Previously on…
Deliora must have been freed and by the scent of things, Natsu and Gray, along with that man, were with it. I had to make it to them, had to ensure that Gray was alright, because if I knew him as well as I thought I did, he would see only one solution; Iced Shell.
I sprinted down the corridor, as I heard Deliora roar once again. What was going on down there? I slid into the cavern that held the now awakened Deliora as the man Natsu and Gray were supposed to have defeated cackled, "Finally! Deliora lives!"
"Aw man, I'm wasting my time on you. Let's finish this right now!", Natsu yelled as a large crystal ball slammed into the side of his forehead, sending him tumbling over.
"Ready when you are. Go ahead and do your worst, little salamander.", The man cackled as he moved the sphere through the air.
"Why you!", Natsu roared, leaping forward and smashing the orb, only to have it be reformed. "But I… broke it…", Natsu wheezed as it slammed into his stomach.
"I have the ability to control an object's time. I can take the orb back to before it was broken. I practice one of the lost magics, known as the arc of time. It's extremely rare and quite powerful.", the man grinned with malicious intent. "Would you care to see what happens when I send the ball into the future?", he cackled as the ball zoomed forward, past Natsu then slamming into him, faster than I could track, beating Natsu brutally.
"ENOUGH!", I roared, sending a flurry of icicles at the man. He dodged and landed atop another rock formation.
"Oh ho, another player. Did you finish the Cold Emperor off so easily then?", he cackled once more and I felt my blood turn to ice.
"Natsu, where's Gray?", I asked, my eyes remaining on the man, watching his every move.
"The snowflake passed out when he got a good hit in on his busted ribs.", Natsu replied, his words cold but his tone full of fury.
"I'm going to attend to Gray, then see what I can do about the demon.", I turned to where I then saw Gray lying on a rock, passed out. "Natsu, you have my faith. Kick his ass."
"You got it!", Natsu said, his voice filled with determination.
As explosions then started up once more, I ran towards where Gray lying, atop another rock pillar. With a flying leap, I cleared the gap, sailing across it effortlessly. I landed in a crouch then began to move towards Gray once again. When I reached his side, I carefully turned him onto his back, trying to avoid irritating his damaged ribs.
"Gray, can you hear me? Gray!", I gently shook his shoulder, and got no response. I placed two fingers at his pulse point on his neck, but my hands were so icy from all the magic I had used fighting Lyon that I couldn't tell if he had a pulse or not. With tendrils of fear attempting to wiggle their way into my consciousness, I placed my head over his chest, listening for his heartbeat, and breathing a sigh of relief when I found it.
Deliora let out another roar and broke through the rest of the ice, just as the moon drip ceased, the noise of which seemed to rouse Gray as I sat back up. "Huh? What happened?", He muttered groggily.
"Thank god. You're awake. I hope you enjoyed your nap, because we have bigger problems.", I stated, rising to my feet. "Deliora's been released from the ice."
"WHAT?!", Gray yelled, as he took my proffered hand and rose to his feet as well.
"Gray, you're awake!", Natsu roared as he jumped over to us. "I took that guy down, he disappeared though.", he reported in.
"We'll have to settle that later. Right now we need a viable solution on how to stop this thing!", I ordered.
"Simple, we beat it to a pulp!", Natsu yelled, smashing his fists together to ignite them.
"None of you are strong enough. But I am. I will defeat it! I'm going to surpass Ur, finally!", Lyon had crawled in, and let out the laugh of a madman. None of my prior fury was present, I just pitied the broken soul before me.
"You can't fight, you can't even get up off the floor!", Natsu cried out, pointing at Lyon's low state.
Deliora let out another roar that had me supporting Gray as he almost fell over. He was too injured from his first fight with Lyon, the second fight with him, and then the fight with that man.
"I've been waiting so long for this moment. ", Lyon rasped as he stared fanatically at the demon. "Ur was strong, but not strong enough to kill this demon. I'm going to the one thing Ur never could! Finally, my dream will be fulfilled!" Lyon screeched as he stood, yet was knocked out in an instant by Gray, who had shook me off.
"You've caused enough trouble.", Gray strode off the pillar and into the melted ice that was Ur. "I'm going to clean up the mess you made… I'll seal the demon myself. ICED SHELL!"
Gray shifted into the stance and began to power up the spell, when Lyon began to shout at him from his position on the ground. "Don't do it, Gray! Do you have any idea how long it took me to melt that ice?! It won't stop me, I will defeat Deliora!", Lyon bellowed at the figure coated in the icy tendrils of his magic.
"I can't worry about the future now. I have to worry about stopping him now before he kills us all!", Gray yelled back, his eyes intent on the demon before him. For the second time that night, I stepped in front of his spell. "Aquila!"
"Don't you dare, Gray! Let Natsu and I handle it!", I yelled, my back to the demon, staring straight into Gray's stormy eyes.
"Don't be stupid, get out of my way!", Gray yelled.
"If I wouldn't let you give your life before, why would I let you now? You won't die that way, Gray. Not while I can stop it! My most powerful defensive magic, Frozen heart, allows me to encase my allies in a practically impenetrable ice shield. I know how it feels to be the ice. I know how Ur feels! I refuse to let you feel the same way! Cast the spell if you wish, but I'll be right here if you do!", I vowed, planting my feet .
"Aquila.", Gray whispered, before Deliora let out another huge roar, and swung its fist back in a heavy hitting punch, aiming for where I stood.
"AQUILA!", I heard Gray shout, as I planted my ice covered legs in the rock, and covered in ice, held a javelin of an icicle in my hand, braced for Deliora's oncoming attack.
My javelin met Deliora's claw and we held our ground, our attacks colliding, each waiting for the other to give ground, held in a staring contest of power. Deliora blinked first.
Cracks began to appear all throughout his arm, and appeared on the rest of his body. With one final roar, Deliora, crumbed into pieces.
"What the?! How strong are you Aquila?!", Natsu yelled, shocked from his position back on a rock pillar.
"What?! No way, that can't be!", Lyon's voice took on a strident note, as he watched Deliora crumple into the water. The water began to flow out to the sea.
"For ten years, Ur has gradually depleted the demons life force. And what we just saw, was nothing more than its last, dying breaths!", I watched as Lyon's fists curled, his voice thick with despair.
"Man Gray, your teacher was pretty awesome!", Natsu crowed.
"You've saved my life again, Thank you Ur.", Gray whispered as he shoulders shook with sobs, and tears dripped down his cheeks. I walked over to him, and placed my hand gently on his shoulder. I felt him tense then relax at the touch, the acceptance of his loss all that he wanted.
I released his shoulder when Lucy, Erza, Happy, and Stella came flooding into the cavern. Happy crashed into Natsu who gave his friend a hug, then dropped him and attempted to make a run for it when he saw Erza. I stifled a giggle as a ball of ginger fluff crashed into my chest, snuggling up close to me.
"AQUILA! I'm so glad everyone's okay, and the big, nasty demon is gone too! We did it, we beat them! I even helped Erza and Lucy, I flew above the bad guys and helped throw sticks and branches at them like Happy told me too!", Stella chirped as she went on and on, describing how she helped to take care of the bad guys.
"I'm proud of you, Stella. You did well.", I grinned at my exceed, who gave a smile back and snuggled into me. I watched as Gray helped Lyon up and we began to exit the cavern, when something shiny caught my eye. I crouched and placed Stella on the ground. SHe gave me a questioning look and I shooed her ahead, saying I needed to check something and would meet them at the village. With a shrug, Stella followed them around the corner and out of my sight.
I strode over to where I say the gleaming object, hidden by some water. I knelt in the water to discover a chunk of ice that had not yet melted. I held it in my hands and wondered what Ur had been like, the woman to raise both Gray and Lyon, two entirely different people, who took entirely different paths.
As I contemplated the ice shard, I was stunned when I saw what appeared to be an eye, deep blue with a twinkle flash at me from inside the ice, and I heard what sounded like a whisper on the wind say, Thank you for taking care of Gray. I had never heard the voice before, but without a reasonable doubt, I could say it was Ur. I placed the ice shard and bowed before it, with my fist clasped over my heart.
"Thank you Ur, for raising a person such as Gray, that deserves to be protected.", I caught a flash of a smile, as the ice dissolved into water, and joined the rest to flow into the ocean.
A/N: Alright, I know it's a little shorter than normal, but considering I'm updating earlier, I think it should be fine. Thanks to Lynntheripper, Irondragonsword, and JaDeCiTa609 for their wonderful reviews! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, remember to review! (P.S. Don't worry you're still getting a update this coming Sunday!)