Look who's on a roll! I'm back with a new chapter of NeuroLink! Trust me, guys. This is one of my favourite plots. Please give it a chance.
Warning: Mild not-so-straight fluff. Boy x boy. Un-beta-ed.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Basic idea similarity between this story and SAO is purely coincidental. Still, I don't own SAO.
Chapter 4
The Ultimate Quest
The Kardia Cathedral was a huge building, to say the least. It was situated right in the middle of Magnolia, standing proudly like the grace of the city.
"This is one of the landmarks present in the game," Gray said, being scanned at the entrance of the facility. It automatically displayed my name along with his and the doors opened. "Usually," he continued, "The alliances, or the guilds, are constructed around these landmarks. These are the base establishments for all the missions assigned to the players of the game."
Gray suddenly stopped, and Natsu nearly ended up colliding into him. But when he looked at front, he understood why. A rectangular holographic board appeared in front of them.
Welcome to Magnolia Landmark
Black Ice and Salamander
Please choose your mission
A long list of what Natsu presumed to be missions was displayed on the screen. "I thought of starting out with you with some smaller level quests. You know, quests for killing monsters, taming dragons, searching fairies-"
"Hold on… what game is it again?" Gray smiled, walking up to the screen. He accessed the search bar and typed: Ultimate Life.
"Ultimate Life?" Natsu asked, "What's that?"
"All in good time, Salamander." Natsu saw his personal menu popping in front of him, providing him with a map and necessary mission supplies. Natsu decided to sneak a peek into their Valuables menu. His eyes widened. Gray had a big collection to share, to put it mildly.
Mission assigned: Ultimate life
Type: Partner Quest
Current duos on the journey: 5
"Hold on," Natsu said, "There can be more than one pair of partners on the same quest?"
"Not necessarily. It vastly depends on the type of quest. This is an achievement quest. That's why multiple players have access to it."
"And it is a Partners quest, so you couldn't go solo. Got it."
"Good. Let's move then. It's always better to start early."
Both of the players exited the vicinity. That was the first time Natsu decided to look around. The enormous building surely did overshadow the important features of the area.
"Are those… graves?" Natsu asked.
"Um… yes, they are," Gray hesitated, "They are the players deceased in the war, suffering from the glitch coma in the real world. Their mind connectors became dysfunctional the moment their XP dropped to zero and instead of logging out, a certain mechanism…"
Natsu wasn't listening anymore. He walked up to a beautifully decorated white tomb. A player name was written on it: White Neko. "Lisanna…" Natsu muttered.
Natsu turned to look at Gray, who seemed to have frozen on the spot. "What were you saying earlier?" Natsu asked.
"N-Nothing of importance," Gray had a faraway look on his face, as if reminiscing something ugly. Natsu decided to break the heavy silence. "Let's go," he said, walking towards the main gate. As expected, Gray followed him.
"One thing though," Natsu said, stopping at the entrance of the forest, "If taming dragons is a small quest, this must be a fucking gigantic thing. Why would you bring a beginner along with you?"
A perfectly angled ray of sunlight fell on Gray's helmet, hazily reflecting on his face. His dark eyes sparkled and his thin lips curved slowly into a smirk, "Don't worry, Salamander," he said in a smooth voice, making Natsu suddenly feel fuzzy. Gray walked up to him and teasingly patted his head, "You will remain a mere beginner just for a little while."
As Gray led the way into the forest, Natsu was glad for the first time in his life that his gaming avatar did not blush.
Gray slashed at the branches blocking their path as Natsu followed behind, lost in his own thoughts. This game was an enigma for sure. The partner situation was too hasty, which, as Lucy explained earlier, was prevention, if nothing else. People who died in the game went into coma, that Gray called the Glitch-coma. Natsu didn't understand why the game creators, instead of fixing the mind connector, went out to take such low level precaution measures instead.
And the biggest enigma of all was Gray Fullbuster, or as the world knew him, Black Ice. From what Natsu inferred, no one in the guild had known the guy's real name. Moreover, as per Lucy had said, the partners could see each other's gaming avatars instead of their battle armor, but he couldn't see his face. If it was a default setting, how could Gray manage to change it?
Who was this guy?
"I have this hunch," Gray said, snapping Natsu out of his thoughts, "That you're not much of a thinker. So stop whatever you're doing before you blow your brains off."
Natsu could see a faint smirk behind the black tinted glass. He scowled, "Droopy eyes, mind your own business." Gray snorted, "Stop badmouthing my facial features, squinty eyes."
"Oh, who's badmouthing now, ice head?" Gray paused in his trail through the Hargeon forest and turned towards him, bewildered.
"Where are these nicknames even coming from? And you started it, flame brain!"
Natsu smirked at his irritated expression. "Fight me, ice princess!"
"What-?"
"As you wish," a voice replied gruffly from behind Natsu. He spun around right before a fire attack could pulverize him. He quickly sidestepped, readying his fire attack. Behind him, he heard the sound of crystallization. "Grimoire Heart," Gray said in a mocking voice, "Or should I say, whatever remains of the departed guild."
A scary looking guy clad in silver armor stepped out of the woods. His hands were covered in black flames. "Um… Black Ice," Natsu whispered, "Is it a wise decision to coax them?"
"No," the guy in front of him said. Natsu nervously laughed.
"Fight me, Salamander."
"How do you know my… of yeah," Natsu looked at his XP bar: Zancrow. That was one creative player ID.
Zancrow scoffed, "A newbie, I see. Sorry to say, but your time ends here."
Quest: Ultimate Life
Battle Mode: Partner Tag Team
Black Ice x Salamander VS Zancrow x Rustyrose
Fight!
Zancrow charged at Natsu, sending a cascade flaming balls towards him. Natsu dodged them one at a time, nearly getting his head blown off. Suddenly, Zancrow was right in front of him, his blank eyes visible through his visor. Natsu reading his arms by covering them in flames, but before he could move, he was sent flying with a flaming punch on his stomach.
"Shit," the pinkette groaned. His silver armor, which was supposedly invincible to heat, was charred. He looked at his lifeline, and was surprised to see it hadn't even budged.
"Natsu," he heard Gray's voice in his head, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Is this some partner telepathy thing?"
"Affirmative. Now listen, your XP limit exponentially increases with fourth level and partnership. And because you are paired up with me, and I am an experienced player, your XP meter is on fleek," Natsu smirked.
"First of all," he heard Gray speak as Zancrow neared him, "Don't let his flames touch you."
"Got it," Natsu dodged a flaming arrow. Zancrow ran ahead to engage in combat, but this time, Natsu was ready. He charged in using his super speed at a low level and landed a solid punch on Zancrow's face. Zancrow skidded to a stop. To Natsu's surprise, his flames didn't even scar his opponent.
"Hey! How is that fair?" Natsu protested in his head.
"Stop screaming during telepathy idiot- gah!"
"Gray!" Natsu dodged Zancrow's kick and sent him skidding again with another burst of speed and a flaming fist. He looked around to check on Gray. The black-armored player seemed to be suspended mid-air by a huge beam of energy, which dissipated when Natsu looked at him. He was in battle with someone called Rustyrose. Natsu suddenly looked at his XP meter. It had lowered down.
"Our lifelines are connected?" Natsu exclaimed in surprise, but then realizing that he said it out loud. "Oh, what trick have you got up your sleeve?" Zancrow smirked, in a mocking tone, "Telepathy, eh? That's one rare Valuable you got in there, isn't it, Rusty?"
Rustyrose snorted, "Guess we are gonna get some beautiful items for our new world when we defeat these midgets."
"Damn, I should have concentrated. I'll finish this quickly. Natsu, be careful. Don't let our lifeline fall below 20%. That would be our defeat and would render us to lose the quest." Natsu gulped, "No pressure at all," he said.
Suddenly, he heard a scream. "Rusty!" Zancrow exclaimed. Rustyrose lay on the floor, defeated, with his lifeline 5%. Gray sure didn't exaggerate when he said "quickly."
"You'll pay for this, Black Ice!" Zancrow screamed in rage. Natsu thought Zancrow would be charging at his partner, but instead the silver-armored player was engulfed in black flames. The heat damaged his armor at an alarming rate. Suddenly, at the back of his mind, he could hear Gray telling him to keep calm. "Stop resisting it," he said, "Your armor is designed to absorb flames."
"But it doesn't work on his flames!"
"It would, if you don't use your own flames."
"What?" Natsu realized that a thin film of protective golden flame had been covering him. He willed it to go away. And as soon as it doused, he suddenly felt a surge of power.
"What the-?" Zancrow was shocked, seeing his flames disappear into nothing. It was his chance.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Congratulations!
"You took your time," Gray said, this time not in his head, "I had to overwork because of you. Their XP had been halved and distributed by the time I made you realize your armor strength."
Natsu rolled his eyes, "Oh please, I'm the newbie here. For my level, I defeated him pretty fast." Gray jeered, "You could have done that faster, if you had used your full speeding potential."
Natsu looked at him with wide eyes, "But… that is from another application. Wouldn't that be unfair?"
"No, Salamander, not on this quest," Gray said stoically, "Use whatever you can to defeat the enemy. This quest is important, not just for us but for the whole game!" Natsu was left stunned as Gray walked off towards the fallen players and transferred their items into their joint vault.
"I'm telling you Salamander, and this is for the last time I should be telling you this. Do whatever you can to win. I've already taken enough risks, the biggest one being you. Don't ever make me regret my choice." Gray walked away, leaving a bewildered Natsu behind.
Natsu looked at his XP bar. It was around 79%, after the division of XP. If it hadn't been for the partnership arrangement, he would have been defeated. Gray was right to be mad. The quest had just begun and their XP was already depleting. If he wouldn't be careful, they would lose the quest. And he didn't even want to imagine what Gray would do if they lost because of him.
This quest surely was dangerous. With next-to-nothing experience and a not-so-trustworthy partner, Natsu wondered if they would actually survive for long. But this was important to Gray, and according to him, important to the whole Neuroworld. He had to get stronger if he wanted to be able help Gray achieve his goal.
He caught up with Gray, who turned to look at him. "I'm sorry," he muttered, looking away as if to hide is face, "I shouldn't have said those things." Natsu was taken aback. Did the mighty Black Ice just stutter? "Uh," Natsu said, cursing himself for sounding idiotic, "Same here. I should have been more careful." Gray nodded and proceeded forward.
"Are you blushing?" Natsu asked out of the blue.
"What the fu- what gave you the idea?" Gray defended, turning towards the pinkette.
"Well, you were the one hiding your face."
"I was not! And you cannot see my face anyway." Lowering his lids, Natsu suddenly leaned close to Gray's helmet. "Oh, look. You're blushing now!"
Gray pushed Natsu back and fretted to form a proper comeback. Natsu laughed. He figured he was going to be killed the moment Gray regained his composure. But his reaction was worth it. This is what these high-ranking players would get trying to act superior with Natsu Dragneel!
"Avatars don't blush," Gray whispered, a menacing aura surrounding him. Natsu grinned his signature goofy grin and got into a fighting stance, expecting his quick showdown. But that moment did not come. Instead, the elemental ice player crossed his arms and looked away. Natsu caught his embarrassed expression.
Natsu snorted, knowing that Gray stopped because of the partner's agreement, because he did not want to risk their XP level. In other words, he would not attack Natsu, no matter how much the elemental fire player annoyed him. Guess Gray wasn't that bad of a company anymore.
"Wipe that smirk off your face, idiot," Gray muttered, walking off as Natsu followed him nonchalantly. Oh, this quest was going to be fun.
"Dad?" Natsu said, entering the study. "I need your help in finding information about a person."
"Oh," Igneel kept his pen down to look at his son, "A friend of yours?"
"Not… exactly. He is a gamer," Natsu went towards his dad's old-fashioned laptop and fired it up. The Magnolia Police Force's logo flashed on the laptop screen. The police force used the old technology with modern enhancements to avoid hackers to have their way with classified information. Apparently, they were better suited for such a job than the Mind Connectors. Natsu thought they were lame.
"And what did this player do to make you spy on him? A criminal, perhaps?"
"No, he's my partner. It's just a hunch, actually," Natsu typed the name Gray Fullbuster in the directory. His eyes widened. Igneel leaned in to check the screen, "That name does not exist, son. Is that the name of a dead guy?" he laughed, "Why would you think that a random player would tell you his real name?"
"I… I need a moment," Natsu walked out of the room, ignoring his frowning dad. He fired up Google on his mind connector and searched for the name Fullbuster.
Three dead in a car accident
On July 14, 2014, a family of three fell victim to a horrible car Accident. The car collided with a taxi, killing the taxi driver instantly. The victims are identified as Silver and Mika…
"Fullbuster…" Natsu read the article thoroughly. There was no specification of any guy named Gray Fullbuster. Who was he? And why was he not present even in the police directory? A feeling of dread set in his gut. This guy knew his name, his face, and was now his partner. And Natsu wasn't even sure of his identity anymore.
Natsu needed answers and he knew one person who would answer them. It was time to forgive Lucy.
Not much angst yet, is there? Don't worry. It will be. :)
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