SailorStar9: We now continue with Chapter 124 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and my OCs.

Chapter 124: Tartarus Chapter: Silver Memories

This breaks my heart. Makarov mused, running through the demolished town after Cube crash-landed. Even Kardia Cathedral, the symbol of the town... he stopped in front of the destroyed church.

"Master!" Ulyo called out, running towards the aged mage.

"Ulyo." Makarov turned to the returning water mage. "Have you completed your training?"

"Yes." Ulyo nodded and glanced at the demolished landscape. "And just in time, too, I see."

"Good." Makarov noted. "Everyone is within the Tartarus Headquarters over there." he pointed.

"Understood." Ulyo replied and took off towards the down Cube. Hang in there, guys. I'm on my way.

The second master's last words... Makarov mused as he continued running. 'It isn't over. Release the light.', eh? He stopped before the totally destroyed Fairy Tail Guild hall.

"Initial Release: White Ripple."

Juvia shielded her eyes as a powerful burst of white ice blasted past her, Keyes' Magical Barrier particles deflecting the ice. "This feeling... this magical aura..." the water mage gasped when a trail of ice dust blew past her. "Ulyo-sama... you came."

"Damnit!" Gray cursed, having taken down Silver with a cannonball through his body with an 'Ice Make: Vambrace'. "I hate it when Ulyo's right; did you think I wouldn't realize it? Why, damnit? You're not Deliora. You're my old man, aren't you?"

"Finish me off." Silver instructed.

"Go to hell!" Gray snapped. "You're my father, aren't you? What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for you to kill me." Silver admitted. "It's true. I am your father. Or was..." he corrected. "But I'm not human anymore. I'm not a demon, either. I'm a dead man. I've been dead for 17 long years."

"The false tale has ended." Keyes declared, unfazed by the snow-white katana held straight at his face as Ulyo powered up another ice ball. "The truthful tale is about to begin. My prediction became human deed."

"Necromancer." Silver stated. "I have a Curse power to manipulate corpses. He found my body and used it as an experiment. An experiment to see how close he could get a corpse to becoming a living human. I was just one of hundreds of bodies, but I've lived this long. Or maybe I should say 'moved' instead. They stole everything; they stole my family from me. To get revenge against the demons. While being a member of a demon Guild, I secretly killed demons all over. I apologize for Sun Village. It seems that flame wasn't a demon. I've been weakening the powers of demons all around me and was about to destroy Tartarus as part of my plan. But then, I found out you were alive. I realized it then. My hands were too dirty. I had no right to fight for you and Mika."

"So, you intended to die?" Gray questioned.

"I'm already dead." Silver corrected. "I wanted to end it and entrust everything to you."

"How dare you?" Gray retorted. "I won't do anything for you."

"It's okay." Silver assured. "You're fine now. Just finish me off. Either way, my body won't last much longer." he hugged his son after Gray refused to end him.

Can you hear me, young lady? Silver's voice echoed in Ulyo's head. Are you, uh... Gray's woman?

You can say that. Ulyo replied back. I'm assuming you're Gray's father, Silver?

It doesn't matter. Silver sighed. There's no time. I'll just tell you one thing. Beat Keyes, the skull-face in front of you. He's not as strong as the other Nine Demon Gates. He's a necromancer.. he's controlling the Chairman's corpse to make him activate the 3000 Face devices. If you defeat him, the Chairman won't be able to move and Face can be stopped.

Won't you also be... Ulyo protested.

What? Silver snorted. You knew? Even so, do it. For Gray's sake, too.

"White Ripple." Ulyo's ice wave nullified Keyes' ball of Magical Particles.

"I knew that Silver was trying to rebel against us." Keyes remarked, firing off a rain of Magical Barrier Particle bullets at Ulyo and Juvia. "He became strong and acquired Ice Devil Slayer Magic. He intended to take revenge on us. But that was fine. I recognized that his fury and desire for vengeance were the driving force that kept him alive all these years. He's a fascinating and delightful puppet. Father and son... the dead and the living will kill each other. This is my tale. A tale for the sake of creating even better corpses."

"What do you think humans are?" Juvia demanded.

"Tools for my experiments." Keyes taunted. "Convenient tools."

"Humans won't do as you please." Juvia snapped, powered up a water ball.

"You left me alone for too long." Ulyo droned, her magical aura solidifying into a pillar of white light as she raised the snow-white Ensui. "Heavens Subjugation," at her command, the sky darkened as dark clouds covered the sky. "Heavens, Frozen Hundred Flowers Funeral!"

Keyes tried to dematerialize himself into Magical Barrier Particles when he felt the sudden descend of snow, but found himself trapped as icy flowers bloomed on his being the split second the snow landed on him.

"Don't bother trying to escape this." Ulyo warned, the ice flowers rapidly sprouting all over Keyes' body before freezing him in a pillar of ice. "This technique freezes everything within it. When the last of the petals falls, even your Magical Barrier Particles will be rendered useless."

"Keyes..." Tempester muttered, seeing Keyes now trapped in the flower tower.

"This is bad." Torafuzar remarked.

"I was careless." Keyes admitted, the ice pillar shattering and causing him to disintegrate. "How can I let human magic be my undoing?"

"Ulyo..." the exhausted Lucy beamed. "Amazing..."

"Ulyo-sama..." Juvia knelt beside the panting elemental mage who was supporting herself with her katana.

"She beat Keyes..." Torafuzar was stunned.

It's better this way. Silver soothed the water mage. Thank you. I can finally go to heaven thanks to you. And you stopped Face's activation. Take care of Gray.

"Dad..." Gray muttered as his father's soul faded away with Keyes' defeat. "Rest in peace."

I'm leaving the rest to you. Silver informed, passing on his Ice Devil Slayer abilities to Gray. Why did I learn Ice Devil Slayer Magic? Because END is a fire demon. This power, I'm passing it on to you.

"As an Ice Devil Slayer, I'll defeat END." Gray swore.

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.