Welp!
Sup?
You're right. This is an update from none other than the oh-so-lazy procrastinator. So this chapter was way too long, and I had to divide it into two parts. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I promise. The cliffhangers in the later chapters are gonna be worse. :D
Warning: Angst
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and accidental SAO.
Chapter 7
Assaults and Injuries
The fire burned brightly on his palm. Natsu stared at it, the bright golden flames licking the atmosphere, as he delved deep into his thoughts. Gray sat beside him, leaning back and staring at the starry sky. The first time Natsu had seen the NeuroWorld sky, he was ecstatic. The stars littered across the dark canvas and the auroras swirled like curtains, making the night ethereal.
"Sometimes, I wonder if this was what the real world looked like," Gray said, staring up ahead, "If this was what the stars looked like, before they stopped showing up altogether."
Natsu doused the fire and stared up as well. The clear sky was indeed beautiful. Suddenly, the clearing with the End Game pillar returned to Natsu's mind and he shuddered. Ending the game…
A comet crossed the skyline. "What are we doing, Gray?" Natsu asked, "What does the mission mean to you?"
Gray sighed. His helmet reflected the stars, making Natsu unable to see his face. "It was a long time ago when I joined the game. One of my friends introduced me to it. At the time, guilds had just been created and both of us had joined the guild: Fairy Tail.
"It was amazing, you know. The NeuroWorld was once breathtaking. The quests were fun. I remember that quest when a dragon nearly burnt my arm off. Man, I hate those creatures," Natsu could imagine Gray smiling beneath the helmet.
"And the guild… the guild used to be forgiving, friendly and respected bonds among people. The fairy Tail what once used to be the epitome of nakamanship is nothing but an irony today," he sighed sadly.
"Then one day, Lisanna Strauss died." Natsu gasped and Gray turned to look at him. "I remember Mirajane suddenly logging in to the guild. She was crying and screaming. She was screaming about how her sister wasn't waking up," Gray paused, "Lisanna had gone to a quest that cost her all her XPs. And that was the day she never woke up." Gray sighed sadly, sitting up straight and crossing his legs, staring at Natsu.
The pinkette looked away frowning. He remembered that day too. Mirajane was crying and Elfman was telling him that Lisanna had died in a car accident. He had always wondered why they never had a funeral.
"Gramps left for days," Gray continued, "He only returned to convey messages, about the company and the developers working on the problem. Erza used to be one of his trusted players back then. They were planning to shut down the game. But there was just one problem. The chief programmer of the game, Ivan Dreyar, went missing. When I did my own research on him afterwards, I realized he had been missing since the day the game was launched.
"And then one day, everything changed when the nation of Alvarez attacked Ishgar." Gray let out a shuddering breath, "The NeuroWorld was in chaos. People were unaware of the fate waiting for them. So many… So many players fell into the clutches of Glitch Coma. It was only after blood and destruction did they realize that the people who died never woke u-" Gray choked up on his words.
"Gray," Natsu trailed off. Gray was struggling with the memory and Natsu could see it. Just thinking about the struggles that Gray had gone through made an unpleasant feeling settle in his stomach.
The sky didn't seem so alluring anymore.
Gray's armored palm covered his face. Gray let out another shuddering breath, "Thousands of players, Natsu. I had never seen gramps more distressed. Even I… lost someone that day. My friend, h-he left. He left after a dreadful fight. I was a kid and so was he. When gramps reformed the guild with the survivors, he never returned."
Natsu stared at him shock, "But…Why not? He was your friend, right? Friends forgive friends, Gray. Why wouldn't yo-"
"He would never forgive me," Natsu's eyes widened, "He would never forgive me for what I have done." Natsu gasped at the pain in Gray's voice, "And that day, some of the members who had heard parts of our conversation spread a rumor in the guild. That I had hurt someone I loved."
"But y-you didn't, right? You can never…" Suddenly overcome by emotions, Natsu hugged Gray. He heard Gray gasp lightly. All he had ever known about Gray was that he was the guy who had lost a lot in his past. All he had seen with his eyes was a guy who was sarcastic, snappish and showing tsundere tendencies. Heck, he even saved his rival guild! How could he possibly harm someone intentionally, when he was a kid nonetheless?
They stayed like that for a while before Gray said, "If you keep holding me, I will cry." Natsu chuckled and let go of Gray, who in turn shifted back, looking sideways. Natsu's gaze softened, "You don't have to continue you know."
"No, I… I need to do this today. He isn't assessing my game-play today."
"Who?"
"I'll get to that," Gray said, "It was after the war when gramps called me, in the real world," he chuckled without humor, "It scared me at first. When I met him, he told me he was sorry for me and he wanted me to join the organization. He told me it would be a fresh start for me and that my identity would forever be hidden from the world.
"What better offer could I have received? I wanted to forget and this was the best option. I wanted to save people and this was the best opportunity. So I joined the Dreyar Company to save the game. Laxus is the guy who assesses me and my proceedings with the game."
"Laxus Dreyar?"
"Yes."
"And so you became the gamer of the shadows, hated by your guild-mates and known by none in real life."
"Precisely," Gray sighed.
Natsu frowned, "And you are okay with that?"
Gray looked at Natsu in the eye, "I am okay with anything as long as Lyon doesn't find me."
"What…" Natsu trailed off, frozen in shock.
Lyon…?
He had heard the name before.
Where had he heard the name?
He was so immersed in his thoughts that he failed to grasp the impending danger. Gray suddenly gasped, "Look out!"
The next thing Natsu knew was being shoved harshly to the ground. An explosion resounded throughout the area, with the waves of energy making earth and dust fly everywhere. Gray screamed in agony. Natsu frantically looked up from his position, and cursed. The dust cloud blocked his vision. "Gray!" he screamed, stumbling up from his position. His XP meter flashed in front of his eyes: 43%.
"Gray!" he screamed again, only to see Gray lying far away down the hill, whimpering in pain. Natsu suddenly felt nauseated. Gray's right arm was missing. 'It's just a game,' Natsu reminded himself, 'The arm isn't missing in reality.' Natsu ran downhill, stumbling on the rocks. But before he could reach Gray, laughter reverberated from his surroundings, "N-Natsu, run," Gray gasped out, struggling to stand. Natsu quickly helped him up.
"We finally found you, Black Ice," a sickly calm voice said from their right. Natsu quickly lifted the black-armored player up. "Physical burst!" Natsu exclaimed, and suddenly, the scenery around him morphed into a blur. If Natsu hadn't been in a dire situation, he would have yelled in joy.
"Turn right," Gray whispered, "And stay concealed within the denser forest areas."
"Why didn't we use this before?" Natsu asked him, navigating according to Gray's directions.
"It's a foreign application. T-the ability runs out very quickly," Natsu opened the inventory and extracted the healing potion, "Here, use this."
"I c-can't, we have only three of them."
"It does not matter. You need it." Gray made a sound of annoyance but accepted the item. "Were those guys our quest rivals?"
"Yeah," Gray whispered again. Natsu hummed, "Midnight and Cobra, then."
"Y-yeah," Natsu frowned. Gray did not sound so good. The black-armored player had saved him yet again, injuring himself in the process. The pinkette wished they would reach the destination faster, so that he could check Gray's injuries. He concentrated on the navigation route. The forest started get thinner. A landmark could be seen ahead, its top portion visible from the thinning treetops. The structure was shaped like a pyramid but comprising elaborate art on the wall of what seemed like demons.
Galuna Caves
Just before he could reach the entrance, his speed started slowing down. Soon, he was jogging at his normal pace towards the cave entrance. "Put me down," Gray said, as Natsu walked through the cave entrance, "I can stand on my own."
"As you say, princess."
"Baka," Gray muttered. He sat down, leaning on the inside wall, analyzing his arm. It was nearly regenerated. Natsu noticed the lack of armor in the regenerated area and checked out the exposed arm. Sometimes he found it uncanny how much the game could replicate the real body.
"Why isn't your armor regenerating?"
Gray sighed, "It's an acquired ability, Natsu. And I don't really have a spare one right now. I didn't plan for a battle today. Well," Gray stood up and flexed his regenerated arm, "That does not matter now. We might have lost them but we need to check this area out first. Somehow, I feel like this is the place we are looking for."
Natsu nodded, noticing the slight edge in Gray's voice. "How do those guys know you?"
"Oh, I defeated them once, single-handedly," Gray flaunted, "Since then, they are after my life."
"Single-handedly indeed, Black Ice," a foreign voice boomed. Natsu and Gray hastily stood up, staring at the entrance of the cave. The silhouette of two players was visible at the entrance of the cave.
"How did you find us?" Gray whispered in horror. He looked around, only to have his gaze fixated on Natsu. He reached ahead and plucked something from Natsu's shoulder: a tracker! Natsu's eyes widened. The explosion, the dust… it was just to make them flee to their destined area, the Galuna Caves.
The two opponents stepped forward. One of them had a violet armor and the other one had red. Red armor signified combat style with battle experience. What did violet armor signify?
"Go inside, I can deal with them." Gray commanded via telepathy.
"But you're injured!" Natsu argued.
"That does not matter. You need to get in before they do."
"I can hear you, you know," the red armored player declared with amusement. Gray cursed under his breath. Natsu checked their opponents' meter and his eyes widened. 100%.
"Do not utter my name." Gray warned Natsu.
"I wasn't bluffing, Black Ice, do not dare to underestimate us," the guy named Cobra stepped forward. "And your partner seems to know a lot about you." A message popped on Natsu's screen, a message from Gray. Natsu blinked. It was a countdown.
3
2
1
"Ice Make: Geyser!" Gray yelled, sending a volley of ice attacks at their opponents. Huge crystals of ice materialized onto the ground. Natsu lightened the cave with fire, producing steam from the crystals, masking the vision of their opponents.
"I can hear you," Suddenly, Gray saw Cobra in his peripheral vision. He gasped, "Watch out, Salamander!"
Natsu dodged Cobra's frontal attack, jumping backwards. Cobra smirked and swung his fist at Natsu, but when he tried to dodge the attack, Cobra quickly twisted around, catching the silver-armored player by surprise. Natsu's face twisted in pain as the kick landed straight on his abdomen. He flew back and landed on the opposite wall of the cave.
Gray readied to cast his ice magic to help Natsu, but suddenly, the violet-armored player appeared in front of him, "I can see through your illusions, Black Ice." Gray's eyes widened. Bright green ball energy slowly materialized in his opponent's palm. His opponent, Midnight, whirled around and aimed the energy beam at Natsu. Time slowed down. Before Gray could even move a muscle in defense, the energy beam pierced Natsu right through his heart.
"NO!"
"Fuck this!" Cobra cursed, kicking a chunk of ice in anger. He couldn't believe it! His sensitive hearing ability had been rendered useless. Even his ears were tricked with the stunt Black Ice had pulled.
"You should follow him instead of stalling, you idiot," Midnight taunted coldly, "He has already gained an upper hand due to the head-start."
Cobra gritted his teeth and ran into the cave. Someone had to pay for it, and the red-armored player was going to make them pay. "Till then," he heard Midnight from a distance, "I'll play with Black Ice."
Gray couldn't believe it. No one had ever been able to see through his ice clones before. But he also had never created a clone of another person during a battle. Midnight easily saw through his farce. He stood frozen in shock as Natsu's ice clone lay crumpled on the ground. All he could do now was hope that Natsu was far enough inside the cave to reach the treasure before Cobra could.
"It was smart, you know." Midnight trudged forward, making Gray back away defensively. "Using the steam as a veil to create the clone, while your partner ran ahead, leaving you behind," Midnight mocked, tilting his head sideways.
"When did you realize it was a clone?"
"I knew it from the beginning."
"I can see right through your lies, Midnight. Your bluff is of no use. You cannot outsmart me."
"Oh, I can only wish," Midnight snorted, "But sadly, you had been outsmarted the moment the pathetic clone of your ever-energetic partner decided not to use magic and ultimately fail to dodge."
Gray nearly retorted, but he steeled himself. He had clearly underestimated his opponent. "Why don't you have any fluctuation in your lifeline?" Gray demanded, "It has been weeks, since the quest's beginning. How did you mange to keep your XP at 100%?"
Midnight scoffed, "That's fairly simple, Black Ice. All we had to do was avoiding battle and following the players."
"So it was the duo of Oracion Seis that was following us yesterday in the forest of Crocus," it was Gray's turn to chuckle, "Hiding like a coward before the battle even began?"
Midnight jeered, "I am not a coward, Black Ice. I'm just a strategist," Midnight took a battle stance, "No that we have the facts straight," another black swirling energy ball appeared on his palm, "Let's dance, shall we?"
Natsu cursed under his breath, reading the message sent by Gray. He made a note to himself to ask Gray how he sent him messages without candidly typing away. Must have been another application, he assumed. He scanned the message again.
They found out.
Get the Ultimate Life, no matter what happens.
I repeat, no matter what happens.
Their tactic failed way too fast. Moreover, he stood at a crossroad, with two doors in front of him. A puzzle appeared in front of him.
Let's be real. The last thing Natsu wanted to do was solve the puzzle in front of him. All he had to do was find a way to reach the treasure before the-
"I can hear you, Salamander."
-freak found him. Natsu sighed in exasperation. He turned around and came face to face with Cobra. "You dare try to fool my ears," Cobra uttered in fury, "You dare use foreign applications and plan your escape?"
"Actually it was Black Ice's idea to-" Suddenly, Natsu dodged a sharp curve of what seemed like a reddish-purple cloud of smoke coming towards him. "I will kill you with my poison, Salamander," he said, gathering what Natsu inferred as venomous smoke clouds in his hands, "All I have to do is bring down your XP bar way below 20% to-"
"Shut the fuck up," Natsu punched Cobra and sent him flying to the opposite wall. Natsu glared at his opponent, "Talk big after you win the game." Cobra stumbled back up, livid, "Why you…"
He charged at Natsu, throwing at him successive punches. "Physical burst!" Natsu exclaimed. He expected to feel the sudden surge of speed, but was taken aback when nothing happened. The poisoned fist came in contact with Natsu's armor, Natsu hissed in pain and backed away. He checked his armor, only to find a gaping hole.
"Shit," Natsu cursed. Gray had warned him about the application! He had already used it a while ago to escape, that was why he was unable to use it again. He looked at his meter and frowned: 41%. He could not afford to lose.
Natsu had to defeat Cobra. His fists enveloped in flames and he got into a battle stance. But as soon as he did, he realized that his opponent wasn't looking at him. In fact, Cobra was looking right behind him.
"The answer is 42," Cobra suddenly blurted.
Natsu blinked. Did Cobra just solve the puzzle?
The poison-powered player realized he spoke out loud and cursed under his breath. Suddenly, the door to Natsu's right opened. Before Cobra could take an action, Natsu walked up to him and screamed loudly into Cobra's ear, so loudly that the red-armored player crumpled down, covering his damaged ear. Natsu grinned and ran through the door, leaving a cursing Cobra behind. The door closed behind him.
And as he ran forward towards his destination, the only thought in his mind was Gray.
"Ice Make: Shield!" Gray gritted his teeth, trying to hold his shield, but a few cracks appeared with the sheer force of the energy beam. He cursed let the shield shatter, dodging the oncoming damages flung at him as energy and ice.
"You're wide open," Midnight whispered from behind him, making him tense and spin around. "Physical burst!" he exclaimed, dodging the onslaught of beams with ease. Gray then brought his fist up to his palm, "Ice make," he positioned his arms, as if holding a virtual weapon, "Canon!"
A huge canon appeared in his arms. With a huge recoiling force, the canon fired a bright energy beam of light towards Cobra. Cobra countered it with his own attack. The moment he brought his hand up to block, the ice energy ball suddenly vanished. Midnight's eyes widened, realizing he had been tricked, and before he could have reacted, he was thrown off his feet by the sheer energy force right behind him.
"You're wide open," Gray taunted, smirking at the fallen player, "I wonder how you failed to see through my clones this time."
Midnight stood up shakily, still jarred by the ice attack. "As agile as ever, Black Ice," Midnight spat, "But that would not ensure you the quest's treasure."
"Why are you after Ultimate Life, Midnight?" Gray glared at his opponent, "All I want to do is save this game and yet you-"
"Save the game?" Midnight spat, "The game cannot be saved, Black Ice, the players cannot be woken."
"But I can find a way to help them! And acquiring the Ultimate Life is the only way I can-"
"You cannot!" Gray recoiled in shock. This was the first time he had come to hear a raw emotion in Midnight's voice. "I will not let you have it," Midnight said with a dangerously low voice, "I will attain the treasure and proceed to get rid of my partner."
"What?" Gray muttered in shock.
"Partners are a burden," Midnight sneered, "It was due to my dad's partner that he was killed." Gray frowned. Midnight had lost someone due to the game.
"Since that day, I have tried so hard to get rid of him but I cannot. I would die without the arrangement. Moreover, it has to be assented from both the sides! You should be able understand, considering you never had a partner before, until an absolute requirement came up."
"T-that's not true! Partnership saves lives, and has drastically reduced the cases of Glitch Coma."
"Oh, but what use is a partner to me if it is a dumb, careless one, responsible for diminishing my XP?" Midnight changed his posture into something Gray had never seen before, "I will snatch away the treasure from right I front of your eyes and all you'll do is writhe in pain beneath my feet, begging for mercy."
Gray gritted his teeth, "In your dreams," he ground out and charged at his opponent with a sword in his hand. But before he could, his ice sword distorted in shape. He gasped as his sword bent backwards and attacked him instead. He quickly dissipated the weapon and stepped back.
Gray tried to form an ice lance with his right hand. He felt a surge of vibrating power moving towards his hand and suddenly winced. The black armored player clutched his trembling arm, realizing it was the same arm that was blown off while ago.
Midnight laughed at him, "Looks like you have been weakened by my attack in the forest, just as I expected you to b-," Midnight suddenly doubled over, breathing hard. Gray stared at him in confusion.
"That idiot!" Midnight exclaimed in fury.
Gray looked at Midnight's XP in disbelief. It had inched down to 77%. But he hadn't harmed Midnight at all. And that meant…
Gray glowed with pride. Natsu must have gained an upper hand with Cobra.
"I will kill him. I WILL KILL HIM!" A sickly green aura surrounded the violet armored player. He spread his legs and outstretched his arm towards Gray. Gray tensed up. He realized his arm was rendered useless due to Midnight's assault.
"Since the day you defeated me," Midnight said in a low shaky voice, "I had trained hard to acquire this power." The green aura started spreading around, slowly enveloping the area around Midnight. "I always wanted a pawn to test it on. Who else is a better choice than you?"
Gray backed away from the incoming haze. He tried to block it with his attacks but none of them were working. After all, how could ice defeat illusion?
The haze surrounded him. He could not see Midnight anymore. His ice magic had been rendered useless and all he could hear was Midnight's bone-chilling voice surrounding him. The voice was everywhere. He could not even aim for it.
Suddenly, the dark assortment of colors surrounding him morphed into a scene. The haze settled into a street. Buildings laid broken, bodies littered frozen. Gray gasped and flinched away, recognizing the haunting scenery that had existed only in his nightmares. What was happening?
Screams echoed in the background. He turned around to see a hoard of players rushing towards where he laid. Before he could react to protect himself, a lone figure appeared in front of him. No, this wasn't happening again.
The silver-armored player in front of him turned around and smiled, "Stay safe, Gray,"
"No," Gray was shocked to hear the weak voice escaping his lips. He was reliving his nightmares. He was reliving his past. "I will seal away…"
"NO!" He shut his eyes tightly, unable to see the sight unfolding in front of him. But it was fresh in his mind, his memory. All he could hear was screams of the attackers and his protector.
"What have you done," a voice behind him said. He whirled around, fearing the very presence of the player behind him. "My only family is dead, because of you, protecting you," Gray sniffed. He couldn't go through this again.
"It's your fault," Lyon's voice taunted him, making him shiver. He could see the resentment in Lyon's simulation in front of him. He could see the hurt. He could sense betrayal in his tone. Before Gray had realized, he was kneeling, curled up, with hands shielding his ears and eyes tightly shut, futilely pushing away the darkness in his heart.
"Please," he let out a shuddering voice, "Make it stop."
"As you wish," a sickly sweet voice whispered in his ear, "Goodbye, Black Ice," Midnight smirked, and Gray succumbed into darkness.
Again, sorry for the cliffhanger :')
Kori
