Hello again everyone :) Thank you for all of the faves/follows.
IcePrinceRay : So close but yet so far. And all will be revealed about that woman eventually.
Phineashiccup : Thank you.
.oO : Gray definitely is not optimistic at the moment.
Guest : You're welcome, and you will learn more about the woman later on.
Disclaimer : Yep, we still don't own Fairy Tail.
Lucy's feet were killing her. But all the walking was worth it if they finally got some information about where Gray and Midnight were going.
She wasn't too certain that they should be trusting a random woman who just appears and disappears, but something about the woman had seemed... familiar. Lucy wracked her brain for reasons why she would know an unusual Isvan lady, but nothing came to mind.
They had finally reached the village, and Lucy was kind of worried that Cobra and Natsu were going to raze the village in an attempt to get answers. Natsu was always pretty reckless, but the aura of determination that he had right now was scarier then Lucy had ever seen him.
Plus, Cobra wasn't exactly looking to be in a tolerant mood. The close call in the clearing had really dampened the mood, she knew that both of the boys were beating themselves up about it.
Although she wouldn't call herself close to Cobra, even she felt sympathy for the downtrodden mage. After all, his friend was as deeply involved with this mess as Gray was.
The group made their way to what appeared to be the small, local guild at Erza's command. Hopefully their fellow mages would be willing to provide directions.
Luckily, not even Isvan mages were willing to disobey Titania, and had offered them hospitality while listening to their plea.
"We need someone to direct us to the City without sound." All noise ceased at Erza's demand.
"The cursed city." One mage choked.
"The demon's playground."
"You'd have to be insane..." Lucy shivered as Erza's glare intensified.
"What is so crazy about needing to get to the city?" Nervous titters filled the guild.
"The city was destroyed by a rampaging demon ten years ago. All but one child were destroyed." The guild master informed them. Lucy felt a sick sense of understanding. The temperature rose, indicating that Natsu had also caught on to the implication. Cobra stiffened (Lucy knew that he could hear thoughts, maybe he could hear what was wrong), and Erza also tensed up.
"Was the demon named Deliora by any chance." Erza's words were spoken quietly, but the feeling within them resounded. The guild master nodded.
"Then it's even more urgent that we get to the city."
Natsu's eyes blazed.
"A dark air hangs over the ruins of the village. All are weary to tread upon the accursed land. It has been bathed in the blood of innocents. Evil lingers there."
"But we must go!" Lucy wasn't going to leave Gray to face this without Fairy Tail support.
"We need to reach the city." Cobra's voice was heavy, and the guild master seemed to deflate, any protest dying at the vehemence coming from the teens.
"My guild will provide directions, but we will not be blamed for the consequences of visiting the site of the tragedy." Erza expressed their gratitude, and one of the mage handed them a map with their destination highlighted.
"Good luck." The mage whispered, before darting back to her friends.
They departed, holding the map that would lead to their friends. And would also lead to the city of Gray's past.
Midnight felt drained, the teleportation had taken up a lot of his still recovering magic. Gray was out gathering supplies and Midnight was contemplating the conversation from earlier and the quest in general.
He had a vague idea of where this quest was taking them but he had no idea why he was a part of it. After all, he barely knew Gray, the only time they had met was on Nirvana as enemies.
Yet he still felt an unmistakeable sense of comradeship with the ice mage, though it was no where near the level of trust between him and Cobra.
At that moment the ice mage made an appearance carrying their supplies.
"What did you find?" Gray sent him a smirk.
"A whole ton of water." Midnight resisted the urge to roll his eyes, Gray had the same maturity level as Cobra.
"I got us some food, not enough to last us till we reach the city, but we can always stock up again later." Midnight caught the pack that was thrown his way.
"Do you know why I'm even part of this?" Midnight inquired.
"No. But there must be a pretty important reason." Midnight glowered.
"What gave that away?" Now it was Gray's turn to glare.
"I don't honestly know what I'm doing either. Sure we're heading towards my old home, but I was the only survivor. I don't understand what is pulling us there. I just know that it's strong." Midnight folded his legs.
"And now we have two dragon slayers after us, as well as those girls and that cat from your guild." Gray didn't even bother informing him about the names of his team mates, and Midnight was again reminded of their earlier conversation.
"Do you really believe that your friends will ever give up on bringing you back?" Gray hung his head.
"Natsu... and some others probably won't give in so easily. Most of the rest have already given up." Gray's eyes were haunted, and Midnight was curious as to why a member of the Fairy Tail guild, who had literally won against Oracion Seis through the power of friendship, was doubting that his guild mates would wish for anything but his safe return.
"Why?" Gray looked up at him sadly.
"There was this woman, Daphne. She was building a fake dragon. I found my self embroiled in her schemes, and to pull them off, I needed to appear as a traitor to Fairy Tail. Everyone except Natsu and Juvia - who is creepily obsessed with me - believed that I had turned against them pretty much instantaneously." The temperature was dropping, and Midnight recognised the slightly glazed over look to Gray's eyes. He had seen it often when he had been trapped in the Tower. Often, it had been his eyes that were on the verge of crying.
"Why did you help her out?" Gray's fists clenched tightly, and Midnight regretted the question as the temperature plummeted.
"I... I don't know. I told some bull story to the Master about Natsu being capable of surpassing even Ul, but I really don't know. It was kind of like this quest, I was being forced to do it." Midnight felt a twinge of sympathy.
"Maybe it was to separate you from your friends. After all, everyone I care about are locked up, and Cobra being released was unforeseen." Gray gave him another shiny-eyed glance.
"I suppose. I just never would have thought that something like that would work. That they would question my loyalty. I've been with them since I was a kid! Longer than Natsu, and yet they doubted me instantly. Natsu may be my comrade, my team mate, but when he's around, everyone seems to forget all that I have accomplished with them. I fade to the background." Gray's voice decreased in volume until it reached a barely audible grunt on the last line.
Midnight was shocked at the level of trust being shown by his companion. He knew that they had a bond due to this quest, but this was more like brotherhood than a simple bond of companionship. Maybe it would be beneficial for both of them to come clean in this situation.
"It was never like that for me." Gray's head snapped up, and Midnight gathered the courage to continue with his monologue.
"My father, Brain, he always said that I was the strongest. That I was the last hope for him, for the guild. If I was awakened, the situation was serious. But that meant that I never really had a chance to talk with my team mates. Sure, they never openly claimed to dislike me, but I know that they all feared my power. Only Cobra ever seemed to break through that fear." Gray gave him a wry smile.
"It's kind of ironic. I'm overlooked and you're relied on so much that you have been virtually isolated from your friends."
"All except Cobra..." Midnight murmured.
"And Natsu is one of the only ones to never truly put himself above me. Sure, we're rivals, but he knows that we are roughly equal."
"The ones who don't doubt us." Midnight stared at the mage, who was becoming his friend against all odds.
"The ones who are following us to the desolation of my past." Gray shook his head, and Midnight noticed with some relief that his eyes seemed calmer.
"We should eat." The two mages settled in to share a meal on the road to the City without sound.
Erza wanted to find Gray, her first friend at Fairy Tail, but she had to bow to the reality of the situation. They needed to rest, and the guild had offered them shelter before their mission. Apparently they had decided to give them a comfortable place to stay before they headed to Gray's old city.
"NO WAY!" Natsu was yelling and ranting along with Cobra.
"We can't just stay here while they're getting further and further away." Cobra glared at her passionately. Even Lucy was looking unsure, but Erza knew that the blonde needed rest more then the rest of them. She had the least stamina. Happy was also feeling the effects of flying almost non stop.
"We will rest up here tonight, and we will make better time tomorrow." A dark look filtered into Natsu's eyes.
"Don't you care about how they are getting further away as we speak. Or is he still a traitor in your and Lucy's minds?" Erza recoiled at the low blow, and she heard Lucy gasp. Erza reached up, and slapped Natsu.
"Don't you dare accuse me of not wanting Gray to be returned safely. And I will apologise for my actions against him when he is back, clearly something has been affecting him for a while. But we need to rest. Don't you see that we all need to recharge before continuing?" Natsu seemed to take in the dishevelled, tired look being displayed by Lucy and Happy.
"I'm sorry." Erza accepted the apology, and turned her glare upon Cobra.
"Fine." He ground out.
"Good. Then we will meet in the guild's hall at seven and then we will continue." They all nodded their assent and, after having a brief meal, they retired to the rooms that they had been offered. The guild had provided them all with an individual room.
Natsu hoped that Cobra had been picking up on his thoughts. He stood outside of the guild, twiddling his thumbs, his travel bag resting on the ground behind him.
Natsu hated doing this to his friends, but they just couldn't keep up with the level of speed that was required to catch up to Gray.
He knew that only Cobra could probably keep up with him, they were the most strongly motivated. Lucy, Erza and Happy all wanted to retrieve their friend, but Gray was more then a friend to Natsu. And Midnight was more then a friend to Cobra.
The bonds between the dragon slayers and their friends were infinitely stronger, even if Natsu wasn't certain on why.
His musings were interrupted by Cobra.
"So are we heading of or what?" Admittedly, Natsu hadn't heard Cobra turn up, but he was glad that the mage had picked up on his thoughts.
Together, they could catch up to the others a lot faster. And Natsu was confident in their ability to drag the two home.
Could Natsu actually be catching on to his feelings? ;) And Midnight and Gray have a bonding moment. See you next time.