Author's note
Lol, I almost forgot to copy and past the first section of this chapter. Anyway, I'm back for another one.
This chapter is gonna be very different from other chapters mainly because... well you'll see. I'm curious to know what you guys think of this but I'll wait to ask anything until the bottom Author's note. See you at the end.
The Greyhound: Part 2, Old Demons
Chapter 17
Gray stood at the top of the temple in shock. Not because Kinzo was beating Lyon, he expected that to an extent. But because in the middle of the fight something collided with the boy. And when his friend recovered he screeched out some woman's name 'Ultear!'
That would have been strange enough but as he tried to leave Lyon stabbed him in the back. Seeing that pissed the ice mage off but Kinzo's response put him even more on edge.
If he had to guess it was probably some of Natsu's fire, but regardless he just torched Lyon without a second thought and took off after whoever he was chasing.
That was probably the moment he realized just how damaged his old family was. That was when he really saw the effect Ur's sacrifice had on the people she left behind, the people he cared about.
Lyon had spent Lord knows how many years on this island trying to prove he was worthy of being Ur's disciple by slaying the monster she couldn't. Even if it meant killing her in the process. His internal desire to be worthy had even pushed him into stabbing Kinzo. Inflicting a wound that could very easily be fatal if not treated soon.
Then there was Kinzo. Ur's decision had stopped her from being there when the boy needed her all those years ago, and as a result, he was a completely different person now. Gone was the nice boy they'd lived with and in his place was a seemingly cold-blooded killer whose only emotions appeared to be anger and irritation.
Evidence of just how far he'd fallen was right in front of him, in the shape of a highly wounded Lyon.
First and second-degree burns littered his body. His clothing hanging together by scorched threads. Eyes unfocused and ragged gasps escaping his mouth. It was seeing things like this, the aftermath of what he did that made Gray question.
"Is he really a monster?"
He'd heard all the rumors, knew what the public thought of 'the Greyhound'. Even so, he was still holding out hope that none of that was true. But he was there during the Lullaby fight when Kinzo had wanted to just leave the guild masters to die. He had watched him almost kill Erza in the train station. And he couldn't deny what was right in front of him now. Lyon could have easily died from that attack.
The thought scared him. No, Kinzo scared him.
'Cough cough!'
His thoughts would have to wait. Lyon was moving again.
"Lyon, are you alright?" He asked while running over to the crater his fellow ice mage was laying in.
The silver-haired boy reacted to his voice. Making eye contact, and then losing it.
"YOU! You fools, I will not be stopped! And you will pay for interfering!" He shouted while rising from the rubble.
Gray just gave pause
"Are you crazy? You've lost, just accept it." How could he not see this was over?
Deciding to offer the first hand in peace Gray extended his arm hoping Lyon would take it and this could all be done.
He just glanced at the outstretched limb with disdain before smacking it away and raging "nothing is over, and I will never admit defeat! Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!"
That caught him off guard, and one attack was all he needed. As the creature barreled out of the ground and into Gray's chest, it shot him straight into the air. Stealing both his breath and consciousness.
The last thing he saw before it all went dark was Lyon's burned form limping away.
It was a bad day for our resident fire-breather. It started off on a low note when Lucy smacked him in the middle of the night. Something about 'getting handsy' and how he should 'act more like a gentleman.' He didn't know what she was on about. What he did know was Lucy could actually hit pretty hard when she wanted to.
After that, when everyone was awake, they immediately went searching through the forest. He didn't even get breakfast!
Then they spent the rest of the day looking through a bunch of caves until they found a giant monster trapped in ice. And apparently, the ice was Gray's master? That part still confused him.
Regardless, when they saw purple moonlight even he knew they should go check it out, and soon enough all three of them were on top of the temple with the moon high in the sky. Wait, the moon was already up?
He hadn't eaten at all today!
Anyway, things just kept getting weirder from there. 4 very strange people were standing on the temple all talking about them. Gray started fighting some dude with a helmet and was acting like he knew the guy. Even Kinzo decided to show up, though he kind of expected that one. He thought he had caught the guy's scent while they were in the caves but he wasn't positive.
Either way, it didn't bother him, he was just ready for some action. And the loveable dragon slayer was about to jump in and smoke the guy Gray was fighting… ya that didn't happen.
Being stopped mid-attack was bad enough, but did Kinzo really have to slam him back into the ground? I mean ya I get why he did it but was the head-smashing part really necessary? Either way, his troubles didn't stop there.
After hearing the helmet guy tell his lackeys to kill off the villagers he was all over them. Only feet away from the pink-haired girl who was flying the giant rat they had beaten up the day before. But when he was within arms reach of her something hit him.
The next thing he knew, his body was coated in a large ball of ice. All except his limbs and head were frozen over. So there he sat, unable to properly move, surprised, and dozens of pounds heavier than normal… in midair.
And now he was falling.
...
He rolled for some time, not entirely sure how far he'd traveled. The temple was still in sight though.
As he struggled back to his feet his mind quickly moved back to helping the villagers, but there was a problem… he had no clue where he was. None of the notable landmarks looked familiar and no scents were really sticking out. So he just stood there for a few minutes longer in frustration.
"Ahhhh! Come on, where am I supposed to go?" After struggling to figure out just that, he saw an explosion come from the top of the temple.
"Well if I don't know where I'm goin, might as well go where I've been." The journey would take far longer than normal due to most of his body still being frozen over. Even so, he started his long waddle back to the top.
…
As Natsu rose over the last stair leading to the structure's peak he was greeted with a sight that looked… pretty familiar actually. Stuff was destroyed, small fires were still burning along the ground, and scorch marks stained everything. It looked a lot like the aftermath of one of his fights… wait, but he hadn't fought anyone yet?
His confused thoughts would have to wait though since the silhouette of someone laying on the ground became more clear. As he marched over he could plainly see Gray's unconscious form resting against the stone floor.
"Looks like someone smacked him pretty good," he thought to himself. That was one person accounted for but where was everyone else? All the smoke in the air was making it kinda difficult to track anyone, but they clearly were not here. No Lucy, no Happy, and no Kinzo insight.
Well even if they weren't here there was one upside to climbing all the way up here. He could see the village now… man that was gonna be a long walk with all this ice on him.
Now you may be thinking "Natsu why don't you just melt it?" Ya well, he'd already tried that but for whatever reason, the stuff wasn't budging. So the only other option was to deal with it and start moving.
As he prepared to leave, his eyes looked back down to Gray's fallen form, and he realized… "Damn it! Now I have to carry him too?" Yes, this was going to be a very long walk.
Meanwhile back at Hargeon's port, a pirate ship was preparing to set sail for the open sea.
"Open those sails boys! Riches and Rum call us forward Ahahaha!" The captain roared, ready for his next big score.
His men agreed and cheered in excitement. "YAAA-!"
"Excuse me, gentlemen, I require transport to Galuna Island." A foreign voice called out.
Silence covered the top deck as every crewman searched for the distinctly feminine-sounding intruder. And there they found her standing in the middle of the ship next to the mast… How had she gotten on board without anyone noticing?
The woman had dark red hair and steely eyes. She covered herself in armor, and her expression showed she meant business.
"I'm sorry lass but I don't think you know where you are." The captain called from the helm. "But I'm sure me and my boys can… help you," he said with an unsettling undertone.
Upon hearing their captain's words the men moved closer to the woman, intentions all too clear.
"So does that mean you will not take me to my destination?" she asked, unphased by the criminals around her drawing their swords.
"I'm afraid not my lady, hehehe" the captain replied.
As the answer reached her ears, the woman lowered her head, the shadow from her hair cascading over her eyes. The crew members thought she was giving up... She was doing anything but.
The girl raised a hand and clenched it, before slamming her fist against the thick wood that held up the mast. The timber cracked and groaned before snapping, causing the rest of the massive beam to fall into the water, along with their sails.
The crew members gawked and the captain fell over, no one sure how to proceed from here.
"Now tell me, will you take me where I need to go?" the woman asked again.
"Ye-yes ma'am!" every soul on the ship cried.
"Good, you will transport me to Galuna Island in the next 3 hours, for every minute we are delayed you will receive punishment," a threatening aura reached across the deck as she dared anyone to defy her.
Once she finished the captain regained his footing and sprinted to her side. "Bu-but ma'am, you broke our center mast!?" He pleaded for mercy. How were they supposed to get there in 3 hours with a broken mast?
"Then I suggest you fix it quickly, for your sake."
Lucy and Happy had reached the village some time ago and briefed the residents that an attack would be coming their way soon. Even so, they were unwilling to relocate. Lucy had tried to reason with them, but they wouldn't listen. The chief claimed that his people had been put through too much to run at this point.
So with that in mind, the blonde had decided it was best to set up some traps as a countermeasure.
And she knew just the spirit to call, though she hadn't actually made a contract with her yet.
"Open Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" She said while holding up a golden key. The air in front of her shimmered and in a flash, a girl in a maid outfit with a pink bob cut appeared.
"Hello princess," She said with a bow, "how may I be of service?"
"Oh, she's so pretty." Lucy beamed "Ok I know we haven't set up our contract yet but we need some help protecting these villagers. Could you set up some traps?"
"Of course princess," she said before her body started spinning and digging its way through the ground.
...
"Lushy this isn't gonna work, only an idiot would fall for something like this." Happy said from her shoulder.
"Hey, it could work!" she shouted at him.
"Is this not to your liking princess? If I have disappointed you then, please punish me."
The spirit emphasized the last part of her sentence making her desire clear and Lucy very uncomfortable.
"That won't be necessary… and you can go now." the maid disappeared in a flash.
Taking a moment to breathe the girl looked over the work her spirit had managed to do. She had dug a pitfall trap several meters deep, which was fine. The problem was anyone who was actually paying attention could tell it was a trap. I mean the thing was covered over with twigs and leaves, while the area around it was just dirt.
"Well whatever, we're gonna have to make due. I don't know how much time we have left anyway."
As she spoke the village gates pushed open, and in walked… an ice-covered Natsu carrying Gray over his shoulder?
The pink-haired boy made eye contact with her for a moment before looking down at the poorly concealed trap in front of him.
She had the decency to blush since even Natsu wouldn't fall for something like that…
The Pinkett just kept staring at the patch of twigs before shrugging… and walking right through them. He fell to the bottom, and his landing could be heard from up here.
"What is that idiot doing!?"
The next 30 minutes was a massive cluster f***. To start, the fall freed Natsu from the ice that was restricting him, but that was the only good thing that happened for a while.
Not 10 seconds after he had dragged himself and Gray out of that hole a giant flying rat appeared in the sky holding a massive bucket of something nasty.
A drop of it almost hit Lucy but he had pushed her out of the way. Good thing he did since the spot she was standing in was gone now… literally gone. The earth itself had melted away.
"So acid, got it."
He figured out that they were gonna drop the stuff on them pretty quickly, and ordered everyone to stand in the village square.
Meanwhile, he took off with Happy into the sky. And as the rat poured out the bucket over them he started building up magic.
Time to do what he does best-
"I'm all fired up!"
-burn Shit to the ground.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" With a roar, he threw a massive fireball sky high and torched a large hole through the center of the acid cloud. It still rained down destroying the village but the square and the villagers themselves had been spared because of his quick thinking. "Heh, and people say I'm not smart."
After that, the rat landed, and those three weird-looking people from the temple jumped off. The Blue-haired bushy eyebrows guy and the dog-man turned to face him, and apparently while he wasn't looking the pink-haired girl flew off with Lucy. Well, that was bad.
"You should really be focusing on me fire mage." the annoying bluenett rang off.
Ya, that fight isn't even worth mentioning… but I guess I can give you the SparkNotes.
Basically any time Natsu shot fire at the guy his attacks were nullified by some janky waves the guy claimed he was using. So when magic didn't work he used his fists. And that did work.
Seriously though, what was that guy (And yes I will continue to call him guy because he will do literally nothing important in the future.) thinking? I mean if you're going to build your entire means of combat around canceling out other people's magic you should probably know how to fight at least a little bit right? Like what are your other options?
Well whatever, once he was down his friend stepped forward. The dog-man he recalled seeing as well. Natsu of all people tricked him into stabbing himself with his own paralyzing claws so I'm sure you can figure out how smart this guy is.
Regardless, while he was fighting the 2 stooges the villagers were running to a different location. He wasn't particularly concerned about them though. Lucy was more important, so he sent Happy out to find her while he tied up these 2.
Lucy was having a bad time. After Natsu saved them that giant rat had landed, dropping off 2 baddies. That was an issue, but at least she had the fire mage to back her up.
Until she didn't.
Apparently, the 3rd bad guy was a pink-haired girl named Sherry Blendy. She commanded the flying rat to pick her up and they flew to a nearby beach.
She did manage to escape the rat's claws and fight back, but that was one of the only things she managed to do. Mainly because this girl was the worst possible opponent for her to face.
Apparently, she used something called Doll Magic. It allows the user to exert control over any non-human entity. Now that may not have been such a big deal for other mages like Natsu or Gray but for her, well…
She had almost died... several times.
Her first move was to summon Taurus as a front-line fighter. That was her first mistake, and nearly her last.
Sherry's Doll Magic may not be able to control humans, but celestial spirits aren't human. Sherry took control of Taurus and nearly forced him to cave her skull in.
She struggled and Taurus was distraught, horrified at the thought of killing his own summoner. Even so, the bull couldn't act according to his own will, no he was just a puppet on Sherry's string right now.
In a panic, Lucy somehow managed to force her spirit back to the celestial plane. A feat that shouldn't be possible to do without the spirit assisting, but I suppose being faced with death can cause anyone to do the impossible.
After regaining her bearings and calming her breaths the blonde decided on her next move. And knowing she couldn't summon any spirits lest they become her enemies she decided to try using her whip instead. Her opponent looked unarmed so she should have a chance.
"Time for some payback!" She called while snapping the whip.
That was her second mistake.
Seeing that the spirit mage wasn't going to summon any more zodiacs Sherry used her Doll Magic once again. This time to construct a massive Golem from the boulders spread across the beach.
Lucy froze before the giant.
"I don't suppose we could just talk this out?"
"…No."
She ran.
The Goliath chased her across several hundred meters of coastline before it finally caught her. Gripping the girl in its hand ready to squash her at a moment's notice. But it waited, instead walking into the ocean.
As Lucy struggled to breathe from the pressure being placed on her frame, Sherry spoke.
"I've been thinking about the best way to deal with you." She said as the titan took another step into the sea.
"I could just crush you now, but that would make a mess, and I don't feel like cleaning pieces of you off my dress." She said absentmindedly.
"I could break your legs and just leave you here, but then you might start screaming and I really don't wanna listen to that."
Fear had overtaken Lucy's mind. This girl was actually going to kill her, and talking about it so casually.
"So with all that in mind I think drowning is the best way to go. No mess, no noise, and no more annoying little girl."
As she finished her speech the golem stopped, and started to lower its hand toward the water.
Lucy noticed her feet touch the waves and over time could feel the cold saltwater drawing closer and closer to her head. This was it, this was where she died.
"Sleep with the fishes little girl. Maybe a mermaid will find your corpse." The Pinkett offered.
The cruel remark cemented her fate as the water reached her chin. And she started to cry.
"mom" she whimpered. "Anyone, please…"
And all went dark.
As Sherry watched the blonde start to and inevitably stop struggling under the waves she felt satisfied. That meant there was one less nuisance to get in Lyon's way.
As she released the girl's body and started to turn her construct back to the beach she noticed a flash from under the waves and felt the water start to heat up. No, boil was a better way of describing it.
Slowly something started to breach the surface.
It was a woman, a woman with blue hair. As the rest of her rose above the sea, Sherry could see that this woman was in fact a mermaid; and said mermaid was holding the blonde girl she'd just killed under her arm.
With care, she placed the spirit mage into the water once more. Ensuring her mouth stayed up, and created a wave that pushed her limp body back towards the beach.
Sherry decided to wait until she was finished to make a move, unsure how to handle this new intruder.
Once the girl had reached the sand the mer-woman spoke.
"You tried to drown her…" the ocean beneath them began to sizzle with heat. And as the two met gazes, Sherry could see seething rage on the spirit's face.
"… You're going to die for that."
The next time Lucy's eyes opened she saw the sunrise just start to break over the horizon. The rays of light washed over her as the waves brushed against her sides.
She was on a beach, that much was obvious, and she actually felt alright- 'Cough-Cough!'
Immediately sitting up the girl started hacking up a lung. Water shot from her mouth as she did and soon after she was desperate for more air.
Wait, how was she even here? The last thing she remembered was…was drowning! Shooting to her hands and knees, the girl started to search the ocean for any sign of her previous attacker. It only took a couple seconds to find her, and the sight was chilling.
There, not 30 feet from her was Aquarius, her oldest and most powerful spirit. She was hovering over the water with her arm outstretched and a stone-cold glare on her face.
In her grasp was Sherry, or what was left of her. The girl looked awful. The rags she wore couldn't be considered clothes anymore, and her bare skin was a deep red. Bubbling flesh and boils decorated her body, it looked like someone had poured scalding water on her… or dropped her in it.
But even seeing all that, the worst part was still her face. The expressions, the girl was making these awful expressions as Aquarius choked the life out of her. Tears peppered her face as she gagged, clawing at the spirit's hand.
Her eyes were moving erratically like she couldn't pick just one thing to focus on. Unsure if the pain covering her scorched body or having her windpipe crushed was worse.
"Sleep with the fishes little girl" Aquarius mocked. "Maybe a mermaid will find your corpse." She said before squeezing down harder on her neck, getting a couple of pops.
"Aqu…Aquarius wha-what are you doing!?" Lucy cried out horrified.
Never, never had she seen her partner act like this. Not once since she was a child had her summon hurt another living thing in this way.
The mermaid paused for a moment looking over to the blonde. "Killing this bitch" she bit back.
"Wha-what? No no, you can't!" The girl pleaded.
"And why can't I? Give me one good reason not to snap this fucker's neck right now for what she did to you!"
"…" no response
"That's what I thought." The mermaid said, turning away.
"…Please. Please don't make me look at you like that." Lucy whispered.
Her spirit seemed to turn back, surprised by her words "What?"
"I don't want to look at you like that. The way I do people like… like Kinzo. I don't want to be afraid of you, not you. So please, please don't make me see you as a monster." Her tears returned and her heart was heavy at the thought. She didn't want her spirits to be killers.
Aquarius just stared on at her key holder, playing the girl's words over in her head. And with a sigh she obeyed, dropping the now unconscious Sherry on the sand beneath them.
"Fine you win," she said before starting to glow, preparing to fade back into her own realm.
"Aquarius wait! … Thank you, thank you for everything you've done for me ever since I was a child. And thank you for saving me today."
The woman just stared back before saying "Just… take better care of yourself next time. After all, I won't always be there to bail you out." And with that, her most dependable and most unpredictable spirit left.
…
She took some time to ease her own mind (she had almost died after all), and a bit more to look over Sherry's wounds (the girl was in bad shape but would most likely survive). So now she was just resting her butt in the sand and her feet were being caressed by the waves. She finally had a second to breathe easy.
*Clank-stomp, clank-stomp-*
That is until she heard what sounded like… metal boots hitting the sand right behind her. Leaning backward and staring up at the person who'd gotten so close without her noticing. She was met with the sight of a very angry red-head holding a very scared Happy upside down by his tail.
"Lushy, help me." the cat begged.
Oh, Erza's here…
"Why is Erza here!?"
Author's note
Ok, So... I like Aquarius' character so I buffed her for this fic, no it will probably not have much story relevance in the future I just wanted to do it.
Now that that's out of the way, you probably noticed something about this chapter. Namely that Kinzo isn't in it, other than being name-dropped. So what I did was just take an entire chapter to do a recap on what the other characters are doing and covering some of their major scenes. I'm curious if you guys like this or if you would prefer these scenes to be sprinkled in with the other chapters and still focus mainly on Kinzo.
Also if you do like this style, where I just take a whole chapter to cover what the other characters are doing, do you like this level of detail in explaining plot points Do you want more detail, do you want less? Do you not care?
(I.E. do you want me to actually write some of the scenes/fight scenes like I did for Lucy or do you like what I did with Natsu where you just got the SparkNotes? Or do you not want whole chapters of just other character scenes.)
Feel free to let me know and I'll take any responses under consideration. As always I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave any questions or comments in the reviews.
Also quick extra thing. If you guys want to see any fights that I skip over just ask I'm cool to actually write them and I can just post them as 'Extra scenes' in the next chapter kinda like Omake. So for example, if you actually want me to write out the Aquarius vs Sherry fight or the Natsu vs Yuka fight Just ask me in the reviews or through PM and I'm probably gonna be cool to do it. This also applies to fights I kinda skip over in future chapters as well so feel free to ask as we go.
In addition, if you want any hypothetical fights or even just hypothetical character interactions to be written then feel free to ask.
(I.e. if you want to see Kinzo vs Cana, or Kinzo vs Elfman, or Kinzo vs Aquarius, etc just ask. Or if you want to see Kinzo just interacting/talking with other characters like Loke, or Jet and Droy.)
My only request with this is keep it to characters that we have already met in the story. If someone asks for something like Kinzo vs Gajeel there is already a good chance of that fight happening later in the story so I can't make it now. Same thing with something like Kinzo talking with Levy they will interact later in the story so I can't do a ton with her in omake at the moment.
Have fun with the requests or feel free to ignore this entirely I'm pretty cool with it either way.
Till next time, take it easy.
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) Telekinesis lifting things with one's mind etc.
4) Re-Quip 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.
