Hey guys. I can see y'all want more of "Ice Devil's Angel," which makes me happy to hear. However, to get back into the groove of things, I've been given a golden opportunity by none other than the famous GraLu author, LadySVI, to take on her story "Bride of the Ice God," which originally belongs to the author writer4everr.
Anyway! Hope everyone is doing well!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its character. I do not own this plot. This plot belongs to writer4everr.
Bride of the Ice God
Chapter Sixteen
Just a Little Sliver
16 16 16
Lucy - Present
She gripped Hibiki's arm and struggled to get out a coherent sentence. "I-I need, I need to get back home…"
The little girl pulled at the little boy's hand. "C'mon, let's go." She whispered quietly looking at Lucy with fear. "Mama always says not to talk to somebody involved with the Gods. They bring bad luck."
The boy peered at me with cautious eyes. "She doesn't look dangerous," he mumbled.
She rolled her eyes. "Let's go." She pulled at his arm and scurried away, dragging him by the arm while he glanced back at Lucy one last time.
"Bye lady!" he called in a cute voice.
She smiled weakly, but her expression changed once he turned around and headed back with his older sister.
Hibiki looked back at Lucy sheepishly. She could tell that he was visibly embarrassed by what had just happened, but it had hardly affected her.
"I need to get back home," she repeated.
He nodded. "I'll get you there. Where do you live?" he asked promptly.
"My father is Jude Heartfilia," she answered.
Hibiki carefully put her arm over his shoulder, supporting her weight and led the way back to the village. Lucy saw the familiar path, the familiar trees and shrubbery. But it felt strange. Why did everything seem so withered? So dead? Lucy blinked once and an image of a lush garden flashed through her head. There were tall, thick trees that branched out across the sky and the ground was covered with flowers. She blinked again and then sparse weeds were all she could see.
"…it's called the Misery Flower…." A voice rang out in her head.
Lucy let out a pained groan and clutched her head. It throbbed painfully, and she would have stumbled in the midst of the path if her companion didn't have her arm wrapped around him.
Hibiki stopped immediately with concern bright in his eyes. "Are you all right?"
She straightened up shakily. "I-I'm fine. Just some weird head rush," she muttered. What had that been? Whose voice had that been? What was that image I had seen? Frustration grew, why was she so out of sorts? "Let's go," she murmured. Perhaps, the sooner she was back home, the more things would make sense.
They continued on into the village, and Lucy caught sight of her house just a few hundred feet away. She stopped abruptly, chills going down her spine. Something...wasn't right. Despite the freeze over they experienced, her mother was able to grow beautiful firespinner flowers, which were a brilliant orange, red, and lavender. Instead, they were all left unattended and were dying. "I can go from here," Lucy whispered hoarsely.
Hibiki let go of her arm. "Are you sure? It's not a problem if you need me to accompany you," he suggested slowly, unsure.
Lucy shook her head fiercely. "I'm...fine," she whispered through clenched teeth. "I want to see them by myself. Thank you, though," she added, appreciative. She was grateful and in the back of her mind, she decided she probably would go back and see him again if she could.
Hibiki smiled. "No problem. I'll check up on you later, in case you need me." He walked away hesitantly and waved goodbye, but Lucy ignored him. Her mind was solely focused on the cottage in front of her. What should have been welcoming...was dreary.
She walked towards it - on autopilot - but stopped, unsure of how her parents would react. A rejected sacrifice is what she was and not a good omen.
Lucy breathed deeply and opened the door to the cottage. "Mother? Father?" she called out tentatively.
Silence.
She tried once more. "Mother? Father? It's... It's Lucy..."
Silence was her answer once again.
Lucy walked further in the cottage and spotted a figure sitting at the dining table. They had shaggy hair and an unkempt beard. Lucy became alarmed, realizing this man was her father. She sat down slowly in front of him, realizing how...vacant he seemed.
"Father?" she called softly.
His vacant eyes slid to hers, seeing but not seeing, hearing but not hearing. "Layla?"
Lucy's heart broke. "No... It's Lucy, Father."
"Lucy," he echoed. "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy..."
"Yes, Father! I'm Lucy!"
"My Lucy died a month ago..."
"But-"
"And Layla, the light of my life followed her in grief..."
Lucy's eyes widened, hands covering her mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes.
He blinked at her owlishly. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"I..." She choked back a sob. "I'm a friend of Layla and Lucy."
"Oh?" He seemed delighted. "You are?"
"They want me to take care of you."
Gray - Present
Silver approached him in the dark night and his instantaneous reaction was to stiffen. "What are you doing here?" He demanded harshly. "I sent her back like you wanted me to; there's nothing else you can lecture me on."
His father looked at him with tired eyes. "Gray, drop the bravado. I know that you're hurting."
The same old irritation and frustration was threatening to escape his calm demeanor. "You always know everything, huh?" He chuckled bitterly.
"It's hard to see them leave. Mortals give immortals a sense of feeling that can't be felt being cooped up in the supernatural world. It's hard to let go of that. Perhaps, you two truly were meant to be together. I hope for that to be true. But I didn't want you to be hurt when she died. Her mortality got in the way of things." Silver's smooth voice somehow comforted him but the feeling of loss still ached in Gray's chest.
"Yes, but...it still hurts," Gray admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.
"It will always hurt," Silver replied quietly. "The bond still connects you two. You'll still feel the moments of her grief and sadness but over time, it'll fade - the connection will weaken. You'll just be left with that mark."
"That's it? Just a stupid, old mark?"
His lips tightened into a grimace. "Just a stupid old mark," Silver echoed.
Gray's eyes flashed open as he lay in bed. But he hadn't slept a second. The continuous panging in his head wouldn't allow him to, but it was mostly the ache in his chest that bothered him. He felt...empty.
A knock came at the door and Lisanna's head poked in. Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "Where's Lady Lucy?" she chirped brightly.
Annoyance twisted in Gray's stomach. Why was she so damn happy? "She's gone," he replied flatly.
Lisanna's eyes widened and her voice went back to its normal timidity. "Gone?" she repeated. "What do you mean by that?"
"I sent her back to the Mortal World." The truth of the statement hung in the air. She really was gone.
She paled and rushed forward to him. "What do you mean you sent her back?" she demanded. "Why did you do that?"
"I sent her back. Wasn't that what everybody wanted?" Gray yelled out harshly. She flinched, but he continued on ranting. "She's safe! Shifters can't travel to the mortal world! Rabid fangirls won't try to poison her, and anti-gods won't try and kill her either! Isn't everybody happier that way?" Gray demanded. "Aren't we all just happy now?" He snarled out.
Lisanna's mouth opened in shock. "Lord Gray! Stop it!" She placed her hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged her off.
"I'm done with this," he muttered and headed towards the door, but he heard the lock click.
Lisanna's voice rang out angrily. "Gray. Calm down, talk to me."
Gray turned around to face her. "There's nothing to talk about. She's gone. She won't remember a thing." The words fall out of his mouth. "Silver was right. He told me to send her back and that's what I was planning anyways. It doesn't matter. It was bound to happen." Gray sighed. "I had Cana send her back and drain her memories."
She trembled. "You involved Cana in this?"
Gray glared at her, a rare thing that never happened. Nobody ever glared at Lisanna - that was like abusing some cute little puppy covered with flowers and rainbows. Also, Mira, the Goddess of Death was her sister. "She's gone." He hissed through clenched teeth. "I don't care anymore."
She was silent for a second, but she regained her composure. "You're," she began, "you're such a liar," she whispered. "Stop hiding it and keeping it pent up - it's only hurting you."
Gray rolled his eyes and laughed at her. "Oh great! Another shrink! Just what I need. Thanks, but no thanks. Everybody thinks that they know what I need to do, and it's making me sick," Gray spat out.
Lisanna flinched at his venomous words. "Alright, then." She said softly and stalked towards the door and left his chambers, leaving him all alone.
Not that it mattered. He was used to it by now.
Lisanna - Present
When she came to Cana's cottage, she was furious at Gray. She was partially furious at Cana but was mainly worried. She was worried for Lucy.
Cana looked at her with a sigh. "You want to yell at me? You of all should know that my allegiance belongs to Gray and therefore, I follow his command." She took a sip of wine and smiled sadly. "I didn't want to do it," she murmured quietly.
Lisanna looked at her with desperation. "How do we know she's not in trouble there?" she shouted out.
Cana rolled her eyes. "Look, I wanted Gray and Lucy to happen but seriously, they're mortals, what can they do to her?"
Lisanna grabbed her arm impatiently. "You know how mortals can be about a sacrifice that came back - that is rejected! And maybe her returning, things are worse than when she left!"
Cana's expression faltered, but she stopped. "She doesn't remember a thing…" A strange look came over her face.
"I still don't like it," Lisanna said, worry coating her tone. "I don't like it all."
Cana put up her hands helplessly. "I don't either. There was nothing I could do but just leave her something, so hopefully, she'll recover from the memory drain."
Lisanna froze. "What do you mean? You drained her memories, right?"
Cana smirked at her. "You didn't think I would drain her of all her memories, did you?" she replied, one eyebrow cocked up.
Lisanna's eyes widen. "You didn't."
The Wine Goddess smiled, "I did. Of course, she can't remember a thing still; however, I left a sliver of memory left in her system so that she will have recurring images or visions of certain memories when triggered at the correct moment."
Lisanna shook her head, "You can't expect her to remember anything. That was a class A witch spell you performed on her." Her voice shook with disbelief, but secretly she wanted it to be true. What if Lucy did regain her memories? Would that coerce Gray into taking her back?
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Who knows? She was able to gain control over a certain property of celestial magic, who knows what she's capable of."
"What if she does recover her memories?" Lisanna dared to ask.
Cana grinned wickedly, "You forget my dear Lisanna-chan. Unlike shifters, we can travel to the mortal world. And if Lucy somehow magically recovers her memories…we will be there to handle the consequences."
Lisanna inhaled sharply at her revelation. "My, god Cana. You are one sly witch."
She winked and took another sip of her wine. "Please, I already knew that. And I'm not a witch! I'm a goddess."
Lisanna raised a brow. "You dabble."
"Fair enough."
Hope you enjoyed. Please read and review - it would be much appreciated!
Have a nice day :)
