Yoooo

I'm back from my examination hiatus. *Insert Moriarty voice* Did you miss me? (HAHAHA so lame.) Took some effort, compiling this shiz. Dammit the word file WON'T UPLOAD CAN YOU IMAGINE MY FRUSTRATION. Huff. Anyway. Won't waste much of your time. Enjoy!

Warning: Guess. (Really, angst af.)

Disclaimer: I don't own FT or accidental SAO.


Chapter 11

Master Reitei

Gray found his opponent in the Kardia Cathedral's graveyard. A target symbol pointed on the mysterious masked player. Multiple augmented screens appeared in front of Gray's eyes.

Battle Mode: Activate

Analyzing the Opponent's Magic: One Unknown Ability

Checking Black Armor Status: OK

Unlock Full Potential: No

"Good luck, punk," Laxus said, connected to him via the earpiece.

Black Ice: Ready for Battle

Gray felt the energy surge up his body. The air around him chilled down to a few degrees. His armor glistened in the bright sunlight.

"In that case, Black Ice, prepare to die."

The moment those words left Reitei's mouth, he was already flying across the landscape. Gray dissolved the ice cannon and walked towards him slowly. Reitei growled and stood up.

"Ice make: Eagle!" A bunch of crystal creatures sped up towards Gray. A shield materialized in front of him. Suddenly, the ice eagles swerved past the shield and sped towards him. He heard a distant voice calling him before the eagles exploded.

Reitei laughed, "Maybe your title is a little overrated, Black I-" His eyes widened and he jumped away right in time to dodge several lances aimed at him. And while his attention was on the lances, Gray had already repositioned behind him. Reitei gasped, before being thrown away by a huge amount of energy. Gray watched as the white-armored player landed somewhere on top of the hill behind the cathedral.

"Good going, punk! You're kicking his ass real-"

"Analyze the opponent, Laxus."

He heard Laxus spewing a string of curses at him before sighing. "I was on it before you asked."

Gray rolled his eyes and walked ahead, swapping through the various data analysis screens that popped up after his attacks. All he had to do was figure out the unknown potential and-

"Gray!"

Gray froze. He had nearly forgotten.

The black armored player turned around discreetly, slightly tilting his head to look at his ex-partner.

Request for Partnership Termination

"I don't trust you."

Gray bit his lip, blocking off the memories. He couldn't risk that right now. He had an enemy to defeat. He had friends to protect.

"Gray, please listen to me." Natsu pleaded.

"I don't have time for chatting, Salamander," Natsu flinched at his tone. Far away, he heard a sound of shuffling. His opponent was stirring.

"What were you doing here anyway?" Gray said in a tight voice, "And don't you dare make excuses."

"I was…" Natsu fumbled around with words. "I was trying to save Lisanna."

"Oh. So, you acquired the ULs." Gray let out a hollow laugh, "And the first thing you do of them is using them without my permission." Gray turned towards Natsu, the tinted glass clouding his face, "If I didn't know better, I would have thought you deliberately claimed the ULs for your own selfish purposes."

"What the hell?" Gray watched in mild amusement as Natsu seethed at his words.

An explosion boomed over the hill, making Gray turn towards the source. "Initiate command prompt," he commanded to the armor.

"Please, this is important," Natsu continued, "I know who Reitei is. I met him near your old ho-"

Command prompt: Initiated

Hearing the mechanical voice, his attention was promptly shifted to the battle again. "Activate the jets," Gray said.

The raven-haired male felt the buzzing underneath his feet. He got into a balanced formation and launched off the surface gracefully. As he zoomed into the sky, he scanned the entire perimeter. He saw a few Fairy Tail mages appearing and disappearing inside the forest. He guessed the area to be the hideout. He saw another distinct figure: a red armored player. Erza was here as well.

"Have you ever felt like Iron Man?"

"Shut up, Laxus."

Gray locked onto his target. Reitei was struggling to stand up. He aimed and fired another bunch of ice weapons at the unsuspecting mage. A thick mist surrounded Reitei, due to the ice explosion caused by Gray.

Gray swiftly landed on the top of the hill, as the icy mist slowly dissipated. He outstretched his arm towards the cloudy mist. "Surrender, Master Reitei."

"In your dreams," Reitei said from behind him. Gray's eyes widened. When did Reitei reach behind him? He launched off the surface right before an ice spear could impale him. He looked around, searching for his opponent. At a distance, he could see a tuft of pink hair climbing uphill too fast for eyes to follow.

"Pay attention, idiot!"

"Looking for me?" Gray heard a voice above him. He was suddenly sent down by a massive force. Unable to shield, Gray crashed on the plane ungracefully, landing on his shoulder. Dust particles flew around, dissipating into pixels before disappearing. Gray groaned.

Warning: Fissure in the Armor

Reanalyzing the Opponent

"Tch," Gray shakily stood up, eyeing Reitei. He gulped. The energy coefficient of his opponent had suddenly increased. He eyed the white-armored male carefully, contemplating his steps.

"Don't underestimate that asshole, idiot."

"I'm sorry, it's just…"

"Never mind," Laxus said in understanding. "Reitei has the ability to hide his potential. I'm gonna dig deeper. Do you want me to unlock your potential barrier?"

Gray contemplated the question. "Not yet."

"Black Ice-san," he heard a voice from the forest a few meters away. Wendy was here, and so were a few Fairy Tail members. There were nine of them, including Erza and Wendy. He watched from the corner of his eye as Erza's attention locked onto Natsu. She started towards Natsu when Gray's attention was once again diverted towards his opponent.

"It seems like I underestimated you, Black Ice." Reitei smirked. Suddenly, Gray felt uneasy. Something was wrong. Something was out of picture. He was ignoring a very vital point in the battle, and that induced a sinking feeling in his gut. Gray shook his head. Whatever it was wasn't important. Reitei planned to harm his nakama and Gray had to stop. That was all he needed to focus on.

Reitei's armor glowed. A curved sword of ice materialized in his hand. "It seems like I'd have to go all out on you."

Gray blinked, noticing. Ice

Gray got into a defensive stance. He watched as the white mist surrounded the area, this time enveloping him as well. Camouflage, he realized. That was how Reitei had escaped a while ago.

Suddenly, Gray sensed someone behind him. He quickly turned around, right in time to deflect the oncoming attack with his own sword. The two weapons clashed and then separated. The two players jumped back.

Gray's mind churned. He started to notice the subtle things about Reitei. His voice sounded familiar. The type of ice make was something he seemed to have witnessed before, but he had met hundreds of ice mages in this world. Something was missing. Consciously or not, his mind was ignoring a glaring piece of information.

Something was terribly out of picture.

Gray took a deep breath. He needed answers and the only person who had them was the Master of the North.

"Enough with the camouflage," Gray said. Every particle of the mist condensed and froze. Reitei whistled as the particles slowly settled down onto the grass. Gray charged forward and slashed down at Reitei. The white-armored player easily parried the attack and sliced at Gray. The raven-haired male jumped back in time and swung again, only to have his sword collide with Reitei's.

"Who are you?" he demanded, pressing down his sword.

Reitei let out a chuckle, "I, my friend, am the reason behind the bombings." Gray rolled his eyes in annoyance. He heard a few gasps from the small group gathered at the edge of the forest. Suddenly, he was thrown off by the Reitei's sheer force. The sword fell off his arm.

"Members of Fairy Tail," Reitei's voice boomed, "I'm here to make a simple request. Hand over the Ultimate Lives to me." A low hum of chatter emanated from the Fairy Tail members.

"Gray."

"What is it?"

"I found out his hidden potential." Laxus gulped, "It has a code signature of Ivan."

"Fuck," Gray muttered, "You mean Ivan is behind this as well?"

"I believe so," Laxus clicked his tongue in annoyance, "I can't disable it, Gray."

Gray hummed in understanding, "Just like the rest of the game then. Ivan Dreyar stamp is difficult to overwrite. Tell me the characteristics so that I can defend, at least."

Laxus hummed, "It's supposed to be some sort of disintegrating beam. It's bright to look at, with a moderate velocity of firing. But there's something very peculiar about it."

"What do you mean?"

"It can't hurt the players."

Gray's eyes widened, "Then why…?" He warped out of the zone and focused back on Reitei. He was still addressing the crowd.

"…-you don't hand them over, there will be war." Reitei said, "And to show you what we are capable of," he turned to smirk at Gray, "I will kill the infamous Black Ice." Several gasps emanated from the Fairy Tail, making the masked man smirk, "And after that, I will kill all of you."

"Try all you want, Reitei," Gray glared at his opponent, "but I won't let you hurt my nakama."

Gray's eyes locked onto Natsu. He frowned. The pinkette was looking at him and Reitei. And for some reason, he looked absolutely horrified.

What was Natsu trying to say to him?

The pinkette had claimed that he knew Reitei. They never met any ice mage during their quest. So either he met Reitei inside the game, or outside it.

"What did you say?" Reitei asked slowly. Gray frowned at the sudden change of demeanor. "You said you'll never let me hurt your nakama?" Reitei seemed to be in deep thought. "This is so weird. Your fighting style, your behavior… they remind me of someone I knew. Someone from this very… guild…" Reitei suddenly gasped. His whole frame was shaking slightly.

"You… You are Black Ice."

Gray gasped and stepped back. This wasn't possible. He had clearly heard the distortion at his name. Reitei knew his real name. How could Reitei know his real name?

"You're really Black Ice." Reitei started to laugh lowly. Then suddenly, he burst out laughing.

Suddenly, he remembered what Natsu had said to him, "I met him near your old ho-"

"… home," Gray muttered.

It was impossible.

After everything he had done to hide from this very person…

"Lyon," he whispered in horror.

Screams echoed in his mind. The virtual city was on fire. Thousands of enemies marched on the city of Magnolia, their sole purpose being to kill. She stood in front of him, defending him from the enemy.

"You let her die…" a familiar voice echoed in his mind. "You killed your own mother!"

"I will never forgive you, Gray."

Something incoherent buzzed in Gray's ear. He realized Laxus was screaming at him. He realized he had zoned out. He realized Lyon had outstretched an arm towards him. He watched as a bright beam materialized in front of his palm and zoomed towards Gray at an impossible pace.

Gray realized too late that he was standing frozen. He realized that even if he wasn't, he wouldn't have been able to dodge the beam. Lyon grinned maniacally as the beam pierced Gray right through his abdomen.


Gray gasped. He blinked repeatedly, adjusting to the external stimuli. His head buzzed with the sudden shock of recovery. The moment he gained consciousness, a blinding pain originated from his abdomen. He sucked in a pained breath and closed his eyes tightly, trying to bear it, hoping the pain would go away.

"Gray!" He heard Laxus sigh in relief, "Oh thank gods you woke up. I reduced the shock in time."

Gray opened his eyes properly and drank in the scenery. He was lying on the grass, on the top of the hill. His ears rang. He heard a collective muffled murmur.

"Gray, listen to me," Laxus said urgently, "You need to log out. I would have done that forcibly, but the wound might send your real body into shock. Did you hear me? You need to log ou-"

Suddenly, Gray's head was yanked up by a pair of hands.

"I can't believe this." Lyon laughed "I finally found you! Black Ice is none other than my little brother. Talk about two birds with one stone!" Lyon's mask was missing. Gray could see his face: the white hair, the narrowed eyes, and the maniacal grin.

Suddenly, Gray felt a searing pain from where Lyon was touching him. He whimpered in pain. He heard Laxus' voice cracking and fading. His own helmet was destroyed by Lyon, leaving behind a wake of immense pain in his head and ringing in his ears.

"I just noticed something really interesting, brother," Lyon started conversationally, "When I attacked you, do you know how many people rushed to your rescue? Let me tell you: no one." Lyon laughed in his own version of sick amusement. "Does no one love our little Black Ice?"

Gray panted from pain in his head, that didn't seem to subside. His side felt like he was being repeatedly stabbed. He felt like the previous attack was eating him up, leaching out his energy. He pushed off Lyon and tried backing away, but was pinned down again.

"Get off me," he tried weakly but was ignored.

"Do you know what it reminds me of?" Lyon sneered, "It reminds me of the way you left Ur."

Gray inhaled shakily, "Get off me, Lyon," Gray said a little louder.

"It reminds me of the day you went on your own way and left her to die." Lyon sneered, "How do you live with yourself every day? How do you tolerate your own skin, knowing that you killed my mother? How can you still live, knowing that you were the reason she is dead?"

"STOP IT!" Gray activated his power subconsciously, creating a blast of raw magical energy. It and sent Lyon flying. Gray got up shakily on his knees, clutching his abdomen. He was trembling badly. Gray realized he had no control over his emotions. In fact, he didn't even know what he was feeling. All he knew was that Lyon's words were affecting him in a way they weren't supposed to. He took in a shaky breath that turned into a sob.

"Oh, don't cry, brother dear," he heard Lyon say "I'm not done with you yet." Gray's eyes locked onto Lyon's. For some reason, he wasn't able to associate the man in front of him with his surrogate brother. Lyon was cheerful, snide and insufferable, but the man in front of him… his very aura felt different, sinister.

Lyon stood up easily, unfazed by Gray's attack. Gray realized he couldn't move his body. The wound didn't let him. He suddenly felt a bout of panic hitting him. Lyon's sinister attitude, his venomous words, heck, even his very presence! Gray couldn't stand this. They were torturing him. He was torturing him and he couldn't do anything to save himself.

He was too weak. He was too helpless.

A part of him told him that he deserved what Lyon was doing, what Lyon was saying. That part chilled him to the bone. And somehow, he couldn't shut that part off.

"Oh, you are so pitiful." Lyon was walking towards him. "Just the way you were on the night when she took you in. Don't you remember that day? The day your parents died?" Lyon clicked his tongue mockingly, "Can't believe they gave birth to someone like you."

Gray shut his eyes tightly. He hated how his words affected him. He hated how the moment Lyon mentioned it; the night's scenes started playing in his mind. He hated the fact that he couldn't stop them. The police officers, the neighbors, the funeral, and Ur…

"Oh, and what's this?" Gray heard footsteps approaching him. "Your XP meter isn't calibrating. Don't tell me… You actually don't have a partner?" Lyon laughed out loud. He lunged forward and held Gray down by his neck. "No parents and no partner! It looks like no one could tolerate you, after all."

The request for partnership dissolution appeared in front of his eyes. His bottom lip trembled. He didn't… he couldn't… When he had just walked away from the only family he had…

How could Natsu do this to him?

Blank eyes stared at Gray.

"Since the moment I'd met you, you have lied to me."

He had finally come to accept Natsu. He had finally confided to a person other than Erza. He had finally started to trust someone, and he had finally found someone to… to love…

His felt sick, he felt nauseous. Natsu was asking the impossible. Natsu was saying the unbelievable. Where had he gone wrong?

"I don't trust you, Gray."

"S-Stop-"

Partnership Disengaged

Lyon pressed down harder, activating the foreign energy beam again. Gray choked, suddenly unable to breathe. That beam affected him physically, just like… just like the Virus Scanners.

Gray grabbed Lyon's hand and tried to pry open the grip. A stabbing pain originated from the tip of his fingers and he jerked away his hands. The chunks of armor on his fingers were disintegrating. Lyon smirked and removed his choking grip, only to kick him hard on his injured side. Gray let out a choked scream and curled up on his side. He moaned and coughed, trying to grab at anything that could ground him before he lost himself in the world of pain.

Lyon snickered and kicked him again, and again, visibly enjoying any form of pain Gray showed on his face. "L-Lyon, p-please…" Gray sobbed, unable to stop himself.

Suddenly, a huge crash resounded behind Lyon, accompanied but multiple flying shards of ice. Gray's eyes blinked open.

"Get away from Gray," Natsu glowered, his metallic fists aflame.

"N-Natsu…"

"Oh, Salamander," Lyon grinned at Natsu, "So nice of you to join our fun."

"I have the Ultimate Lives," Natsu continued, unwavering, "I am your opponent. I am warning you. Get away from Gray."

Gray realized they were in a huge area, surrounded by an ice wall. Part of the wall had a huge gaping hole blasted into it, where Natsu stood, vehement with rage. Lyon dissipated the entire ice wall, revealing the several Fairy Tail mages, trying to break the wall as well. The air around him chilled down rapidly, making Gray grasp what was about to happen.

"Lyon, this is n-not you," Gray pleaded, "D-Don't hurt them. They are your fam-."

Lyon rolled his eyes, "Oh, you are the last person I need to hear that speech from." He walked towards Gray and stood towering over him. "There were my family, dear brother. Now they are nothing but a mere hindrance in my plans." He looked at the trembling form in an ominous kind of amusement.

Gray remained curled up, gasping for breath. His eyes were fixed at Natsu, who had literally drowned himself in his fiery anger. Gray heard the pinkette warning Lyon again. The scene gave him a sense of déjà vu. Memories stirred up in his mind and before he had known, he was lost in the darker depths of his mind.

"… -et away from my son," Ur said.

"I am not scared of you, Zephyria*," Deliora said, picking up little Gray from the back of his neck. Gray groggily opened his eyes, blinking repeatedly to clear his vision. He gasped, terrified, realizing where he was and what was happening. He looked at Ur, terrified. She nodded at him calmly.

"If you dare to take another step," Deliora warned, pointing a ball of concentrated energy at Gray, "I will kill him in front of your eyes."

"Don't you dare hurt him, or I swear I will harm you," Ur said, readying another attack towards her formidable opponent.

Deliora snickered, with an audible quake in his voice. He was terrified of the player in front of him, "You will kill me, just like you killed all my comrades."

Ur tried to step closer, "They aren't dea-"

"STOP!" he suddenly pointed the energy ball at Ur. He stepped back, panicking, and screamed, "DON'T COME NEAR ME!"

Gray watched in horror as the man fired the beam at his surrogate mother. He watched in horror as the beam pierced her heart. He watched in horror as her lifeless form hit the floor.

Tears flowed freely from his eyes. He sobbed, realizing he was rendered powerless again, and another of his loved ones had to suffer because of him.

"What did you say?" Gray gasped at the bone-chilling tone of Lyon's voice. Gray realized he must have slipped up her name.

However, he found himself saying, "They are your family, Lyon. Ur herself had-" he stopped, gazing at Lyon's expression. Lyon was going to do something regrettable. He didn't want to be the reason for a full-fledged battle between his brother and the guild. He willed his body to move, to defend, to do something before

"You… you dare utter her name?"

"NO!" Gray heard Natsu shout and then suddenly, lost himself in the world of pain.


Erza ran through the battlefield towards his fallen friend. The moment Reitei had attacked Gray, all hell broke loose. Every member of the guild charged at the Master of Lamia Scale. But before they could reach him, Reitei was already enveloped in Natsu's flames of rage.

Erza ran through the maze of players towards Gray. He was screaming, curling himself in a fetal position. Tears flowed freely from his eyes. His XP meter flashed 20%. She quickly ducked underneath another attack and grabbed hold of Gray. The red-haired warrior whirled around rapidly and made a beeline towards the forest where she could see SkyMaiden.

"C'mon Gray, get a hold of yourself." Gray desperately gasped for breath. Erza blinked away the tears. She had promised to protect him, but instead, she stood helpless as that vile monster had his way with him.

"H-Hurts…"

"Don't worry, Gray." Erza said as calmly as she could, "SkyMaiden is here. The pain will go away." Erza bit her lip. Gray might go into a shock. He already looked ready to faint, edging slowly to the brink of unconsciousness.

The battle raged behind Erza. The redhead turned around, her eyes locked onto the sorry excuse of a brother. The words he had said to Gray… she would never forgive him.

"Place him down," SkyMaiden said in a cracking voice. She gasped, looking at Gray. "That's horrible." Erza's eyes locked into his recent injury. Reitei, or Lyon, had completely blown his leg off from under his knee. The remnant energy was slowly eating away his armor. The injured areas were blocked by a number of floating pixels. Gray panted, his eyes drooping lower and lower.

Erza recalled the conversation she had with Laxus she had a few minutes ago.

"That beam isn't supposed to hurt the players, Erza," Laxus had said, "It is specifically constructed against the self-created foreign objects in the game. It is positively lethal Gray, due to his armor.

"Listen to me carefully. You need to protect the people possessing the armor. Get Gray and the little girl, SkyMaiden, away from that maniac, you hear me?"

"Gray," Erza said, surprising herself with the calm exterior she was showcasing. "As soon as she heals you, you need to log out. Both of you," she looked at SkyMaiden.

"Why is that?" SkyMaiden muttered, focusing back on Gray.

"Because his disintegrating beam," Erza gulped, "The beam is specifically made to kill you both."

Gray paused for a moment and then nodded numbly. Erza ran her fingers through his hair, attempting to calm him down. She realized he was looking at the battle.

"How could you defend that murderer?" Lyon screamed, "He is not even supposed to be in this game. He is nothing but a piece of trash!"

Natsu screamed and swung at Lyon again. Lyon dodged and blasted every member surrounding him with a single attack. He turned towards Gray. Erza quickly stood up in a defensive stance. "Stay away from him," she warned.

Lyon looked at the guild members thrown away by the sheer force of his attack. "I will prove to you ignorant that these people are foreign species in the game. I will prove to you that they do not belong. And I will start with her." He said, pointing at SkyMaiden.

Lyon charged up the white beam of light again. Before anyone could react, he had fired it. "SkyMaiden!" a voice screamed from the crowd. Erza quickly sprung into action and summoned a sword to parry the beam. To her horror, the beam passed right through it, right through her, without leaving a single scratch on her.

Time slowed down. She turned towards SkyMaiden in horror. The little girl gaped, terrified. Suddenly, she was pushed away. And before Erza could comprehend the scene, the beam had pierced Gray right through his heart.

"Gray!"

Erza watched as his eyes met hers. She watched as he gasped lightly. She watched as the light faded away from his eyes and he dropped to the ground, motionless.

Erza screamed in rage and charged at Lyon. He snapped out of some sort of trance and parried away her sword. "I will kill you," Erza promised, charging at Lyon again. But before she could slice at him, he disappeared.

"I will return, Fairy Tail." His voice boomed. "And this time, there will be war."


He wasn't moving.

He can't be dead.

His eyes were blank. His XP meter blinked red, flashing 2%, decreasing slowly. Gray Fullbuster was dying in front of his eyes. And Natsu wasn't able to do anything.

The pinkette knelt beside Gray, drinking in his form, trying to remember every detail of his partner.

"No… no please," Wendy whimpered desperately, "I can't heal him."

Natsu recalled the way Gray had reacted the moment he had recognized Lyon. He had seen the way Gray had retracted into himself. He had seen the way Gray hadn't retaliated. From all the times Natsu had seen him fight, Gray had never been to one to surrender. Lyon had tortured Gray, affecting him physically and mentally in the worst manner possible.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end.

"This is your fault, Natsu," he heard a pained voice behind him, "If you hadn't terminated your partnership, he could have lived."

"Hush, Erza." Jellal muttered, hugging her trembling form.

But Erza continued anyway. "He isn't even in the Safe Zone because he doesn't belong to the gui-" Erza sobbed freely, clutching onto Jellal from support. "It's no use blaming the others, Erza," he sniffled.

A low murmur emanated from the few people surrounding Natsu.

"… He's just a kid…"

"… All this time I had thought he was…"

His eyes remained fixed on the body in front of him. Blue eyes, raven hair, boyish face and tearstained cheeks: from the countless times he had wished to be able to see his face, this was not the way he wanted to do so.

This was not how he wanted to remember his partner.

Suddenly, his ears picked up on something.

"… tsu…"

"Gray!" He quickly bent down and came face to face with the raven-haired man, "What is it?" He whispered, cupping Gray's face with his palm, desperate to hear something, anything.

"… nd gam…"

"What?" Gray's blank eyes stared at him pleadingly, slowly drooping close. "Gray…" Natsu gasped, tears filling his eyes again. He couldn't. He couldn't, dammit!

Erza was right.

It was his fault, his own grievous fault.

If he hadn't terminated their partnership, Gray could have survived. All he was left with was a dying image of a man he had come to respect, to adore; and a wish he could never fulfill.

He couldn't save Gray.

He couldn't…

Couldn't he?

Furtively, he glanced at Gray's lifeline. This was his only chance.

With a deep breath and a last look at Gray, he opened his inventory.

TBC


So. Yup. Sorry, not sorry. Gratsu is finally here!

Feedback is always appreciated! :)

Kori