Sup.
You're right. I've nothing to say.
Just one thing.
Dear Guest
There's an interesting story behind me using cannot instead of can't. First of all, using the whole expansion instead of an abbreviation or shortcuts shows intimidation in general. Moreover, cannot is more formal, which is why I used it in the general body. Then I realized that I even used, or should I say overused, it in a few dialogues in the end, the moment you pointed that out to me. There's a very weird reason to it. I recently started to watch GoT (badass shiz I tell you) and the kind of English language they used had kinda rubbed off on me. XP May sound stupid but it is the truth. Lol. Have a nice day! XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and accidental SAO.
Chapter 8
Distortion
Natsu ran through the labyrinthine corridors of the Galuna Caves. Occasional reverberations and random clatters echoed through the cave, making him skittish of his surroundings. At least the cave was lighted with torches, he mused.
Natsu frowned, thinking how his partner was doing in his fight. He had no idea what Gray was facing. Their violet armored opponent made him uneasy the moment he had heard his voice in the forest area. He didn't even know what kind of power Midnight possessed.
Suddenly, Natsu skidded to a halt, drinking in the scenery in front of him. There were two huge doors, with carvings showcasing the art forms that looked somewhat like glyphs. At the sides of the doors stood two torches, hung at the pillars, and in front of these pillars were huge statues of elephants.
Natsu whistled, staring at the magnificence of the architecture.
The flaming logo of NeuroLink was carved right at the middle of the door, glowing faintly. It was surrounded by multiple circular metallic arcs, all varying in size and circumference. Natsu walked towards the door. He tried to push at the doors but they did not budge. He looked at the NeuroLink symbol again. The pinkette extended his arm towards the symbol when suddenly, it started to glow brighter.
Natsu watched as the rings encircling the logo started whirring and rotating, and setting into concentric symmetrical arcs one by one. And when they all formed a proper symmetric pattern, the door creaked open. Natsu raised an eyebrow. It seemed like the developer had a thing for dramatics.
Natsu pushed open the gate to reveal a room. Four pillars with intricate patterns on them held up the roof. In the middle of the room was a cubical podium with a chalice on the top of it. Violet flames danced inside the chalice. Natsu realized that the cup represented the logo of the game itself.
He approached the chalice, wary of his surroundings. Was it really so easy, getting into the room and grabbing the prize?
Congratulations, Salamander!
You have reached the final stage of the quest: Ultimate Life.
Now the choice of claiming the reward is yours to make.
Natsu smirked and reached out to the cup when suddenly, his vision blurred. His world spun and his senses dulled. The objects in front of him seemed to deteriorate, the colors mixing into a nauseating blur. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision.
Slowly, the objects in front of him started to gain forms again. The chalice glowed brightly once again. The silver-armored player then realized that he was on his knees, panting. He hadn't felt any pain, so why was he suddenly feeling drained? What had just happened? Natsu frowned. If he wasn't attacked, then the only thing that could have meant was…
He quickly checked his XP meter. It was blinking red in front of the name, Black Ice. "No," he whispered, clicking on the red warning, and the moment he opened it, his eyes widened in shock. Gray's XP was 0%.
"But how…" Natsu gulped. He couldn't believe it. Gray had actually lost a fight? How was that even possible? What the hell did Midnight do to him?
He did not have any time to stand and think. He had to save Gray. With reluctance, he turned away from the most awaited treasure. He had a partner to save. But then, words flashed into his mind.
No matter what happens.
Gray had asked him to collect the treasure no matter what happened to him. Was he expecting a defeat? Had he already predicted the outcome of his fight? Moreover, if he saved Gray, how would Gray react to the fact that Natsu had knowingly ditched the boon of NeuroWorld to save him? Natsu shook his head. He looked back at the message,
Now the choice of claiming the reward is yours to make.
It was like the game was taunting him, as if it had known he was about to turn his back to the treasure. He turned around towards the door when suddenly, "Salamander!"
It was Cobra.
"Shit," Natsu took a quick glance at the meter. The XP had halved from 41% and stabilized at 20.5%. Cobra was far away, but was soon about to reach him.
Gray was fighting an unknown opponent who had dropped his XP to 0% in a matter of seconds. And they would be disqualified the moment their collective XP went below 20%.
Natsu took a deep breath and made his decision. He knew this was going to cost him. He knew it was the wrong choice to make. The pinkette gritted his teeth and flames danced in front of his vision. Whoever hurt Gray wasn't going to escape Natsu's wrath in one piece. And as he walked towards the foe of his ethics, all he could hope was that he was making the right decision.
"Requip: Robe of Yūen," Midnight turned around and came face to face with none other than Titania. She approached the cave in her metallic flowing robe, along with her partner, Seigrain.
"Get away from him," Erza commanded in a steadily calm voice, saving up her anger. Midnight smirked and dislodged the scythe from Gray's chest, who jerked at the movement. Midnight dragged it out slowly, making sparks fly from Gray's armor. Erza watched the scene unfold in front of her in utter horror. She stared at Gray, who did not move. His XP had fallen to 20.5%.
"Look who has come to join the party! The almighty Titania," Midnight tiled his head. The scythe in Midnight's hand diffused to nothingness. "What did you do to him," Erza demanded in a tight voice, "Answer me."
"Oh, I just had my fun with hi-" before Midnight could complete his statement, a sword had cut right through his shoulder, severing his arm from his body. He screamed and pain, backing away in a frantic move to save his life. The violet armored player panted and looked at what used to be his arm. Sparks flew from the joint. He screamed, "Are you crazy?!"
Erza pointed her sword at him menacingly, "Answer the question, or I'll dice you into little pieces, earlier than planned." Midnight laughed shakily, "You're so full of yourself, Titania," he gulped, as the sword inched closer towards his face. "All I did was helping him brush up his memories, stirring up his past."
Erza's eyes widened, "How… How the hell did you manage to get hold of that kind of magic? It is clearly forbidden!"
"Oh, is it," he cackled, "It was entrancing, you know, seeing him quiver at the mere illusions."
"Why you," Erza summoned multiple swords, all directed towards Midnight. He shakily stood up and said, "Reflector." All the swords that were directed towards him were deflected away from him. A few of them were twisted back and reverted towards her. She easily dodged them. Then suddenly, Erza gasped at looked at the spot where Gray was lying, only to see an empty space.
"You're welcome," a voice said behind him. She turned around to find Jellal holding the black armored player, who was breathing lightly, still unconscious. "Take him away," Erza ordered and Jellal nodded. Erza's swords faded away with a swipe of her hand.
"I will hurt you, Midnight. I will hurt you for hurting my family," she said in a low voice.
"Aren't you the dark one, now?" Midnight scoffed, "I wasn't able to use my full power the last time I had fought him. I should have, you know. It is very, very entertaining to see him whimper like a puppy."
"I will maim you," a pair of double-edged swords appeared in Erza's hands, "till you beg me for mercy."
Midnight swiped his arm before himself, pointing two fingers outwards, "Only if I don't do that first. Spiral Pain," A vortex of distorted air approached Erza at a blinding speed. The red armored player tried to sidestep but the spiral hit her on her ankle before she could dodge it and slashed it off. She gasped and gritted her teeth, trying very hard suppressing a scream.
"And now we are even, Titania," Midnight said. "All I wanted to do was get my revenge, but you and your partner interrupted me."
"What else do you want to do to him," Erza seethed, "Wasn't torturing him enough?"
"Torture?" Midnight laughed, "That was anything but torture. I wanted to see him writhe in pain. I wanted to see him scream. I wanted to kill him, Titania."
Erza sat there, horrified. "You wanted… to kill him." Something fashed in Erza's eyes, unnoticed by her opponent due to her helmet. She equipped herself with a katana.
Before Midnight could retort, the katana was lodged right through his chest. He gasped and kneeled, wheezing. He grabbed the hilt of the sword, trying to futilely remove it, but failing to do so. The violet armored player collapsed and the sword disappeared.
Midnight checked his XP bar: 31.5%. His eyes widened. How did this wench manage to bring down the combined XP down so quickly?
He had had enough. "I had just wanted to harm Black Ice, but now you and your partner have to suffer as well." The area around Erza started to distort, the world around her whirled into a vortex of red. She backed away, "What is this?"
"A taste of what I showed to Black Ice," a voice resonated around her. She frantically looked around, trying to pinpoint the source. "Delve into the darkness, Titania."
Suddenly, the vortex of red faded away. She was back in the cave, unmoving, expecting some sort of an attack. Instead, she found Midnight lying on the ground, unmoving. Her cobalt-blue armored partner stood near him, smirking at her. "Now we are even," Jellal said to Midnight, dousing the energy force on his palm.
Midnight cracked his eye open, and looked at his XP meter: 14%. An augmented message popped up, telling him he had lost the quest.
"I will find you, Midnight," Erza said, standing up, supporting herself with her sword. "A player who wishes death on another fellow player absolutely has to be found and removed from the game.
Midnight was fading away, transporting to his guild, Erza guessed. Unable to fulfill the XP criteria, he could not participate further in the quest. He sighed, "And what would you do if you find me?"
"I will leave that to your imagination." With that, Midnight closed his eyes and faded away.
"I was gonna let you fight, but then he went out of hand." Jellal approached her frozen state and leaned down. He combed his hand through her hair, looking at her worriedly, "Are you okay?"
Erza stuttered and cursed herself for doing so. Heat rose up her cheeks. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." Jellal shook his head and opened the inventory, extracting the healing crystal from the mesh. He then started healing her ankle. Erza shook her head and took the crystal from him. "Where's Black Ice?" she asked.
"Erza," A shaky voice said from behind him. She quickly turned around and gasped. The red armored player ran towards Gray, leaning on the cave wall for support, and crushed him into a bone-crushing hug. "Oh my god, Gray," she whispered into his ear, "You scared the hell outta me! I should have been here earlier."
"It's alright, Erza. I'm alright," he said in a small voice, "I let my guard down. I should have been more careful."
"It's not your fault," Erza said, looking at him eye to eye. "Don't ever think of it that way."
"But Erza-"
"Don't," Erza said slowly, emphasizing every word, "It was never your fault, Gray. Not now, and never before," Gray gasped, realizing what she was trying to say. He let out a shaky breath. His vision was blurry and he was swaying slightly. Erza realized his condition and helped him sit down, leaning onto her.
"I told you if you hug me I will cry," he whispered.
"You never told me that," Erza smiled, cradling his head. She easily guessed who had been with Gray when he had uttered those words in the past.
But Gray wasn't listening. He could see the visions in front of his eyes. He could see her fading away. He could see him walking away. "Let it out, Gray," Erza whispered calmly into his ear. "No," Gray whispered "Not yet. I have a world to save first," Gray said, and he held onto her like a lifeline.
"Gray!" Gray perked up at the voice coming from inside the cave. He looked up to see the familiar tuft of pink, racing towards them. Natsu looked ragged and beaten up, but in one piece. When Gray looked closely, he realized Natsu looked angry, to put it mildly.
"Are you okay?" Natsu asked worriedly. Gray realized the question was directed towards him. He nodded numbly. "What happened? Why did your XP fall so rapidly? He did it, didn't he?" Natsu growled.
"I'm s-sorry," Gray muttered. "What?"
Gray shrunk away towards the red armored player, "I'm sorry. It is because of me that our XP was affected so badly. It is because of me that we lost. It has always been that way and will forever be."
"Gray, it isn't your fault," Natsu kneeled down beside his partner, "It doesn't matter, Gray. People lose sometimes. It's not something uncommon."
"That's not what he meant," Erza started. "What?" Natsu asked, the dread returning to his gut, "What do you mean?"
"I'll tell you just because you are his partner-"
"Erza don't-" Gray tried but was cut off by Erza.
"- Gray was trapped in Midnight's illusions. And as he was tortured by visions, Midnight stabbed him from behind," Gray waited in worry of what his partner might say to him, considering he fell for mere illusions, when suddenly, the temperature in the cave increased drastically. He looked questioningly at his partner, "Natsu?"
"Where is that bastard," Natsu uttered with a deadly undertone, "I won't forgive him for what he did to you."
"We defeated him, me and Seigrain," Erza said calmly, pulling Gray closer to herself protectively. "He transported to his guild the moment his XP went down below twenty."
Natsu stared at Erza, as if contemplating, and the redhead stared back with equal vigor. "Did you hurt him?" Natsu asked.
"I tore off his arm," Erza replied.
"Good," Natsu said, deliberately elongating the syllable.
"This is getting creepy," Gray said, trying to stand up. He stumbled a bit and was steadied by Natsu, who held him up.
"Don't hide it Gray," Erza challenged, "You are secretly glad."
"That is not what matters. What matters is how he knew," Natsu blinked and smirked inwardly, realizing Gray had not denied Erza's claim. Gray gulped, "I want to know how he came across what he showed me." The pinkette looked at Gray in worry. Did Midnight show him something from his past?
"I will find that out," Jellal supplied, "I can help pin point the enemies, Black Ice."
"No need for that, Seigrain," Gray muttered calmly, surprising Natsu, "I can handle that on my own."
"Gray, he helped you," Erza said softly, but then she saw the look in Gray's eyes and gazed away. Natsu looked at the trio in confusion. Why was Gray acting so cold towards Jellal? Did Jellal do something Natsu wasn't aware of?
"Well," Natsu started, trying to break the ice, "At least we won the quest," Natsu said nonchalantly. Gray looked to him in surprise. "W-What do you mean? Stop bluffing! Our XP is below twenty because of me and-"
"It wasn't below twenty, when I grabbed the treasure," Natsu smiled at Gray's astounded expression, "I don't believe you," Gray said testily. "No, really! I had just claimed the reward when, suddenly, Cobra entered the room. He looked livid, but then suddenly, he started vanishing. He grumbled about Midnight being an idiot or something and disappeared into thin air, but not before attacking me so… the lesser XP."
Natsu turned to look at Erza, "I assume Midnight was defeated at the very moment I claimed the treasure."
"So you mean," Gray said slowly, "We actually have the treasure?"
In response, Natsu simply opened the inventory and pointed at the extra icon: the Ultimate Life. Gray laughed in joy and suddenly hugged the pinkette tightly, and Natsu stood still, his eyes widened in astonishment.
Beside them, Erza smiled at the duo. She walked up to Jellal and said, "Let's return to the guild. We need to give the news to the Master." Jellal looked at the duo and then turned away. "Yeah, let's go."
Gray disengaged himself from Natsu, staring at the inventory. A menu appeared in front of him, asking his consent to claim the treasure. The moment he did, a message appeared in front of them:
Mission Accomplished
Landmark: Magnolia
Congratulations, Black Ice and Salamander!
Gray smiled and clicked on the Ultimate Life icon. A cylindrical object appeared in his hand. The cylinder was sealed at the top and the bottom and it thrummed with blue energy that was contained inside of it. On top of it was and engraving that said Ultimate Life.
Natsu stared at it and then looked at Gray. But what he saw wasn't something he expected to see. Instead of looking at the treasure, Gray's eyes were locked at the inventory. His sheathed eyes were widened in shock. Natsu followed his gaze and then gasped, understanding the impending problem.
Gray turned to him and uttered in a shaky, horrified voice, "There are only three Ultimate Lives."
Mission Accomplished
Landmark: Magnolia
You Lost
"This is bad," a silver armored player said, "The master is not going to be happy about this."
"Magnolia Landmark…" an indigo armored player murmured, clearing their path through the forest using bands of blue energy. "That means Fairy Tail has accomplished the mission." He turned to his partner and angrily lashed out, "It would not have happened if you hadn't lost sight of the red armored player!"
"Hey, it's not my fault that I tripped! Curse the branch instead of m-"
"The master had us enroll into the mission because you are the tracker. Do you understand what he might do if we don't get the treasu-"
The silver armored player suddenly shushed his partner. They stood in the shadows of the trees in front of the Galuna Caves. Two figures stepped out of the cave and walked towards the forests. "Can't believe our team found the Ultimate Life," the red armored player said, "Master would be ecstatic!"
"We'll see to that once we reach Fairy Tail, Titania," the blue armored player summoned a crystal of some sort from his inventory as the players in the forest watched. Suddenly, the area around Titania and her partner distorted and they started to dissolve into thin air.
"They are transporting," the indigo armored player said, as the Fairy Tail duo vanished, "We need to inform our master. Fairy Tail has our treasure.
He turned to his silver armored partner and said, "Tell master Reitei that Titania has the treasure," he smirked under his helmet, "Tell him it's time."
The cylinder disappeared from Gray's hand to the inventory, which blinked away. Gray stood still, staring at his empty hand. Natsu watched in shock. There were just three Ultimate Lives.
"Fucking THREE," Gray suddenly punched the cave wall. A huge dent was created where his fist had met the wall, "What the fuck am I supposed to make of this? This was of no use. The whole quest is worthless!"
Gray took in a shaky breath knelt down. Natsu watched in confusion, when he heard it. He heard a sniffle. The pinkette quickly walked in front of Gray and knelt down. The black armored player was hugging himself. He was crying. Natsu felt a dull ache in his heart. "There are just three," he whispered, "Just three, Natsu. How am I supposed to save h-hundreds and thousands of people with just t-three ULs?"
Natsu gulped, unable to form a response to that. "It," he started, "It will be okay. We'll find another way to-"
"No we CAN'T!" Gray lashed out in anger, "We cannot save people in any other manner because there isn't any other manner." Gray sniffed again, "It was useless. Everything I did, everything I worked for was absolutely useless." Natsu hugged his miserable partner, pulling him close. It felt like they had failed, even if they had achieved their goal.
"I can't save anyone," Gray muttered, "I can't even save my loved ones anymore. I can't save the game. I am absolutely worthless."
"Shh," Natsu whispered, "There has to be another way, Gray."
"Then tell me," Gray looked at him in the eye. His eyes, although shaded by the helmet, held more emotions than he could recognize. Natsu couldn't see any tears, but then he realized that the game's programming didn't have any. "What else can we do, Natsu?"
"We can," Natsu bit his lip, "We can maybe hack into its base program and replicate it?" Natsu ended it hesitantly, looking at Gray's eyes, the only feature he had ever seen of his whole face. "That's," Gray started, "That's a great idea indeed." Natsu smiled, "But, again, I had thought of that before. And it has not been possible to hack into protected equipments in the game before. I would have to work on it and," he took a shaky breath, "I don't know, Natsu. First Midnight and now this… I can't see any hope to continue on this futile mission. And if I fail…"
"Gray, please," Natsu said in a pleading voice, "You won't fail. I know you won't. I believe in you and your prowess and I know you will achieve what you always wanted to. Just please," Natsu grabbed Gray by his shoulders, "Please don't think so lowly of yourself, ever. I like you, just like Erza wanted me to. And I like you for a reason, for this reason. I can't bear to see you speak that way."
"I," Gray looked like he was at a loss of words, "I am sorry," he said after a pause. He averted his eyes and looked at the ground. Natsu smiled at him and patted him on his shoulder. Suddenly, he perked up at a sound. He looked at the cave's exit. "I think I heard something," he said to Gray, "Stay here. I'll be right back." Gray nodded numbly and stared into a distance.
Natsu stepped out of the cave. He had heard a shuffling noise. He was sure of it. The pinkette walked towards the forest, looking around for any form of a source to the noise he heard before. Suddenly, he heard the shuffling again, right behind him. He twisted around, only to come face to face with a virus scanner. He stilled, frozen at his place.
The Virus Scanner slowly moved closer to him. I small beam of light escaped from its top, scanning the area. Natsu tensed up, expecting an attack. But what happened next astounded him. An array of binary codes flashed in front of the Virus Scanner and it declared,
No viruses found.
Natsu stood there, dumbfounded, as the Virus Scanner passed by him, towards the other way of the forest. "Apparently, they are faulty these days," Gray had said, "They are attacking the players." Why didn't the machine attack him? Was this scanner one of the undamaged scanners? Natsu frowned. That was not possible. Then why…?
Natsu shut his eyes. How could he have been such an idiot? Gray had lied to him. Ha, of course he had lied to him. The grasses around him singed with the heat. The scanner had attacked Gray that day, because Gray was the foreign program, the manual player, the virus. Natsu gritted his teeth. He was fooled by Black Ice.
What all lies had he told Natsu? How long had he been spewing out stories with that straight face? For how long has he been feigning innocence?
Suddenly, he didn't know that man anymore.
"Natsu?" Natsu doused his flames, and took a deep calming breath. He turned towards Gray and smiled, "What is it?"
Black Ice stumbled into the forest. Natsu couldn't see his face anymore. "There's an emergency," he said, "We need to return to the guild now."
For a second, Natsu considered not believing in any word his partner sprouted, but he steeled himself. The urgency in his tone sounded so genuine, that Natsu cursed himself for falling for it all over again. "We don't have any transportation crystals," Gray asked, "What do you suggest we do?"
Natsu thought for a moment, and then opened the inventory. He clicked on an icon and suddenly, a huge creature appeared in the sky. The dragon circled in the air and then landed near them, crushing a few trees in the process. "Whoa," Gray exclaimed in delight, "Good thinking!"
Gray turned towards Natsu, only to find him staring at a distance. "If you glare at the rock even a second longer, it will burst into flames."
"Shut up," Natsu said bitterly, surprising Gray. "What's wrong?" he asked in worry.
"Nothing," Natsu retorted a bit harshly, making Gray frown. Natsu climbed onto Igneel, and looked down at Gray, "We have to rush now. We will talk later." Gray nodded warily and climbed onto the dragon as well.
Igneel spread his mighty wings and took off towards the endless sky. Natsu was lost in thought, as Gray watched him. What had happened? Why was Natsu so melancholic all of a sudden? He frowned. Did he do something wrong.
Gray sighed. Somehow this felt like the times when an elder told you, "We need to talk," and suddenly, you are aware of all the sins you had ever committed in your life. Instead, this was much, much worse.
Gray opened Erza's message.
return to ft asap
It wasn't like her to ditch capitalization, even in the worst of times. Dread filled his heart, as the city came into view. The Magnolia city looked glorious from the top. As the dawn came, the skyline looked magnificent. At least, that's how Gray had wanted to describe it.
The dragon landed on top of the Kardia Cathedral. Natsu and Gray looked towards their city, horrified.
Screams echoed throughout the once beautiful town. Houses were on fire and players ran around to save their lives. "What happened here?" Natsu whispered in utter shock. Gray turned to look at him. The boy was trembling. Then suddenly, an explosion shook him out of his reverie. As Natsu and Gray watched in shock, Fairy Tail guild burst into flames right in front of their eyes.
And BAM!
Cliffy part two bby
Warning: Gonna get worse with the cliffhangers. Stay tuned!
Feedback is always appreciated!
Kori
