Author's note
Ok, another one down. Welcome to part 3 of The Greyhound as we know tensions are high between Team Natsu and Kinzo due to everything that happened in Part 2 and that tension will continue to be an obstacle in Part 3 as well. Hope you enjoy it.
The Greyhound Part 3: War of the Mind
Chapter 22
"You mean to tell me, you just let him walk off!?"
"..."
"After all he said, you should have just killed him, consequences be damned!"
It was nearly midnight, and Ultear found herself alone on the open sea, sailing for the mainland. To her left, she could hear the sound of waves crashing against the haul, and to her right, she could hear Siegrain screaming in her ear.
"Sir, that would have been problematic. Despite his off-putting nature, killing him would have no doubt drawn the attention of Makarov Dreyar and Fairy Tail as a whole to this island. The last thing we need is the country's strongest guild investigating our activities, especially when the Tower is so close to completion." She said, speaking into her orb.
"I don't care, I want him dealt with! And if Fairy Tail is going to get in the way then crush them as well!" Clearly, the man was angry, and as far as she was concerned it was seriously clouding his judgment.
"Sir I thought you intended to use that Scarlet woman as a sacrifice for the Tower? If I organize Fairy Tail's downfall then I can't guarantee her survival. And even if she does survive, tracking her may become more difficult." Saying that would sober him up he wouldn't risk losing Erza over evening the score with some nobody he'd only met twi-
"I don't care what it costs us, just do it!" … wow Kinzo really hurt his pride that much?
With a sigh she relented. The councilman may have only been a pawn in Grimoire's game, but he was an important pawn. For now.
The Tower of Heaven was something they'd sunk far too many resources into to pull out now. So she would keep him happy until their plan came to an end, and then she would kill him herself for all the added irritation this tattoo-faced fool was causing her.
"...Very well, I'll make the necessary preparations."
"Good. Now since that's decided, perhaps you can explain to me why that arrogant bastard said I was your puppet?" His tone was dangerous, not that she particularly cared.
"I have no idea sir. Perhaps he was only saying that to get a rise out of you? And if I'm not mistaken you two have never met in person. If you had, no doubt he would be able to sense the power difference between us."
She chose her words carefully, and they seemed to give her the response she wanted.
"Hmm? … I suppose that may be the case. Yes yes, if he saw us side by side no doubt he would know I was stronger."
"Stronger my ass, do you have any idea how much I have to suppress my magic when I'm around you?"
"Of course my lord."
She really had to give it to Kinzo though. He'd only said a few words, but that was more than enough to have Siegrain's fragile ego in an uproar.
"Very well then, I'll leave Fairy Tail and that fool's demise to you." The call was coming to an end, and she was grateful. Dealing with this prick for more than a few minutes at a time made her want to pull teeth. Unfortunately, as she prepared to cut off the flow of magic he just had to run his mouth again.
"Oh and Ultear, find some time to clean yourself up. That's a nasty bruise." And he hung up.
She could feel her eye twitching, as her blood pressure skyrocketed. When this was all over she was killing them both.
Well… she would kill Siegrain, slowly. As for Kinzo, Hades still wanted to talk with him. But once that was over she planned on keeping him around for a while as a punching bag. She would pay him back a thousand times over for the pain she felt in her cheek.
"Ok Ultear focus now, you have a lot to take care of before you get back. Calm down, breath in breath out, breath in breath out."
Alright first things first, Plucking Fairy wings. Man Hades was not gonna like all the attention this drew, but he would deal with it. The Tower came first.
Now how to do it was the question. "Ah, that could work."
Using her orb to establish another call she dialed a man who was no friend of Makarov's. She knew it was late, but he was a night owl anyway.
"...Hello?"
"Hello Saint Jose, I have a proposition for you..."
It was a dream, he knew it was a dream, but that didn't make him feel any better. This one started the same as it always did.
The kids, the village, his mother, fire. But this time it didn't end there.
No, instead of letting things stay the same, his mind had come up with a brand new way to torment him. He was still chained to the floor, still forced to see his mother's disgusted face. And still subjected to the sound of her screams. The only difference was this time he wasn't given an out. His gun never came.
Instead, the flames pulled back, forming a massive circle around him, and slowly silhouettes started to walk through it.
People, people were walking through the fire. Only taking a few steps before stopping just to watch him.
More and more came. 5, then 7, 13, 22, 49, more and more presented themselves until he couldn't bother to keep track anymore.
As he studied them their deformities became clear. Many were missing limbs, some had parts of their bodies crushed, more still were burning.
It was as he took in their grotesque appearance that he felt a familiarity coming from some of them. It was almost like he… recognized them… "No no no no no"
No, he didn't almost recognize them, he did recognize them. So many of them. A man missing his right arm. A woman covered in burns. A little girl with half of her face crushed. He recalled seeing so many of them.
This was his legacy, the collateral from his constant war with Hades. Everyone he'd hurt, every soul he'd robbed of life.
"What? What do you want? Why are you here!?" He cried out in a panic.
"Loo-" "Lo" "-ook" "Lo-k"
"LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO US."
Their voices rang out in a twisted symphony. Different inflections, shifting tones, changing volume. But one thing was the same throughout. Everyone spoke with malic, anger, and disgust.
"You're all dead! None of this is real! I know you're dead!" The uncertainty was starting to take him.
"A-d" "-nd" "Who-" "-ose" " Fau-" "F-lt"
"AND WHO'S FAULT IS THAT?" the horde challenged.
"What was I supposed to do!? They took everything! Hades is a monster who's destroyed far more than I ever will! He has to die, He deserves it!"
"An-" "nd" "Tha" "-ha" "Gav" "-ve"
"AND THAT GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO KILL US?"
"Wha? No, no it didn't! I- You, none of you were supposed to- I didn't mean to..."
He had nothing to say, they were right.
...
"Well, Would you look at this? Still making excuses even now."
The sound of footsteps assaulted his ears as he waited for the speaker to show himself. But there was no need, he knew that voice.
"Gray… why are you here?"
Stepping into his field of vision was indeed Gray Fulbuster, and he had this awful grin on his face.
"Why am I here?' he asks. Hehe, isn't it obvious? I'm here to tell you the truth, to make sure you really understand exactly what you are."
"What are you talking about?" He questioned, keeping his guard up.
"Oh, did you forget already? I could have sworn I told you. Well, no matter, I can just say it again."
"YOU'RE A MONSTER AND A MURDERER!"
The phrase bellowed out of Gray's mouth, in an almost supernatural way. The sound coming from everywhere at once, and hitting him like a gust of wind.
The screech had him reeling, volume scaring his ears, and the words had him reminiscing.
The only thing he could think was "You're right."
"Just kill me." he begged while pressing his head into the dirt.
He couldn't see it but Gray's smirk only widened, before spinning around and starting to move.
"Oh I will, but not tonight. No, this time around I think our audience deserves that right. Hehe Hahaha." As the mental image of his 'brother' walked away, the mass of his victims stepped aside.
In moments the ice mage was gone.
And the second he left.
Kinzo found himself in Hell.
The fire roared to life, growing closer and closer by the second, as all those he'd hurt closed in on him. Some walked, others crawled, it all depended on what pieces of their bodies were missing… what parts he'd stolen from them.
He didn't try to fight it. Why bother? This was what he deserved. Resting his head on the ground once more, he closed his eyes and waited for death… maybe this time it would stick.
They were getting closer and closer, he could hear their labored breaths. But once again prominent footsteps made themselves known, and a familiar voice spoke to him.
"This is what you deserve." No, not her, please. He'd already seen her once tonight. Why was she back?
Looking up he saw his mother, holding his revolver, with disgust on her face. The scene was surreal.
A war-torn town coated in fire.
The corpses of all those he'd killed, dragging themselves closer.
And the scorched sight of his mother.
It was strange though, despite all the fire he felt cold. Letting out a sad sigh he saw his own breath. That was new, and he wasn't sure what that was meant to represent in this twisted dream. But in the end, I guess it doesn't really matter.
He didn't try to fight. Just closed his eyes and bowed to the earth again.
"You're no different than Hades," she said and the sound of her pulling back the hammer struck his ears.
This was it.
*Bang*
"ENOUGH!"
As he heard a foreign voice the cold engulfed his body, and a shiver racked him.
Opening his eyes he saw that in an instant the entire landscape was completely covered in ice. The fire had frozen over, the people were encased, even his mother was trapped in place.
And a moment later the ice shattered, taking everything with it as it disappeared. He was left to stare at the ground in confusion.
Until for a third time, the sound of footsteps stirred him. He didn't look up at first, just kept staring at the ground, not wanting to face whatever his mind had cooked up for him next.
The person came to a stop in front of him and he was able to take in their features.
Their left leg was covered in a black boot and brown pants, but their right was… a prosthetic made of ice.
Raising his sight higher revealed a tan coat with a red undershirt, and made it very clear to him that this was a woman.
Looking up toward her face made him freeze. She was beautiful, an image of strength. The only blemishes he could see were what appeared to be lines in her skin surrounding her right eye. It looked like cracked glass.
Dark purple hair reached her chin and dark eyes looked down at him.
"Ur?" He asked. But no answer came from the woman.
…
"I really hate myself that much huh?" His mind despised him to such an extent that it would even use Ur's memory against him. Well, I suppose that fits, I suppose he deserves that much.
"Go on, do it," he told her.
…
As the silence continued he glanced up with confusion on his face. She wasn't moving.
"What are you waiting for, get it over with!"
He couldn't take this forever, he wanted everything to end. But she just kept staring at him with that sad expression.
It only made him angry. "Come on, why won't you say it!? It's not like I don't know it's true. I know you all hate me, I know you're all scared of me! That you would put me down like some rabid dog if you had the chance!"
Her face only showed more sorrow.
"Even Gray thinks I'm some kind of monster! So why won't you say it?"
"Go on, call me a Monster! Tell me I'm acting like an animal! That I'm a danger to those around me! That I'm selfish, cruel, a sociopath who doesn't care about anyone but himself! Call me a murderer, tell me I'm no different than the demons I hunt!"
He was screaming. Screaming in a rage because that was the only way he could stop any other emotion from coming through. Does she have any idea how hard it is not to just break down in front of her right now?
"Tell me how different I am now! Ask me what happened to the boy you used to know!"
His throat grew coarse, and his volume died.
"Call me a failure as a son, say I was a worthless student. Tell me I deserve to die… that you never want to see me again. That you never wanted me in the first place."
...
"Why, I know it's true, so why… why won't you say it?"
"Would it change anything, if I did?"
Her voice, God her voice, it sounded just how he remembered. He'd had so many dreams in the last 5 years, so many nightmares kept him company. But this was the first time she'd ever shown up, and this was the first time any dream had made him weep.
"So what is this... is my mind trying to give me some form of comfort just so it can rip you away from me?"
As the question left his mouth she knelt down and he felt her arms around him, pulling him close. The embrace was warm-
"I'm not part of your dream kid. It's me."
-and he couldn't stop himself from hugging her back.
"You've gotten yourself into a real mess haven't you?"
He just nodded his head as she held him.
"Hurt a lot of people along the way."
He started shaking.
"Do you want things to be different?"
"I just… I don't want him to hate me. I don't want you to look at me in disgust."
"You can change that any time you want kid. It may take time, but Gray will come around."
"And you?" he forced out.
"I'm not going anywhere."
The sound of his room door being blown open is what woke him up and as he raised to look at the intruder he saw Erza.
She had a stern expression and a harsh voice like she always did while talking to him.
"Get ready we arri-!" She seemed to stop for a moment, surprised by something. And then her expression softened just a bit and she relaxed her tone.
"We'll reach Hargion Port in 10… make sure you're ready." Was all she came to say before leaving.
Walking away she glanced back at him for just a moment longer before moving back upstairs.
Well, that was strangely polite for Erza? Whatever he didn't wanna think about it.
He needed to start getting ready.
Raising a hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes he felt his palm getting wet… he was crying. Why was he-!
The dream came back, in perfect clarity. And he understood why tears were forming in his eyes. He had a lot to think about.
Well, he would have time for that on the trip back. Rising to his feet was the next step, but he never got there. As he tried to move he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Whatever that was needed to be handled first.
Pulling up his shirt to look, he found his newest necklace exactly where it had been the night before. Except this time it had tendrils of ice sticking out of it, and connecting to his skin, forming a spiderweb-like pattern.
His chest was red from prolonged exposure to the sub-zero substance, and trying to move tugged at the irritated area.
He spent the next few minutes removing the ice and thinking about what it meant.
They reached the mainland without incident and boarded a train without complication. The other four sat in a train car together, he had one to himself. That was fine, it gave him more time to think. The only interruptions being the sound of their laughter through the wall and whenever Happy would fly over to bother him. Other than that he had all the time he needed to think.
"Ok, what are the most likely possibilities here?"
"1) it was just a dream and Ur telling me to change was my psyche's way of telling me I can't keep going on the way I am."
This was the most likely answer. But, while that seemed probable he doubted it for some reason. His dreams had never had any kind of hopeful ending before, and if his subconscious mind wanted him to stop everything and live life normally somewhere it would have told him sooner… not that he would have listened.
"2) The remains of Ur's magic was having some kind of effect on my dream, shifting it around somehow."
That was certainly possible and would explain the ice. But was even less likely than the first option, because magic doesn't normally just 'do' stuff; it has to be directed by a conscious mind.
There was a third option, but he didn't even want to think about it. It made him feel like a little kid who was clinging to anything he could…
"Haaah. 3) It could be theorized based on the way Iced Shell works that the spell turns a person's body into magic first before taking the form of ice. That would mean if the ice was melted then the person may revert back to a state of conscious magic."
"So when I absorbed Ur's magic into the necklace I was actually absorbing her in a sense. That could explain how she appeared in my dream, and why she said she wasn't a part of it… "
Holy crap actually letting his thoughts run with that one made him feel like an idiot. Everything he'd just come up with was purely speculative with no actual basis in reality.
"... It could also just be an idea my hyperactive imagination cooked up with the help of my damaged subconscious that desperately wants a loving parental figure to be around."
"Haaah whatever, let's not think about it too hard."
The rest of the train ride was relatively peaceful, and for that he was grateful.
Exiting the train had been uneventful and walking towards the guild even less so. He kept his distance from the others but still stuck close by. To some extent, he appreciated the space… even from Gray. But when they were about halfway through Magnolia, Erza decided she wanted to chat with him.
"We will be arriving soon, this is your last chance to tell me your side of the story." She said, coming to stand next to him .
He just glanced down at her "I'm good."
And she was gritting her teeth just like that. "Why do you have to make everything so difficult?" she growled, drawing the attention of the others. Though they were trying to make it seem as though they weren't listening.
"I already told you. I trust Gray not to lie about what happened, Scarlet."
She was about to retort but after Kinzo looked up he decided he had something to tell her after all.
"If I were you, I'd be far more concerned about that than me."
Confusion flashed across her face before looking up and replacing it with horror.
The guildhall was in sight, but instead of the imposing building they were used to seeing, in its place was a destroyed construct with massive iron poles sticking out of it.
"What-what happened here?"
Author's note
This one was actually pretty fun to write (Ultear's scene in particular), though I'm still not sure how well I write these dream sequences. Anyway, life has been kinda hectic so I haven't actually had the chance to sit down and really write in about a week. Not to worry though I still have a bit of a buffer in the story between this chapter and the one I'm working on so stuff should still be coming out relatively frequently. Anyway, until 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.
