Author's note

Ok, I'm back with another chapter and this one was pretty fun to write. But first, thank you all for reading I just finished looking at the story stats for June and you guys blew me away with the number of views/visitors this story has gotten especially for an OC-centered fic so thank you. And a special thanks to those who reviewed and people who let me bounce ideas off of them.

And with no more delay.

Hope you enjoy it.


The Greyhound: Part 2, Old Demons

Chapter 14

As he awoke the feeling of his back pressing against cold dirt stuck out, causing a shiver to run through his body.

Deciding to stand he moved to do so, taking in his surroundings in the meantime. It was nothing but open plains and the night sky around him.

"Oh he's awake," a voice said from behind him.

"Ya you're right" a second appeared.

When he turned to greet them, what he saw were two children. A young boy with a head of brown hair, and a little girl with golden blonde locks. They both looked to be about 10.

"We should probably show him the way right Blake?" the girl asked.

"Ya, she's waiting for him after all. Lead the way Gina!" the boy responded happily

"Come on mister, the nice lady is waiting for you." at the prompting he started to move without really thinking.

They walked for several minutes before entering a small village. There were no people and it seemed to be abandoned, though it was strangely familiar to him.

They walked to the town square before he saw anything else. But once they entered he could see... someone. There, kneeling on the ground head pressed against the dirt, was a person. It looked like a woman with long black hair.

As they got closer he picked up on her labored breathing. And by the time they were 15 feet away, he could see clearly enough to know who it was.

"Mom!" he cried racing to her, sliding against the earth as he kneeled down to help.

"Mom, mom are you okay?" he asked, trying to get any kind of response out of the woman.

"W e u?" She mumbled. What had she said?

"Mom, I can't understand you."

"Where were you?"

What? "Mom, what do you mean?" he asked, trying to understand.

Finally, she raised her head to look at him "Where were you?" she said with venom in her voice.

She stood to her feet looking down at him "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WAS DYING?" she screamed. "YOU WERE SLEEPING! YOU SLEPT WHILE THEY SLAUGHTERED ME!"

He couldn't move, he was stuck there on the ground. Words frozen in his throat refusing to come out, but he tried. "Ma-mom, no I. You, I didn't-"

"I needed you and you weren't there!" she yelled down again.

This time he went to stand, wanting to plead his case, but he couldn't. Something was pulling him down, keeping him on his knees.

Turning to look he saw the children who'd lead him here each holding a hand, pulling him tightly to the ground.

But with just a glance he could tell, they weren't alive. No, in place of those sweet kids were lifeless husks. They were corpses, no color in their eyes, covered in bruises and bleeding all over. Even so, their weak forms kept him chained here.

"I needed you, and you left me to die! You heard my screams but you did nothing!" As she roared a fire started around them.

"I needed you Kinzo, I needed you!" The flames grew closer, now surrounding them.

"By doing nothing you practically handed me over to Hades!"

It was so close he could feel his skin heating up.

"I think you knew I didn't like having you around, you were always such a bother. I was so grateful when Ur took you off my hands for a couple of years, but even she couldn't put up with you anymore. No, I didn't love you. Is that why you abandoned me?" She asked him.

The fire flickered covering his vision. When it faded he saw what remained of his mother. Gone was her tan complexion and strong appearance. In its place was scorched skin, every piece of her body was burned black, and she could barely stand. But she still had the strength for this.

She drew her revolver, his revolver, and pushed the barrel against his head.

He knew the two children weren't there anymore. The fire had consumed them, but it didn't matter; he couldn't move anyway. The only thing he could do was stare up at the woman he'd let down with teary eyes.

"What a useless son you are. It would have been better if I never had you."

He waited for the gunshot but it never came. The fire struck first, it took her. And in place of the silence, he heard her screams. The air was filled with the sound of her begging for help.

He yelled, cried out for it to take him instead, but it wouldn't. No matter how much he begged, pleaded, or screamed the fire wouldn't touch him. It just took everything else.

It was quiet, the screams were over, the fire was gone. But now he was alone.

He heard something hit the ground in front of him. His revolver.

"End it" he heard his own voice call out. So he reached for the gun, and could only note how well it fit in his hand.

*Bang*


His eyes fluttered open. Another restless night.

Sitting against the cell wall he took off his silver rings and held them together debating whether or not to spin them and hear his mother's voice. He just wanted to hear her say she loved him, that usually helped ease his mind.

No. Sighing to himself he rose stretching out. They would be leaving soon and he needed to put his restraints back on before the guards came to let them go.


When all was said and done the three prisoners stood outside of the Magic Council headquarters. Shackles off and prepared to leave. He really didn't want to talk to either of the Fairy Tail mages so he made a B-line in the opposite direction.

"Stop right there!" Erza called out.

If he had to pick a word to sum up the last three days it would probably be irritation. "What?" he spit back.

"Would you care to inform us as to what you and that Ultear woman were doing last night?" she questioned.

Is she serious right now? "I don't see how that's any of your business."

"If you don't want to tell me I will simply have Master force it out of you later." It seems she has a plan for everything.

"Ohhh, two can play that fuckin game." He told her before verbally retaliating.

"How about you enlighten us, who's Seigrain's brother? Or maybe you wanna say something about that tower he mentioned?" Erza took a step back, surprise and fear emanating from her very being.

"H-how do you kn-"

"We all have things we want to stay buried Scarlet. So unless you're okay with someone digging up your past don't try forcing it out of other people." He didn't have time for this anymore. Daniel Reen was expecting a call from him, and fixing the aftermath of his Lullaby job was priority number one right now.

He left.


He laughed, the client actually laughed at him.

"You want me to betray Hades, one of the most dangerous men on the planet, for a broken flute? Hahahahahaha!"

That was why he was sitting on a train headed back to Magnolia, with a piss poor attitude. Though he couldn't really blame the man. Hades wasn't someone to cross lightly.

There was one silver lining to all of this though. While Daniel hadn't been able to help him with the Lullaby gig he did get a job this morning requesting him personally. The location he needed to head for was called Galuna Island.

He would be acting as a guard there for a few weeks, and the reward was information on the 7 Kin, specifically whoever their leader was. The client also said they had a bit of intel on Zancrow as well. He really was lucky, now all he needed was Makarov's permission… Wow, he felt like a kid going to ask his parents if he could go to a friend's house, it was demoralizing.


He stood in front of Fairy Tail dreading what would come if he opened those doors. He did notice that there was a new magic signature though. It was relatively large, bigger than Erza's, resting on the second floor. Well, he could deal with that when the time came. Pushing the doors open he walked through.

Not two steps in he heard "Oi bastard, you stole my fight yesterday, now you have to make up for it!" Natsu was charging at him with a flame-covered fist.

Ducking under the swing he grabbed the dragon slayer's arm before twisting and launching the boy over his shoulder into a table. A table filled with people… and now a guild brawl was starting, oops.

As he observed the guild members the actions of one stuck out to him, Erza. She was staring at him from her seat, well glaring was more accurate, and seemed awfully tense. As he made eye contact she tensed even more and quickly looked away.

Strange, I guess bringing up her past rattled her a bit. Regardless he didn't let his thoughts rest on her for long. There was so much else going on in the guildhall, and someone he was looking for.

Natsu was busy fighting the pissed-off members he'd landed on, Elfman joined in on the scuffle immediately, Gray was laughing his ass off from his own seat, and Makarov was sighing to himself while he sat at the bar.

Seeing his target Kinzo paid the rough-housing no mind and took a seat to the old man's left. Looking up he saw Mira and considered starting a small conversion, but decided against it after he saw the contempt on her face.

She wore a look of distaste and distrust, basically, she wasn't happy to see him. "What's up with her- Ah, Makarov must have told her about me." That made sense and her reaction was pretty typical he assumed. After all, how would you react if the person you were being buddy-buddy with the day before turned out to be a killer?

She walked off without a word, either to take more orders or just to get away from him.

"Jeez, I'm guessing she didn't take the news well." He commented to the guild master.

"She was a bit displeased and didn't like the idea of keeping you around. Though with time I'm sure that opinion will change." He offered.

"No need, I don't plan on sticking around. New job came up, could last a couple days, could last a couple weeks... All I need is permission." he finally said, swallowing his pride.

The guild master looked back at him skeptically.

"Relax old man, nothing to worry about. They just want me as a guard dog, like you."

Sighing at the boy's choice of wording he questioned further "And where would you be?"

"Some Island to the southeast. Galuna I think."

"Hmm? Alright, but wait to leave until tomorrow. And stick around the guild until it closes tonight."

Of course the old man wouldn't just let him go now, well whatever at least he could leave without his heart-stopping for violating the Contract.

He was going to go find a nice place to sit away from the bar, (to avoid Mira) preferably in a corner (to avoid everyone else), but magic was starting to enter the guild. Sleep Magic by the look of things. It was easy enough to resist if you knew what was happening, but when caught unawares… well let's just say Grey passed out in a rather compromising and underdressed position. He was definitely using that for blackmail in the future

As he looked to Makarov to see if he knew what was happening the old man just waved him off.

Soon enough someone walked through the door, but don't ask for any details because they were covered head to toe in robes, blocking off all but their eyes. They had a number of staves on their back, and as they approached, it became clear that the person was male.

He walked straight to the job board, ripping off a flier before walking towards them. He seemed surprised to find them awake, well more like he was surprised Kinzo was awake.

"You must be that new addition Master was talking about. I do hope you'll take care not to bring any harm to the mages here." The subtle threat, all too clear to him.

"...Relax Mr. Ninja, It isn't like Makarov would keep me around if he wasn't certain it would be safe anyway." This dude was giving him weird vibes, he seemed normal enough on the outside but when looking at his Magic circuitry with Talionis everything was backward. He'd never seen anything like it before and it was somewhat unnerving.

Simply nodding at the response he carried on "I'll be taking this one." He said holding the flier while walking out and started counting back from 5. Once he was finally gone the others started to wake up and explain what had just happened to him.

...

"That was Mystogan, one of our S-class mages. Before he comes to take a new mission he puts everyone to sleep," explained Gray.

Interesting "Man, he doesn't even trust his own guildmates, now that's a kind of paranoia I can respect." Gray just deadpanned at him.

"Tell me Kinzo since you were able to stay awake and even hold a conversation, what do you think of him?" Makarov asked.

"...I guess if I had to put it into words, then I'd say everything about him is backward. Nothing feels right about that guy."

Makarov just grunted at his response, whether it was in agreement he didn't know.

"Wait a second, you actually talked to him!?" Gray questioned. "I've never even seen the man before. And I don't think anyone except Master has seen his face."

*Crackle* *Crackle*

A sound almost like static electricity rang out around the guild.

"Now I can't let that slide, I've seen his face." Said a new voice, one he definitely hadn't heard before, coming from the second floor.

"Oh, Laxus is here!/ That's a rare sight nowadays." some of the other members started to comment.

Looking up he could see a man likely in his early twenties, wearing a fur-trimmed coat like a cape with headphones over his ears. Blonde spikey hair pushing out around them and a lightning bolt-shaped scar running down his right eye. "So this is the other Dreyar."

"Laxus fight me!" The now recovered Natsu cried as he sprinted for the second story. He didn't even make it to the steps before Makarov sent a giant-sized fist to crush him. "Natsu you are not S-class, the second floor is still off-limits to you."

The dragon struggled under his grip but was ultimately unable to free himself. The blonde just watched on in amusement.

"Why are you here Laxus, you so rarely stop by?" The old man asked his grandson.

"Hehe, well when you told me we were adopting a stray, I just had to see him for myself."

Of course this was about him.

"Tell me, gramps, what do the other S-class think of your most recent charity case?"

He didn't answer.

"You know if you want to gossip about someone it's best to do it when they aren't in the room." They were talking about him like he wasn't even here.

"Oh, what's the matter, did I hurt your feelings?"

"No, but if you have something to say, say it to my face." was the rogue's quick reply.

"Well, why don't you come on up here and I will." he taunted

Kinzo didn't answer, he just left his seat and started walking toward the stairs.

"Kinzo, I thought I made myself clear. No Fairy Tail members are allowed on the second floor unless they are S-class." Makarov warned.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not a member" he shot back. The old man didn't even try to stop him as he moved up the steps, now standing face to face with the blonde. He still looked amused but his smirk was noticeably smaller.

"You had something to say?"

"When the old man told me who you were I was expecting someone strong, but here you are. You barely have more magic than the cat!" he laughed while pointing towards Happy.

Ok, this guy was treading on thin ice, he'd already dealt with Ultear's taunting he didn't need anymore. "Is there a point you're trying to make?"

"Just that weaklings like you don't belong in this guild."

Oh, how convenient "Didn't you hear me? I'm. Not. A. Member." he said slowly as if talking to a child.

"Heh, quite the mouth on you. Didn't your bitch of a mother teach you any better? Hound." Gray and Mira winced at that, both knowing Kinzo's mother was a sore spot.

"..."

"Oh, what's wrong? Nothing to say?"

"...People like you are my favorite," the rogue whispered too quietly for anyone beneath them to hear.

"What?" Laxus thought to himself.

"You have plenty of magic but you're arrogant. People like you always let me get too close."

He paused for a moment, just long enough to look up and start boring a hole through the man's skull.

"And they're normally gagging on their own blood before they get a chance to use any of that precious magic."

The older man's jaw clenched and he raised his voice so the people downstairs could hear again. "You think you can take me? I'm the strongest person here! Fairy Tail belongs to me!"

Kinzo had to stop for a moment. Arrogance was one thing, but this guy was downright delusional if he thought he could beat his grandfather in a fight. Why was he acting like this? Talionis told him why.

"Is that why you're so full of yourself?" He got the man's attention.

"You think you're tough shit because you had a lacrima impla-"

"KINZO!" Makarov cried out, cutting him off. "That is enough, come down here now, that's an order." begrudgingly he obeyed.

Laxus looked stunned.

How? How did this guy seem to know about something that should have been private information. Even so he snapped out of it quickly enough to make one last comment. "That's right, mutt, your master's calling!"

The assassin stopped.

And turned again to glare at the blonde.

"Don't kid yourself Dreyar, I've killed mages stronger than you." whispering once more so only he could hear, before turning again and heading back towards his seat at the bar.


When he reached his seat things downstairs were tense but eventually, everyone just went back to their daily routines. And when there weren't as many prying eyes or interested ears Makarov Questioned him. "How did you know?"

Straight to the point as always, well he wouldn't give anything away unless questioned specifically "What are you yapping about now old man?"

He could feel the elder's irritation and heard the sound of his mug cracking from just how tight his grip was. "Well, why don't I make it clear then. How did you know Laxus had a Dragon-Slayer Lacrima implanted?"

The oldest Dreyar was deathly serious "Well I didn't know it was a dragon's lacrima so thanks for telling me, but as for how I knew... Intuition maybe?" ya maybe right now wasn't the best time to test the old man.

"Kinzo I order you to tell me how you knew." the wizard saint seethed, and with those words, an uncomfortable feeling snaked its way around his chest. This was it do or die, tell him or my heart stops.

He chose to tell. "I could see it."

Makarov seemed confused by his words and if he hadn't just ordered the boy to tell him the truth he might have called him a liar. But that answer left many more questions.

"Elaborate that's an order." and here we go.


"The Eye of Talionis an artifact that lets you see magic, how fascinating. Who else knows about it?" the midget questioned.

Practically growling at the man holding his proverbial leash he said "No one except maybe a couple of dark mages." He still wasn't sure if Ultear knew about the artifact. She had no doubt seen his eye but if Hades never told her about it then she wouldn't know of it"s significance.

Taking a moment more to ponder the answer, he seemed satisfied "Very well... and wrest assured this information will remain confidential." the latter half of his response was likely an attempt to cool Kinzo's anger at being forced to reveal such valuable information.

"Ya, sure it will." after hearing the boy's doubtful response the guildmaster just sighed and left for the night.


Things were quiet after that, and as the day turned to night more and more people turned in. Heading back to their own homes, their own beds. All the while he was stuck here sitting at the bar. Why you may ask, well Makarov gave very clear instructions 'stick around the guild until it closes'. If he didn't want his heart to burst he needed to stay here till the end.

Finally, as the last of the patrons left, Mira approached him. "Why are you still here this late?" she asked in a passive-aggressive tone.

Taking a moment to choose his words he responded "Did Makarov tell you about the Binding Contract?" a nod let him know he had.

"His instructions were very clear that I stay here till this place is closed up for the night. So unless you wanna be the one to deal with my corpse you're stuck with me till the end."

With a heavy sigh, she responded "... haaah, fine but if you're going to be here you might as well make yourself useful. Grab those barrels and help me take them downstairs." She pointed over.

He obliged.

As they reached the bottom step he set them down and she decided to start a conversation. "Where are you sleeping tonight?"

That was unexpected "... I saw a forest at the edge of town, I'll probably set up camp there for the night."

She paused for a moment. "Listen, If you need a place to stay, Elfman and I have a spare roo-"

"Don't, just don't." He cut her off. She seemed surprised by his words.

He had overheard Makarov pressuring her earlier in the day to offer him a place to stay. The old man was probably hoping he would bond with the girl, because if he had friends he might grow more attached to the guild as a whole.

"Don't let that old man pressure you into doing something you don't want to." If she wasn't surprised before she was now.

"He should be ashamed of himself trying to force you into housing a known assassin."

Wait was, was he looking out for her?

"What makes you think I don't want to?'' she asked.

Was that a joke?

Well, she looked like she was expecting an answer so probably not.

Well, I guess that means he needs to explain then?

"Everyone who knows what I am is weary of me, as they should be. Lucy can't even look me in the eye. Natsu is friendly enough but always keeps his guard up when I'm around her like he expects me to go rabid at any moment.

Erza avoids me like the plague unless she's picking a fight. Mystogan stopped by just to make sure I was on a tight leash. Laxus is trying to display dominance now so I won't challenge him later." He droned on.

"Then there's you. You seem both disgusted with my presence and have nothing but distrust for me. I can only assume you see me as a dangerous animal you don't want getting too close to your friends."

After listening to him diagnose her behavior, and being pretty spot on, she questioned more.

"Kinzo tell me something… if it meant achieving your goals, would you hurt the people in this guild?"

"Without question" he answered without hesitation.

She didn't like that answer. So they walked back to the first floor and finished packing up the guild in silence.

...

As she was about to lock everything up she couldn't stop herself from asking just once more "What about Gray?"

"...what about Gray?" he questioned.

"Would you hurt him, to reach your goals?"

"... No."

"Why not?"

"Gray is family, nothing else to it."

She thought about her words before letting them come out, but in the end she had to say it.

"You know, here at Fairy Tail, we consider each other family. Every member is held close like a brother or sister. You could have had that… But you already made it clear. You're not a member."

"Good night Kinzo," she said. Turning the key, and turning to walk home.

"...Good night."


Author's note

And there you have it chapter 14 is done. Not sure how well I wrote the dream sequence so If there are any questions or recommendations let me know. Seriously thank you everyone for taking the time to read, and I hope this story is something you guys find entertaining.

See ya in a few days. Happy 4th of July to anyone in the U.S.


Magic

1) Metal-Make Magic like ice make... but with metal

2) Speed Magic (Potential energy magic- p.s. I made this up so you won't find it on a wiki... I think.) so any time you see Conversion Leap (speed boost) or Kinetic Decay (stealing something else's speed and trapping it in place)

3) Telekinesislifting things with one's mind etc.

4) Re-Quip (can't believe I forgot he can do this) no armor just items/weapons

Tools

1) His Revolver- Iron Maiden (two types of ammo revealed. Puncture rounds and Flashbang rounds)

2) The rings his mother gave him - can be molded into other objects and when spun together replay a recorded message.

3) The magic absorbing metal - He can choose to make his weapons out of this or other kinds of normal metal (iron, steel, etc.)

4) The Eye of Talionis - replacing his right eye, it allows the user to see magic (Ethernano)

5) Isacc Colt's journals - three journals belonging to his father

6) metal woven into his hair - this will not play a major role for most of the story but I may as well mention it so people don't forget.