounding shout that even surprised him by how scary it sounded.
"DELIORA!"
He had caught the attention of the foul thing and he wasn't going to let it attack first.
"ICE DEVIL: DEATH SICKLES!" He slashed his right arm forward and three big Scythe looking icy weapons zipped to Deliora before he could respond, the scythes ripped into the armoured chest of the demon, making him roar in anger and pain.
Gray followed up by freezing the demons hands to stop his next attack. He started to run towards the demon and glared at him.
"ICE DEVIL: BLIZZARD FISTS!" He jumped and formed a massive fist of ice around his hand and he slammed it straight into Deliora's face, he grinned in sick pleasure when he felt the bone cracked from the force.
Before Gray could do anything else however he was batted away by the demon and he crashed through a few sheets of plywood and the occasional pile of rubble before he stopped. He formed a massive disc in the air and he threw it at Deliora, he grinned as it got closer.
But then all of a sudden, Gray felt all of his strength leave him, all of his magic dwindle back to the point where he was empty again. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the disc evaporate in the jet of fire that was heading towards him.
"N-No! I won't let you win!" He formed an insipid shield in front of him and got ready to try and attack again.
But the fire melted through his ice and engulfed him, just like his father.
But then as he felt his left side burn up he also saw the piece of rubble near the stream dislodge itself from the pile and get sent flying towards him.
The rubble in question then pierced his left eye, rendering his left side blind, forever…
He was blinded, he was half blind now, he was half. Fucking. Blind.
The thought of that threw his resistance to scream in pain out of the window as he let loose the screams of pain he had kept in for those few seconds.
The scream was blood curdling, painful and drawn out until the fire had died out. He fell to the ground and on his back as he watched from his only functioning eye as Deliora walked away. Tending to his minor wounds.
That was it…
He was going to die…
Here, in the town with every other poor soul.
What was worse was that he welcomed it. He welcomed it with open arms and a massive hug. That cursed demon had taken away everything and he had been partially responsible for poor Clints passing.
He looked up from the ground and saw his left side was burned, not black, but there would be many scars, thin little cool looking scars hopefully, He had to look good for his own burial. He didn't deserve a good burial, he killed Clint and failed to avenge his father and the village folk for there deaths.
He finally lost the strength to stay awake and he passed out in the middle of the once bustling and busy road of Brago, awaiting his untimely death.
But little did he know, fate wasn't done with him yet…
:::-((x))-:::
(2 days later)
"Hey master!" Shouted a young silver haired boy to the older dark violet haired woman.
"What is it!?" She called back. She felt bad for the many corpses of what was once Brago. What could her apprentice have found?
"I think I found a survivor!"
Ur Milkovich's eyes widened as she rushed towards her young apprentice and what she saw could've brought tears to her dark eyes.
The sight of her apprentice leaning over the broken and battered form of a young boy, he had a big blue tattoo like rune on his right arm and he had raven black hair. But his injuries were horrible, his entire left side was covered in painful burns and his left eye had been all but wrecked by what looked like a piece of sharp stone.
He must've been bleeding bad, she saw the dried blood around his toned form and it was like a big puddle.
The poor kid…
"Lyon." She muttered sadly. "Freeze over his major wounds, we are taking him back to ours." She ordered and the silver haired boy reacted accordingly.
This act of kindness and charity from the stranger had started the next chapter in Grayson Lee Fullbusters life. One he would come to appreciate soon.
:::-((x))-:::
The last chapter of the mini arc 'Exposure' will be next.
A LOT of stuff happened in this chapter and I feel like I have rushed it. But if you guys enjoy it then cool.
Also, I know that Silver would have put up more of a fight but when I wrote the fight you saw, he had been fighting it the entire time we were with Gray. He got tired and made a mistake, albeit unintentionally.
And by the way 'Chemical Violets' owns the name 'Grayson Lee' Of Grays full name. I meant to give the author credit last chapter but I admit to my shame that I forgot about it.
So I do apologise Chemical if I messed up. I would advise reading Chemicals stories. They are very cool.
No pun intended. XD
PHRASES OF AWESOME!
1: 'CHRYSANTHEMUM!'
Warning: sexist joke!
2: 'The difference between a girls argument and a knife is that the knife has a point.'
3: 'The best laid plans are of mice and men…'
Thank you for reading and the rating will go back to M in 9 chapters. And also stick around for the new side story 'One's perseverance', another Gray based story.
Stay cool,
-viperhat
