Chapter 46: Ur's Daughter

Ultear and Meldy ran through the forest.

"So… what do we do now? Bluenote said for us to destroy more enemies." Meldy said

"Forget what he said! It's all meaningless now!" Ultear snapped. "We can't turn back time to when things were better. I thought with Zeref I could use the arc of time last ages to return to when I was still with my mother.

They stopped. No longer having any reason to run now. For a while stood there in the jungle silently, unsure of what to do. Suddenly they heard a rustling nearby and saw three members of Fairy Tail. An extremely well endowed blonde, a shot blunette with lighter hair than Salamanders sister, and…

"Gray Fullbuster!" Ultear exclaimed.

"Ah! Two more of the seven kin!" Levi screamed.

Gray looked at her.

"Ur? No it can't be!"

A spark of anger lit up in her, she clenched her fist and frowned.

"I am not Ur! I am Ultear, her daughter!"

Under different circumstances she might have tried to feed some lie in order to make him her pawn. But the encounter with Zeref had left her devastated and devoid of purpose. Now she didn't know what to do.

"Her daughter? But… she told me you were dead!" Gray exclaimed.

"Did she?" Ultear asked, surprised and angry.

"Yes… she thought so! I saw her crying over one of your old dresses one night!" Gray said.

Ultear was silent. There was no lie in his eyes. But she couldn't believe it.

"No… she abandoned me! She left me in that facility where I was tortured and replaced me with you and that other boy!" Ultear shouted. "I saw her with you years ago!"

"There's no way Ur would do that!" Gray countered. "She never replaced you!"

Ultear recoiled. She thought back to her childhood. Her mother carrying her on her back through a blizzard. Her memory was foggy though. She'd asked where the two were going but then passed out and woken up in that wretched facility run by Brain. He'd performed painful experiments on her for his own gain.

"Then why did she leave me in that facility where I was tortured and experimented on!"

"She'd been told you were dead! She brough you to the Bureau of Magical Development because you were sick

Ultear froze. Her mother had been told that she'd died? But she'd thought that Ur had abandoned her. Somehow… she wanted to believe Gray… but… the anger refused.

"No! You're lying! I don't believe you!"

She had worked to hard, done too many terrible things to ever go back. She'd abducted Wendy, possessed Jellal and made him make the tower of Heaven, and destroyed the Magic Council, as well as destroyed Meldy's village.

"Shall I deal with him Ultear?" Meldy offered.

"No!" Ultear snapped. "You stay out of this Meldy! In fact, I want you to leave Grimoire Heart!"

"What? But you're the one that brought me into the guild after my village was destroyed!" Meldy exclaimed.

"I destroyed your village!" Ultear screamed.

"What?" Meldy was shocked, the one she cared about the most was the one who had taken everything from her.

"I took you as a recruit to use you!" Ultear shouted. "Go! Live a real life! This is my battle!"

Lucy and Levi readied themselves to help Gray.

"You two stay out of this!" the ice wizard said. "This is personal! You two get back to the base camp! I'll meet you there!"

But Gray!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Look in her eyes, she doesn't have much will to fight!" Gray said.

The eyes were full of anger but also had a feeling of hopelessness to them.

"Alright!" Lucy said. "Come on Levy!"

The two girls were gone. Meldy watched them go but she did nothing. So much had just been dumped on her out of nowhere. What was she going to do now? She couldn't stay with Grimoire Heart could she? Not she'd really cared for the Guild, Ultear had been what mattered to her. But she'd lead the attack on her village and been the one to destroy it… that also made her responsible for her families death. Meldy just didn't know anymore.

The battle between Ultear and Gray began. For a long time Gray could do nothing, for Ultear's arc of time magic was super effective against his Ice Make. She'd learned it specifically to be able to combat her mother after seeing that she'd been replaced. All of Gray's attacks were sent forward in time to when they melted. But then, Gray had a genius idea. He cut himself and created frozen red ice blades from his own blood. It worked, Ultears arc of time was useless against living things, and blood was part of life. His ice was now immune to her spell. With the bloody ice blades on his arms Gray turned the tide, striking her multiple times and then sending them both into the ocean on the boundaries.

It was there that Ultear heard her.

My daughter.

That voice. Ultear thought. It can't be!

It is. Ur's voice said and her face appeared in Ultear's head.

You're dead! My mother turned into ice when she used the ice shell! Ultear thought. And she melted on Galuna island. Wait… she went into the sea!

Oh my child. I see you have been through so much. Ur's voice said. I'm sorry.

Ultear saw her mother's memories, as though shining through the water she and Gray were in. She saw that what Gray claimed was true. Her mother had been deceived, told that her daughter had died during treatment. The flashes gave Gray the opportunity to send her high out of the water with an ice attack. He then climbed up to the shore and let her down next to him. Ur had spoken to him too, this battle was over.

"What will you do now?" Gray asked.

"I don't know," Ultear said honestly. "I suppose… I could help you and your friends against the remainder of Grimiore Heart and Tartarus."

"Fine with me," Gray said.

And so they climbed back up the island. Soon approaching Meldy.

"I hope everyone's okay," Gray said.

Well things are looking good for Fairy Tail now. But that will likely change next chapter as the END approaches (pun intended).

Reminder: There will be no chapter next week as I will be on vacation in Modesto CA. Check for a new chapter on the night of the 20th or the morning of the 21st California time.