I Dare You
Chapter Three - Hell
Natsu, still stunned, didn't speak. Erza looked at the older man.
"Young lady, you should control your out-of-control lizard." The older man spoke in an egotistical tone.
Natsu's head spun around. He really wanted to beat the old man now, but Erza's expression kept him still.
"That man, intentionally, injured one of our members." Erza said pointing at the younger man.
"Have you any proof? If not, then-"
"HE ADMITTED IT!" Natsu exploded. He has never been so pissed.
"I did no such thing you simpleton!" The younger man exclaimed.
Natsu's fist elite in flame. He's was going to punch the arrogant bastard.
"NATSU! SIT!" Erza yelled. Natsu quietly joined Gray on his bed.
"Titania, attacking and taking my son captive is bad enough, but I know you don't want this to get any uglier. So just forget about whatever you think my son did and we won't say anything to anyone." The older man's grin disgusted Erza to no extent.
All she could do was nod and the two men left, slamming the door. Natsu shot off the bed and exploded.
"WHAT THE HELL ERZA!? HE HURT GRAY AND YOUR LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH IT!?" Natsu screamed.
"Natsu please." Erza said calmly sitting down.
Natsu looked at Erza then back at Gray. He couldn't read either's expression. He sat back down next to Gray.
"Clouded with anger, I didn't pay attention to it at first, but it was the VIP area that the man was sitting." Erza started explaining.
"So what?" Natsu rudely interrupted. Erza sighed.
"So since he was in the VIP area that obviously meant he was rich, powerful, etc. I shouldn't have attacked him to begin with. That, itself, may hurt our chances at winning and-"
"OUR CHANCES AT WINNING!? THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW!? ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT IS BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF BOTH OF THEM!" Natsu yelled, his heat filling the room.
"Natsu." Gray whispered.
"What? Don't you care what he did to you?"
"No. It doesn't matter. I'm fine."
Gray wouldn't meet the dragon slayer's eyes. Natsu huffed and knelt down in front of Gray. He put his hands on Gray's knees, trying to get him to look.
"Gray. You're not fine. If he dropped that big of a rock on you then he wanted it to do damage. He. Wanted. To. Hurt. You." Natsu said. His own words making him angry.
Erza put a hand on Natsu's shoulder as he stood.
"Natsu. What I meant to say earlier was other than hurting our chances at winning, that man is powerful enough to have Fairy Tail disbanded."
"What!? He can do that?" Natsu exclaimed.
"Yes. I'm surprised he didn't already do it…considering I attacked his son. Guess we should think of that as a warning."
"That can't…he can't. Dammit!" Natsu cursed, punching the closest wall.
"It doesn't matter. We have to let it go."
Erza and Natsu both looked over at Gray. Still refusing to look up from his bed.
"Gray we can't just-"
"Gray's right Natsu. Let it…go." Erza said, fighting back the urge to also hit something.
Natsu didn't know what to do or say at that point. He knew he couldn't get Fairy Tail in trouble with the "rich and powerful", but he couldn't let someone go unpunished for hurting his friend. For hurting Gray…he just couldn't do it. Natsu had to do something.
"You should get some rest Gray. I'll come back later." Erza said, walking out the door.
"Natsu."
"What?"
"You can't do anything. You know that right?"
"No. I know I shouldn't do anything, but I know I can."
"Dammit Natsu." Gray sighed.
Natsu knelt back down in front of Gray, in the same position he was in before, trying to get him to make eye contact.
"Gray. Look at me." Natsu said.
Gray refused. Natsu placed a hand on both sides of Gray's face and tilted it up. Even so, Gray wouldn't look Natsu in the eye.
"Why won't you look at me?" Natsu said in an aggravated tone.
"If I didn't lose as badly as I did then maybe none of this would've happened."
"Gray-"
"You're wrong Gray Fullbuster." The voice came from the other side of the door.
Natsu jumped up and stood in front of Gray as the door slowly slid open. The younger man from before stood, leaning, in the door way. Natsu's body immediately fired up.
"Calm down lizard. I'm not here to fight." The young man said, waving Natsu down.
"What did you call me!?"
"My name is Alekander Cross, I came here to talk. You wanted to know "why?" before right?"
Gray and Natsu just stared at the man, waiting for an explanation.
"Okay guess that means yes. Anyways, earlier ice boy-"
"GRAY." Natsu blurted without realizing. Gray watched Natsu's expression change from pissed…to really pissed at hearing "ice boy."
"Gray. He said that if he had done better than none of this would happen. That's incorrect as I said. I was planning it from the start. See I've always had a…what's the word…an intense hatred for ice mages."
"Why's that?" Gray said.
"Mainly because my mother was an ice mage. She killed my sister and father, but for some reason left me alive to fend for myself. A real bitch, that one." He laughed.
The story shocked Gray. He never heard of an ice mage doing something like that.
"So after trying my best to bury my sister and father, I left the sad village that I once called home. I wouldn't step in that horrid place again after that. I continued walking the outer roads until finally collapsing from exhaustion and starvation. That was when an older gentleman was riding by in his carriage and saw me. He took me in and is the man you saw earlier. He is my father now and I've shared my story with him as well…he feels the same as I, towards ice mages. We hate them."
"Hate the person your mom was not the fact she happened to be an ice mage." Natsu spat, unfazed by his "sob" story.
Alekander got right in Natsu's face.
"My mother wasn't a terrible person until she learned she could do magic. That "magic" being ice creation. We were all excited and happy for her at the beginning, but it quickly changed when she met this other ice mage named Ur."
Gray quickly stood up from his bed, standing in between Natsu and Alekander.
"UR!?" Gray said, slightly lightheaded.
"Yes Gray. Your teacher."
"How do you know who-"
"I went with my mother to meet her new friend and fellow ice mage. She was a nice woman. Ur told my mother how she was teaching two young boys to become ice mages. My mother wanted me to learn how to do ice magic as well. Sadly, I didn't have the gift. If that didn't make her upset enough, she soon found out that my sister couldn't go ice magic either. Her hatred for us grew each day we didn't create an ice cube."
"Wait. If you were planning to attack me all along…were you going to hurt Lyon too?" Gray asked…his head was now pounding.
"No I wasn't. I hate ice mages, but I can't just hurt each and every one of them at the same time. I'd get tired."
Everything Alekander said made Natsu's blood boil. He wanted…needed to hit him.
"Then why me and not him?"
"I hate ice mages…true, but I hate you so much more Gray Fullbuster. I tried my best to find the biggest rock or hard object that I could lift to drop it on your head."
It was clear Natsu was holding back the urge to beat him. Gray and Alekander could both tell. Gray placed his hand on Natsu's chest, pushing…holding him back.
"Why do you hate me?"
"You've heard of Deliora?"
Gray's eyes grew wide. Alekander grinned.
"Yes I know you have. Well the same day your teacher gave her life to stop that monster was the same day my mother took my sister's and father's life."
"Wh…what do you mean?"
"My mother met Ur when she was out looking for you. She told my mother you ran off, thinking you could defeat Deliora yourself. My mother joined your teacher. They found you and neither of them could defeat Deliora. You know all this though don't you Gray?"
Gray was now shaking and at the same time he was fighting to stay on his feet.
"Yes. Anyways Lyon came and tried to stop Deliora, but Ur stopped him then gave her life. You don't know how much Ur meant to my mother. She was her best friend…her teacher…the only other ice mage that my mother knew. Her own husband and children couldn't create ice, but Ur could. The loss of Ur hit my mother to the point where she came home and killed her own family out of sorrow and rage."
"What d…does that have to do w…with me?" Gray asked, panting.
"What made Ur give her life? What made my mother take my sister and father away from me? If you didn't run off trying to stop Deliora then Ur wouldn't have gone after you, thus involving my mother."
Gray could no longer stand. He quickly grabbed Natsu's hand, with both hands, as he fell to the floor.
"Gray!" Natsu yelled as he caught him.
"I see this is a lot to take in isn't it? Well should I just come back then?" Alekander sighed with a hint of a chuckle.
"You can't blame Gray for what your mother did."
"How dare you! Deliora was attacking a near by town and that idiot you're holding went to try and fight it when he was what…ten years old!? His guardian, Ur, went after him bringing my mother with her!"
"So what!? All of that was your mother's decision! She went with Ur! She killed your family! Not GRAY!" Natsu screamed in Alekander's face.
"He was the start of it all. If he hadn't acted like a spoiled child…none of this would've happened. He had someone who loved him for who he was and what he could do. My mother looked down on her family for not being able to do the least bit of magic. She was obsessed with it! At one point my mother even told my sister and I that she wanted to adopt new children who could do ice magic, but my father was clearly against it. Now their both dead and I'm living this life without them."
Natsu walked Gray back to sit on his bed.
"Gray is not to blame for what happened to your family. Ice mages aren't to blame. Your MOTHER IS!" Natsu yelled.
"My mother has already been dealt with-"
"Dealt with!?"
"Yes. She killed my family. I killed her."
Natsu was disgusted to be in the same room as this monster, but his main concern at the moment was Gray.
"Then you should be content. Leave Gray out of this." Natsu warned, his fists surrounded in flame.
"Tch damn lizard. You can't touch me."
Natsu smacked his forehead to Alekander's, again.
"After all you've said about Gray. After calling me a damn lizard. Think. Do you really believe I can't touch you? If you don't leave this room right now I'll burn you alive."
Alekander could feel Natsu's intense heat. He gulped backing away.
"Right well I should be off now. You now know why I did what I did. You should also expect more to happen in the future since we'll both be here for awhile." Alekander chuckled walking towards the door.
"More!?" Natsu exclaimed.
"Yes. My rock obviously failed."
"You. Hurt. Him. How did it fail?" Natsu couldn't remember the last time his body was this hot. He could feel the floor burning beneath his feet.
"I want Gray Fullbuster dead."
Gray flinched staring straight at the ground. He already saw that coming, but Natsu clearly did not. He erupted like a raging volcano and once again Natsu got in his face.
"DEAD!?" The heat coming off of Natsu made Alekander sweat.
"Y…yes. I want him to die by my hands."
Natsu took a deep breath.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to do that Alekander."
"Who do you think you are? What make you think-"
"I'm Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail and I'll be the one sending you to Hell for threatening Gray Fullbuster's life."
Alekander back away from Natsu as slowly as he could. Afraid he might set off the beast. Fire engulfed the area around Natsu and Alekander. The dragon slayer roared bringing his flames together…wanting to burn the enemy to ashes. Ready to attack, Natsu exhaled; his gaze locked onto his shaking target.
"Have fun in Hell. Say "hi" to your mother for me."
Just as Natsu was about to burn the young man to a crisp, Gray jumped at Natsu. He wrapped his arms around Natsu's body locking them across his chest. The ice mage pulled him back, making the fire die.
"NATSU STOP!" Gray yelled.
Alekander saw this as an opportunity to run, leaving the room; terrified and sweating.
Natsu smacked Gray off and ran out the door. He didn't make it far because Gray had a hold of Natsu's scarf, making him fall back; coughing from being choked. Gray dragged the fire mage back into their room by his scarf. He quickly slammed the door.
"Why…?"
Natsu got up from the ground and pinned Gray to the door.
"WHY DID YOU STOP ME!?"
"BECAUSE NATSU YOU'RE NOT THINKING CLEARLY! YOU WERE GOING TO KILL HIM! I've never seen you so angry…I've never felt your flames this hot. I h…had to stop you!" Gray said through pants.
"I knew what I was doing. I didn't care."
"You were intentionally going to kill him!?"
"Yes."
Gray punched Natsu as hard as he could, which apparently wasn't that hard. Natsu hardly moved.
"Why'd you hit me again?"
Gray was stunned.
"Let me go Natsu." Gray said trying his best to push him off.
"No. Tell me why you punched me."
"I punched you because you're not acting like yourself. Natsu Dragneel doesn't kill people. Natsu Dragneel of FAIRY TAIL doesn't kill people! Y-you don't KILL!" Gray huffed.
"He threatened your life Gray. What would the master do if he heard what he said? Hell what do you think Erza would've done!?"
"I don't care. You don't kill Natsu. I don't want you to…"
The entire time they've been talking Natsu noticed Gray wouldn't lift his head. He wanted to see Gray's face…how he felt. Natsu poked him in the forehead and pressed, pushing his head up.
"Ow."
"Look at me or I'll keep poking."
Gray sighed and looked up at Natsu meeting his gaze. Natsu quickly saw why Gray didn't want to look at Natsu. His eyes were red and had tears welling up.
"Gray I promise I won't kill him, but I'm going to make him pay. He attacked you while planning to kill you. I will not let him get away with that."
Gray nodded. Natsu couldn't imagine what Gray was thinking let alone feeling. He thought the whole thing with what happened with Ur and Deliora was behind him when they left Galuna Island. Now it's back in Gray's mind tormenting him once again. Natsu hated he couldn't do anything to help.
"We need to tell Erza before you do anything. Maybe she'll know how we can deal with all this." Gray murmured.
"Yeah okay, but we'll wait til morning at least."
"Okay. Can you let go now?" Gray said pointing at Natsu's arm, still pinning him to the door.
"Ah sorry."
As soon as Natsu let go Gray fell to his knees. Natsu quickly helped him up and back into his bed.
"You sure your okay Gray? If you have pain I can go get the Doctor."
"No. I'm fine. I just need to sleep."
"I'll stay up. Let me know if you need anything." Natsu said sitting in the closest chair to Gray's bed.
"Thanks Natsu." Gray whispered barely audible.
"What?"
"I said G'night."
"Oh night!" Natsu said flashing him a bright smile.
Gray knew that night would be a difficult one after that confrontation, but he never prepared for the dream that attacked his sleep.
In his dream he clearly saw Ur, Lyon, and another woman. Strange enough, they were standing in a line waving at him. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. Deliora fell from the sky coming into his dream; he tried to scream, but Deliora blasted them away. All that was left behind was blood…so much blood. Gray could feel his whole body grow cold much colder than it usually is. Suddenly Natsu came out of the smoke from Deliora's blast then appeared again standing next to him. He sighed in relief and tried to call him, but once again failed to say anything. Natsu turned and place both hands on Gray's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. Gray was beyond shocked. Natsu has never hugged him before, but this was just a dream. He clearly heard Natsu whisper in his ear…
"I'm going to kill you for what you've done."
Gray pushed Natsu away as his face became distorted. It changed into Alekander's face, he was grinning the most evil grin Gray's ever seen. Behind Alekander was an unconscious Natsu on his knees; hands tied with his own scarf.
"You shouldn't have made this so difficult…now look what your making me do."
Gray gasped as Alekander started walking towards Natsu, a knife appearing in his hand. Gray tried to yell…nothing came out. Gray tried to run, tripping only to notice his feet were chained to the ground. He quickly looked back up as Alekander lifted Natsu up off the ground. Gray used ice magic to try and break the locks on the chains, but not a spec of magic came out.
"You now know how I felt when I wasn't able to do magic. You can't speak because when I begged my mother not to kill my sister...my father she didn't even blink. You can't move because...I just want you to watch. You will soon know the pain that ate away at my heart for years Gray Fullbuster!"
Gray pulled at his chains. Alekander raised the knife pointing it at Natsu's body.
"NO! STOP!"
He could finally hear his voice, but noticed he was the only one who could hear it. He didn't care in the least as he saw Natsu open his eyes.
"Natsu…"
Natsu smiled letting a single tear fall from his eye. Gray's heart sank as Alekander plunged the knife into Natsu's chest.
"NATSU!"
Gray shot up, now awake from his nightmare. His head hurt again and he realized Natsu was on the ground holding his head.
"N…Natsu?" Gray said trying to control his breathing.
"Dammit Gray. That hurt."
"What happened to you?"
"I heard you talking in your sleep, but couldn't understand you so I got closer just in time for you to yell my name and sit up…your head slamming into mine." Natsu explained standing up rubbing his head.
"Sorry."
"What happened Gray?"
"N…nothing just had a nightmare. Doesn't matter. I'm going back to sleep."
"It does matter Gray. You yelled my name…screamed it. Something bad must've happened."
"Yeah okay something bad did happened, but that really doesn't make me what to talk about it." Gray said, trying to get away from the subject.
Natsu sat down on Gray's bed with that "tell me" expression on his face. Gray let out an overly exaggerated sigh.
"Fine. I had a dream about Deliora killing Ur, Lyon, and that guy's mother. Then you appeared and hugged me saying you were going to kill me, but it turned out that it was Alekander and not you then you appeared again tied up behind him. Then a knife appeared in Alekander's hand…I screamed but nothing came out. My feet were chained down to the ground so I couldn't move. I tried to do magic, but nothing happened. He said I shouldn't have made this so difficult and I would soon know the pain he had for years. I yelled again when he got closer to you and finally something came out and you woke up and you looked at me smiling. A tear left your eye as he stabbed you. I yelled and woke up…" Gray tried to catch his breath and noticed he was crying. He quickly wiped his tears away. He looked up at Natsu and saw that Natsu wasn't looking at him anymore.
"Natsu?" Gray said quietly touching his arm.
Natsu turned to look at the hand that touched his arm. Gray saw his face…he's never seen Natsu look so sad. Gray was brought out of his thoughts when Natsu grabbed Gray's hand intertwining their fingers. The ice mage gasped, he was clearly taken aback by this side of Natsu.
"Natsu?"
The dragon slayer just sat there staring at the newly tangled fingers. Gray couldn't read what he was thinking, but Natsu was quiet and that, itself, usually meant something big.
(A/N) YES! LONGER CHAPTER! I really just couldn't get this one to end. Had some trouble explaining it all too...(sigh) I am loving the NatsuXGray fluff! Also what does a quiet Natsu usually mean? It's unheard of that's why its soooo dramatic. :) I had fun with this chapter I love my Alekander Cross OC...he seems fun, arrogant, and scared. Anyways REVIEW and let me know what you think of all...this. :)