Disclaimer: Mashima-sensei owns the glorious world known as Fairy Tail!
Warnings: Language, Time Skip (majorly), Bro-Angst, General Angst, Character Death and Violence
EDITED – I don't know if it's any better or not lol! I hope you enjoy!
Thirteen Years Later…
Lightning flashed across the obsidian sky as thunder hastily followed it; rain was falling heavily upon the once living forest. Animals no longer thrived there and the trees have long since died starting when the ominous presence first found the place. Sitting in the center of the clearing was a man with hair as dark as the sky above him and eyes as red as the blood of the innocent people he spilt. The last thirteen years had been nothing short of a massacre in the Demon Plain and he had to say that it was the best thirteen years of his life.
After killing the last surviving Demon Slayer, there was no one else left to stop him. He continued to resurrect lost demons left and right allowing them to have free reign amongst Earthland once more; he had never experienced something more euphoric. Not only had the sacred city of Isvan been destroyed, but Edolas, Extalia, and many other places were eradicated soon after. A frown tugged heavily on his lips; somehow the Dragon spawn had managed to escape the massacre along with a few of the Exceeds and that was something that did not sit right with him.
They had to be up to something.
He glanced up at the crying and sky and tried to suppress his uncalled for anxiety. There was no use in worrying about something that wouldn't be a threat to him and his mate. The fact of the matter was, without a Demon Slayer he and his precious Acnologia could not be defeated; the world would finally be theirs. This time, puny little Demon Slayers like Mavis Vermillion and Silver Fullbuster wouldn't be there to save the day and that was just glorifying.
Now the only thing that would make this day even better was if his beloved would return home to him.
"Zeref-sama!"
The dark haired demon rolled his eyes before turning towards the source of the call lazily. Walking towards him, with purpose in every step he took, was none other than Purehito Geborugu; now commonly known to the world as the corrupt Demon Slayer, Hades. There is no doubt that Hades had the strength to destroy all plans that he held dear, but the man's heart was so darkened by his hatred of the very clan he was born into that it was easy to manipulate the weakling into the palm of his hand.
"What is it Hades?" He yawned and closed his eyes, "There had better be a good reason why you're interrupting me when I clearly said that I wanted to be left alone."
The tall, silver haired man bowed to him reverently,
"I apologize for the interruption Zeref-sama, but I thought that the Intel I received was of upmost importance."
"And what would that be?"
A few moments of silence passed causing a scowl to appear on Zeref's pale face. He angrily opened his eyes, prepared to reprimand Hades for wasting his time when he saw the look of utter disbelief, anger and fear on his slightly wrinkled visage. Zeref felt his magic swirl within him as his anxiety started to rear its ugly head.
"Hades," He spat furiously, "Tell me what you have found or you shall feel the full wrath of my Death magic."
"I apologize again Zeref-sama," He muttered tersely, "It's just that what I'm about to tell you won't be easy for you to hear."
The dark haired demon clenched his fists at his sides,
"Did something happen to Acnologia?"
If possible, Hades paled even further; shaking his head adamantly back and forth,
"No, but I do regret to inform you that an Ice Demon Slayer still lives."
Whatever he had been expecting hear, he had to firmly say that that wasn't even close to the top of his list. How could that even be possible? He had used any means necessary not only to kill the bastard of a Demon Slayer (even kicked his rotting corpse), but he also severed the ties to the Hunter Clan and the Dragon Demons preventing the ridiculous 'ice and sun' part of the prophecy from coming to fruition.
"Do you somehow find this amusing?" He growled, "Do you wish to bring about my anger?"
"Of course not my lord!" Hades bowed his head, "But I have a reason to believe my Intel; Cobra heard it himself and you mustn't forget that he used to have deep bonds with the Dragon Clan before he betrayed them. If anyone would know about this, he would Zeref-sama."
Zeref clenched his teeth tightly,
"Is Cobra here, Hades? If so, I demand that I speak with him immediately."
"I'll bring him to you straight away."
Without another word, the silver haired man turned on his heel and made his way to the boundaries of the forest. Zeref watched his retreating back; anger and loathing rolling off of him in waves. Throwing caution to the wind, the self-proclaimed King of Demons whipped his arm out towards a nearby husk of a tree sending a wave of dark energy rocketing towards it. In the blink of an eye, the decrepit bark that was once remained on the dead life form disappeared into oblivion; it was as if the tree had never existed.
Before he could lose his temper even further, he heard Hades returning from the edge of the forest; a new set of footsteps accompanying him. Zeref couldn't help but feel pleased despite the situation, after all, Erik…no…Cobra had come so far in the past fourteen years. His poison dragon demon abilities had become next to unbeatable and his blackened soul, if possible, has even started to become as black as Zeref's own.
"Cobra," He addressed the russet haired demon, "Is the information you brought to Master Hades true? There is absolutely no margin for error; we cannot afford to make mistakes."
The poison dragon demon's onyx eyes sharpened,
"I wouldn't come to you unless I knew what I heard was in fact true; I would never wish to anger you Zeref-sama."
The dark haired demon pursed his lips,
"Then what is the news you have brought me?"
Cobra stared at Zeref stoically for a moment before he spoke,
"Before I tell you anything my lord, I have a very important question that I have to ask you."
Zeref growled impatiently,
"And what would that be dragonling?"
The russet haired dragon stayed resolutely silent once again incurring the King of Demon's boiling wrath. Just as he was about to punish the dragonling for his insolence, Cobra had opened his mouth to speak.
"Zeref-sama," He stated seriously, "Were you aware that Silver Fullbuster had an heir?"
The dark haired demon froze; his non-existent heart almost exploding from distress,
"What are you talking about?"
Cobra sighed,
"Silver Fullbuster had a young son who managed to survive the attack on Isvan that night; in fact, he along with a handful of hunters were the only survivors of the destruction."
Zeref's eyes narrowed,
"Simply because this bastard of a child survived doesn't mean that he had inherited his father's gifts."
"That may be true, but I know for a fact that this boy poses a great danger to your plans." Cobra stated confidently.
"What about this irrelevant child could possibly anger me?" He demanded haughtily.
The russet haired demon's onyx eyes burned deeply into his blood red,
"Not only did Silver's son inherit the powers of the Demon Slayer line, but he is also the mate of the Dragon Demon Prince, Natsu Dragneel."
Two Clans must unite as One
Joining the power of Ice and Sun
How could he be such a fool?! How could he miss something as important as a direct blood relation?! He felt the two demons shift fearfully near him, but he didn't pay them any mind; he, after all, had a mess to clean up. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to rein in his fluctuating Death magic; the last thing he needed was to accidently kill his foolish subordinates…
They haven't lost their usefulness yet.
When he had felt his magic finally calm down, he opened his eyes and stared darkly at Hades and Cobra in turn. It seemed that he would have to call in the rest of his 'team' in order to remove the blemish that had arisen. He focused his attention on the silver haired man and glowered at him from underneath hooded eyelids.
"Hades," He ordered, "Round up the rest of the soldiers; it looks as if we'll be marching into battle sooner than expected."
"Of course Zeref-sama," He bowed obediently, "Right away."
As Hades made his way towards their place of residence, Zeref glanced over at the poison dragon demon. He knew that Cobra could not read his mind (for the dragonling's was so much more inferior), but sometimes he thought the brat knew more than he let on. He stared evenly at the dragonling in silence before finally addressing him,
"Before I send you on your mission, I want to know if Natsu Dragneel is still protecting that bastard of a demon slayer."
Cobra shook his head immediately,
"No Zeref-sama; in fact, Natsu Dragneel has been absent from Gray's life since your precious Deliora destroyed the village of Brago twelve years ago."
The dark haired demon raised his eyebrow curiously,
"Now why would he do that? Isn't it painful for a Dragon to be separated from his mate for such a long period of time?"
"Yes, but in this case Dragneel had no choice in the matter." Cobra smirked, "He can't really do much when his mate no longer remembers anything about this world."
Zeref's eyes widened at the surprising information; all the anxiety and anger he felt up until that moment started to dissipate. Maybe there was a chance that he could use the so-called demon slayer's obliviousness to the supernatural world to further his plans. The corner of his lip twitched in amusement as a rough idea started to form in his head.
"Care to tell me how this outcome would be possible, Cobra?"
"I'll be more than happy to; anything that hurts Igneel's son is worth it," He nodded, "But first, I would like to ask you about the mission you have for me in this assassination."
The red eyed demon smiled at the unyielding hatred Cobra had for Natsu Dragneel; it has been something he had deemed useful when he had seduced the poison dragon demon to the side of darkness. He has never gone so far as to pry into the dragonling's mind to find out the reason for that hatred, but the answer was no doubt amusing. Zeref smiled at the dragonling and pointed to the Northeast side of the forest where the grass slowly yielded to ice and snow.
"You're duty is simple young one," He smirked darkly, "You are to lead the demon Deliora to the residence of the demon slayer's offspring and destroy him; it would only be justice if the impudent brat were to be killed by the beast that killed his father."
Cobra folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow,
"What of the civilians that reside in the town?"
Zeref scoffed,
"Collateral damage; you will do anything to ensure that that bastard is vanquished, is that clear Cobra?"
"Yes Zeref-sama," The russet haired dragon demon smiled slyly, "It's as clear as ice."
FTFTFTFT
He stared out of the wide, panoramic window; his chin resting on the palm of his hand as he watched the clouds move lethargically through the overcast sky. He could hear the monotonous droning of his professor in the back of his mind; he really, really didn't want to be there. Normally, he would at least act like he was listening, but today he couldn't find himself caring. Hell, half the time, he didn't even know why he decided to go to university. Part of him thought that he went because he didn't want to disrespect Ur and everything that she had done for him while another part of him thought that he went just to spite his older brother; after all, Lyon told him point-blank that he didn't want him to continue his education.
Gray sighed loudly and closed his eyes; he really didn't understand his family. Not only had his older sister disappeared out of their lives five years ago without a goodbye, Lyon had essentially severed him out of his life, leaving him to fend for himself the last three years. Gray lowered his hand from his head and formed it into a tight fist on his desk. He wouldn't say it out loud or anything, but his heart hurt every time he thought about his brother abandoning him. The raven knew that a lot of the reason why Lyon disappeared all those years ago (and possibly even Ultear as well) was because his brother blamed him for the death of Ur, their mother.
The funny thing was, Gray believed that Lyon had a right to hate him.
He didn't remember much about that night; it was as if areas of his memory were missing. He knew enough to know that Ur wasn't actually his mother even though he had taken to calling her as such. Sometimes he was able to remember what his real parents sounded like, but he could never remember what they looked like. The year that Ur died, she had told him that he was ready to hear the truth; whatever that meant. In the back of his mind, he could hear a deep, soothing voice telling him that she was his Aunty Ur and he had a feeling that the voice belonged to his father; the man that he couldn't remember.
He wished that he could remember his birth parents; Ur never really told him what happened to them. In fact, the first memory that he had of Ur was her, Ultear and Lyon finding him in some rubble; it was hazy and he wasn't even sure if it actually happened, but it was the closest thing he had to his real mom and dad. With Ur dead, now all he had was questions and no one was around to answer him. The one time Gray had voiced his questions was three years ago when he and Lyon had that argument. He was asking his silver haired brother if he remembered an older boy with pink hair and green eyes; it had all escalated from there and ended with the slamming of a door and Lyon's retreating back.
"Gray? Helloooo, Earthland to Gray!"
The raven jumped in his seat and out of his swirling thoughts. His deep blue eyes immediately landed on a girl with long dark hair and indigo eyes. She was straddling the seat of the desk in front of him and slouched over the back rest; her customary 'water' bottle clutched loosely in her hand. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed that her cheeks weren't as pink from inebriation as they usually were at this time of day.
"Sorry Cana," He chuckled weakly, "Was a little lost in thought."
Cana Alberona rolled her eyes dramatically and took a swig of her drink,
"You don't need to apologize to me, but you have to know that you owe me a slice of pizza now that you made me stay in class later than I ever wanted to."
The raven rubbed the back of his head and chuckled weakly,
"Whatever you say Cana…whatever you say."
He got up from his desk and grabbed the backpack he had draped over his seat. He put it on his shoulder and headed towards the doorway, Cana's strangely sober steps following behind him. The pair walked in silence as they walked down the empty halls of Fairy Tail University; the sound of their feet bouncing off the quiet walls. However, seeing how Cana Alberona was walking beside him, he had to know that the silence wouldn't last very long.
"So," She began; a curious lilt to her voice, "What were you so deep in thought about? The only thing on your mind should have been the not-so-surprise birthday bash that we're having tonight to celebrate your nineteenth birthday and even though you're not looking forward to going, it wouldn't have caused such a dark aura to pulsate around you like it was."
Gray rolled his eyes,
"Cana, according to you my 'aura' is always dark; you said it was the reason why you were so drawn to me."
"Don't avoid the question Gray Fullbuster," She clicked her tongue, "I've known you for almost twelve years now so I also know that that pinched face you had earlier had something to do with Lyon, your mom, Ultear or all of the above."
He scowled darkly and continued to stare ahead of himself; he really hated how perceptive she could be. He could feel her eyes burning holes into the side of his head, but he could care less about it; Cana was intimidating, but not that intimidating. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes and shrugged his shoulders vaguely.
"It doesn't matter what I was thinking about; it wasn't that important."
She folded her arms across her chest,
"So then it won't stop you from at least pretending that you're going to have a good time tonight?"
"Cana," He sighed loudly as they exited the school building, "I told you that I didn't want to go in the first place; you know I hate my birthday."
The brunette raised an unimpressed eyebrow,
"Yeah, you may have mentioned it, but you never told me why you hated it."
And there lies the center of the problem.
He didn't know why he hated his birthday…he just did. He would honestly wake up in the morning with a dark whirling pit settling into his stomach. He had a feeling that it had something to do with the recurring nightmares (that he couldn't remember) that happened the night before his birthday, without fail, every single year. What used to confuse him even more was that Ultear and Lyon would be more depressed than usual on his birthday and Ur would often look at him with pity in her eyes.
Gray growled under his breath in annoyance and tried to purposefully lose his derailing train of thought. He glanced over at the brunette walking by his side and frowned. Ever since he had known her, she had tried to pry into his life and figure out the 'mysterious aura of Gray Fullbuster'. When he was younger, he didn't have a problem with it because it made her happy, but now it only served to remind him that he knew just as much about his own life and past as she did.
"Gray," She huffed; causing him to turn his attention to her once more, "Don't ignore me; I'm sorry I asked, okay?"
He knew she wasn't actually sorry.
"If I go to this stupid party," He closed his eyes in defeat, "Will you promise not to throw me another party ever again?"
As if by magic, a smirk instantaneously spread across her face. Before he could stop her, her hand latched onto his forearm (with a surprisingly tight grip) and started to drag him out of the main building of the university. He hung his head in silent agony; what did he just get himself into? Suddenly, a chill travelled down his spine forcing him to stop walking, causing Cana to nearly trip over her own feet and face-plant onto the pavement.
"Gray!" She growled impatiently, "What the hell was that for?!"
"I…"
He didn't know how to explain it to her without sounding crazy; it felt like he was being watched. The strange thing was, he wasn't as freaked out as he should be; in fact, the reason he stopped was for something else entirely. For as soon as the chill disappeared, it was replaced by a comforting heat blooming in the center of his chest. He subconsciously gripped the front of his shirt right over his heart and glanced around himself slowly.
"Gray?" He turned towards Cana at the note of concern in her voice, "Are you alright?"
"I…" He gulped softly and slowly released his shirt, "Yeah…I'm fine."
She looked as if she was going to try and push it further, but he quickly grabbed her hand and started to pull her towards the parking lot once more. She was oddly silent the entire way to her vehicle, but he simply chalked it up to the fact that she was either weird-ed out by him or simply thinking up ways to get him positively hammered.
If he'd had to take a guess, he'd have to say that chances are the answer was the latter.
FTFTFTFT
A lone figure sat in a large room with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling; a large table rested before him with enough seats to house eleven more people. He stared at the empty chairs and frowned, of course everyone else could be late, but as soon as he was late he received the largest verbal stoning of his life. He rolled his eyes; he guessed it was to be expected since his sister was the acting leader of the Hunters' Alliance… she was never one to cut him some slack.
He straightened in his chair when he heard the large double doors to the chamber open. As soon as the doors slammed against their respective walls, sound finally reached his ears. Well, if he was going to state it correctly, he meant the complete lack of sound. He could hear the footsteps of his comrades as they got closer and closer to the council chambers, but for the first time in a long time no voices accompanied the footsteps and he knew why.
Today was the day.
Today was the anniversary of when their homes were destroyed and their parents or guardians were slaughtered at the hands of a demon. Today was the anniversary of when their only hope for winning against the demons was annihilated and today was the anniversary of when nothing would ever be the same. There were many thoughts and feelings that accompanied today's date; each and every thought being different from the other, but the one thing that remained the same was the sense of hopelessness and loss that seemed to surface without fail.
He frowned as the remainder of his family walked into the chambers; a thick cloud of sadness surrounding them as they took their seats. It was days like today where the vacant chairs in the room seemed the most noticeable; it was days like today where they felt the emptiness of their absence. The chair that rested at the head of the table has been vacant for the past thirteen years and if all went to plan, it would never be filled even if looking at it brought a sharp pain to his chest.
"Lyon," He turned towards the slightly amused voice, "I didn't expect you to be here waiting for us, it's more often than not the other way around."
The silverette felt his cheeks flare in anger and embarrassment,
"Oh shut up Ultear, It's not like I'm late on purpose!"
At his outburst, the tense atmosphere that engulfed the chambers dissipated slightly; leave it to Ultear to make fun of him just so they could be mentally prepared for this particular meeting. He glanced around the room and noticed that they had seemed more relaxed than they had when they had initially arrived.
"Even so," She smirked, "You deserve a gold star for that achievement."
The silverette rolled his eyes at his older sister and averted his gaze,
"Whatever."
A soft laugh reached his ears,
"Oh Lyon, you don't need to be so angry about a little teasing."
"Be quiet Scarlet," He growled, "You're only saying that because she never makes fun of you."
He glared lightly at the red haired woman who sat to the left of the vacant chair at the table. If Ultear was the right hand and acting head of the Alliance, then Erza Scarlet was the left hand and dealt with anything else that Ultear didn't have the time to deal with. Having those two demon women at the head of their Alliance was damn near life threatening.
"No," She smiled, "I just never put myself into that type of situation and I'm not the only one; she doesn't yell at Lucy, Juvia or Mira does she?"
A strawberry blonde male scoffed from the other side of the table,
"Maybe she's just sexist."
Lyon felt a dark aura immediately descended upon the room,
"What did you say?!"
"Uh guys," A blonde haired girl laughed nervously, "Shouldn't we talk about what we scheduled for this meeting?"
Ultear glared at Loke for a few more moments before she relaxed in her chair once more. Lyon couldn't help but sigh under his breath as the murderous intent seemed to dissipate; the sunglasses wearing idiot really managed to dodge a bullet this time. Of course it's not Loke's fault that Ultear couldn't handle the truth of her personality; she did tend to favour girls and everyone…who was male at least…knew that.
"Of course," She nodded to the blonde, "Thanks for the reminder Lucy."
Lucy smiled in response for a brief second before sadness descended on her face once more. Lyon noticed as Loke placed his hand under the table and squeezed the girl's hand comfortingly. Those two were always strangely close, yet at the same time they couldn't be farther apart; it was damn annoying to watch. It was obvious that Loke and Lucy had some sort of connection and the fact that the duo refused to acknowledge that inherent connection pissed him off to no end. He didn't understand why they didn't take advantage of the time that they had together and be happy while they still could. It hasn't happened yet, but he was positive that it wouldn't be long before the tentative period of 'peace' that they've had for the past couple of years would come to an end.
"As all of you know," Ultear stated seriously, "Today marks thirteen years since the Demon usurper sent the monster Deliora into Isvan and destroyed our homes. About eleven years ago, the Exceeds gave us another prophecy telling us of the return of Zeref after years of supposed silence; we need to create a plan of action."
"But Ultear-sama," Juvia glanced at the raven haired woman sadly, "If Zeref doesn't know he's alive and Gray-sama doesn't know this world exists, couldn't the prophecy be completely voided?"
Silence descended amongst the people present at the meeting as his name was uttered for the first time in who knows how long. Gray was always a taboo when it came to these meetings and it was usually because of one or two reasons. The first being the sadness his absence brings everyone in the Alliance and the second being the ensuing guilt that plagues both Ultear and himself for the rest of the day.
If there was something that he wished that he could change (other than his mother's death and the destruction of Isvan, of course…) would be to redo the way in which he and his adoptive younger brother had parted. Even now, he regretted everything he said to Gray and wished that he could somehow apologize to him, but it wasn't possible. The best way to keep Gray safe from Zeref was to keep the raven separated from the Alliance and in return separate from his suppressed memory.
"There's always that chance," Ultear conceded softly, "But Zeref also has many sources, one of which being Cobra the Betrayer who knew all about the workings of the Dragon Clan and the origin of Bonds and Imprinting. We have to be ready for anything."
Lyon noticed as people in the room shifted restlessly; he along with everyone else knew that this was coming. Everyone knew that the War was drawing closer and closer as the years went by, but it was obvious that no one wanted to believe it was true. Just as he thought the meeting was going to end in a stalemate on the matter (once again), Freed Justine raised his palm. His eyebrow raised curiously as he eyed the emerald haired male; it wasn't often that Freed made his thoughts known in council.
Ultear nodded towards the twenty year old male,
"What do you and the Thunder Legion have to say on the matter Freed?"
Freed tapped his chin; his blue eyes narrowed seriously,
"What if we were to ask for outside assistance? It is clear to not only me and the Thunder Legion, but also to many of the other Hunters in the Alliance that we do not stand a chance against Zeref on our own. Even if Gray were to return to us with his full strength, who is to say that we can defeat the Dark One alone? The Exceeds sure don't."
Lyon frowned at Freed,
"What are you getting at Justine? Stop beating around the bush."
"I'm talking about the prophecy given by the Exceeds three years before the destruction of our home," Freed rolled his eyes, "The Prophecy of Ice and Sun."
From across the table, Loke's eyes hardened into a stern glare,
"You can't honestly be thinking of doing that are you?! After everything they did?!"
Erza held up her hand to silence the strawberry blonde before he could go on a tirade. The scarlet haired woman glanced at Ultear who nodded at her slightly to signify her right to speak. Lyon watched as the mighty Titania rose to her feet; her stature seeming to tower over everyone in the room.
"Do you know what you're suggesting Freed?" She demanded, "How do we know that we can trust them after all the bad blood between us; hell, we don't even know where we could find them if we did want their help."
"But Erza," A platinum blonde haired woman uttered softly, "This could be actually what we need in order to defeat Zeref for good."
"Mira," Loke glared at the older female, "You can't be serious about this!"
"Loke," Ultear warned him, "One more outburst like that and I'll have to ask you to leave the chambers."
The strawberry blonde opened his mouth as if to refute her, but he wisely closed his jaw with a snap and leaned back in his chair. Lyon found himself frowning once more; it was obvious where this was going, but he wasn't sure if he liked it. At the same time, he knew that this was the only chance that they had.
He cleared his throat loudly causing all heads to turn towards him,
"When I left Gray, we had an argument…like all siblings do, only this time it was different."
Lucy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion,
"What does that have to do with our decision Lyon?"
He could feel Ultear's eyes burning into the side of his head as he prepared himself to answer the blonde. If anything, Ultear was angry because he had never mentioned any sort of argument to her. In fact, he had told her that he was able to separate himself from Gray without a hitch; he might have been stretching the truth a bit.
"It matters," He stated, "because although Gray doesn't remember much about his past, he does vaguely remember Natsu Dragneel."
"Natsu Dragneel," Erza stared at him in disbelief, "As in Natsu Dragneel, the Dragon Prince Natsu Dragneel?"
Lyon inclined his head slightly,
"The very same; it wasn't until that moment that I realized just how powerful their imprint actually is. Despite the fact that our Mother used the seal Iced Shell on Gray's memory at the cost of her life, he was still able to describe Dragneel without actually knowing who he was."
Silence engulfed the chamber once more; he was definitely on a roll today. He could tell that Ultear was about to say something when the sound of running footsteps reached their ears. Simultaneously, nine heads turned towards the entrance way to see a small girl with a puppy-like face dash into the room at full speed.
"Coco?" Lucy called to the out of breath girl in surprise, "What are you doing down here?"
The girl's big brown eyes stared up at them fearfully,
"You have to hurry! We need to gather the members of the Alliance immediately!"
"What's going on?" Ultear demanded, "Has Hibiki picked up something on the Archive?"
Coco nodded her head quickly,
"I-It's Deliora! He's marching towards Magnolia Town and he's not stopping!"
It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Not only was the Monster they believed to have been destroyed by Ur eleven years ago walking around, but it was heading towards the base of their main Intelligence network, Had Zeref discovered that they were getting closer and closer to figuring out how to defeat him?
No. That didn't make sense; Zeref would have attacked them directly, not their Intelligence network (even if it was valuable). Then it suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks…he whipped towards Ultear, fear evident in his onyx eyes.
"Gray."
FTFTFTFT
He was right… he completed regretted letting Cana drag him to this shit-fest…
Even if it was supposed to be his shit-fest…
Gray huffed under his breath and leaned his head on his arms with his red solo cup dangling loosely from his hand. He was never one for crowds to begin with, but this was just ridiculous; he honestly thought that he didn't know half the people at this stupid thing. From where he was sitting, he could see Cana talking to Bacchus at the bar; her shirt (unsurprisingly) gone and lounging across the counter in nothing but her bra and capris.
And she bugged him about his stripping habit.
He rolled his eyes briefly and took a large swig out of his Long Island Iced Tea; even if he hated the party, he had to admit that the alcohol was spot on. Of course, who better to pick the alcohol than Magnolia Town's resident alcoholic? Despite his complaining about her, a small part of him was happy Cana was with Bacchus; those two had been flirting for ages. Honestly, he thought the next two Ice Ages would come before they pulled their heads out of their asses and dated already.
He laughed quietly to himself as he went to take another drink when he realized the he had none left. He frowned at the empty cup before getting to his feet (although slightly off-kilter at first) and made his way towards the bar to get himself a refill. He sat his cup on the bar and waved his hand at Kinana to let her know that he needed another drink. The shy girl nodded at him and held up her finger telling him that she'd be there in one minute. He nodded at her in acknowledgement and waited for her to be free.
"Fullbuster, you are honestly the most depressing birthday boy ever."
Gray scowled and stared at Cana as she and Bacchus took the two seats to his right,
"Yeah, well you already knew this when you planned the damn thing."
The brunette snorted,
"That's true…aren't you getting another drink?"
The raven nodded his head and tilted it towards Kinana to show that he was waiting for her to finish with the other customers. When Gray looked back at Cana he noticed that her 'impatient drunk face' was on. Before she could yell at the poor barmaid, he quickly grabbed onto her arm and pulled her away from the bar; he could always get another drink later.
"Oh c'mon Gray," She pouted playfully, "You're the birthday boy, you shouldn't have to wait for your drink!"
He chuckled and flicked her forehead,
"Well I can't let you make a fool of yourself now can I? It would just ruin my sparkling reputation."
Cana scoffed and chugged the rest of her rum,
"What reputation?"
He laughed loudly and was about to retort when he suddenly saw a shock of pink hair; all words dying at the tip of his tongue. Strangely enough, the spot on his chest seemed to heat up again like earlier; what the hell was going on with him lately? He could hear Cana trying to grab his attention in the background, but he was solely focused on the pink hair heading towards the exit. Without saying a word to his friend, he started to push his way through the crowd until he managed to burst out the front doors and into the paved parking lot.
When he got outside, he started looking for pink hair (after all it should stand out, not just anyone had pink hair!), but found that whoever it was seemed to vanish into thin air. His chest was still burning slightly so he knew the pink haired figure had to be around somewhere; he didn't know how it was possible, he just knew that it was.
"Gray!" Cana shouted as she burst out of the bar, "You can't just run off like that!"
The raven blinked at her in confusion,
"Why? It never seemed to bother you before."
"Well," She scowled, "It's not very often that you get drunk Gray; you never know what kind of stupid shit you could do. Don't you remember the last time when you claimed that a cat on the street was your rival?"
He glared at her as he noticed Bacchus laughing at him from behind her,
"I thought we agreed that we weren't going to talk about that ever again. Besides, it's not like I left for no reason; I saw something that's all."
She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her brow expectantly,
"Oh yeah? What did you see?"
"Like I'm going to tell you," He pouted (though he'd adamantly deny ever doing so), "All you'll do is laugh and make fun of me for the rest of my life."
"Try me," She smiled coyly, "Was it a girl? Does our dear sweet Gray finally have his heart set on someone?"
Gray folded his arms across his chest and tried to glance away from the teasing brunette in order to hide his blush. This was why he didn't like telling her anything; she just used said information to make his life miserable. He was pulled out of his eternal embarrassment by the sound of a ringtone. He glanced up in time to see Bacchus answering his phone and walking away from him and Cana. He smirked at the confusion that seemed to flit across Cana's face as the man started to retreat.
"What's going on Cana?" He teased, "Is there something going on that I don't know about? You guys always did act kind of strange for a couple."
What he expected was for her to start yelling at him or maybe even punching him, but that was not what he got. Instead her eyes widened at his statement causing him to narrow his eyes suspiciously. He opened his mouth to ask her what the hell her problem was when a loud, soul-wrenching roar echoed throughout the town of Magnolia. Gray's heart started racing in his chest and he felt his hands get clammy; he didn't know what that sound was, but it made something deep inside of him crack…he felt…fear.
"Gray, Cana," Bacchus ran back towards them; his face paler than it was only a few moments before, "We have to get out of here, now."
The roar crackled through the air once more causing the hair to rise from the back of his neck,
"What…What was that?"
"Gray, did you hear him?" She demanded as she grabbed onto his hand and tried to pull him away, "We have to get the fuck out of here!"
He stared at her in complete confusion; he didn't know what the hell she was talking about, but he did recognize the pure look of anguish on her face. What did she mean that they had to get out of there; where exactly are they going to go? But most importantly, why did two of the most courageous people he knew seem so terrified that they were going to pass right out?
Suddenly, the earth rumbled underneath his feet; his first instinct told him that it was an Earthquake, but he was quickly proved wrong. As if time slowed to a near stop, Gray turned his head to see the most terrifying thing that he had ever encountered. Standing before him was nothing less than a monster; he stood at over fifty feet tall, with blue scale-like skin and bird-like feet with a tail that reminded him of a lizard dragging behind it. It seemed like something that would only exist in fantasy novels or anime; just how much alcohol did he drink?
"C-Cana," He muttered, "Please tell me I'm seeing things."
He caught her grimace out of the corner of his eye,
"I wish I could Gray, but I can't. What we need to worry about right now is getting out of here! I'll explain everything to you once we escape, but we have to survive first."
The monster's roar soaked the air again as entire houses were being destroyed in its wake. The arm that Cana was holding went slack as what she said finally reached his mind. He could feel her trying to pull him, but it was as if his body couldn't, no, wouldn't move. He robotically turned his head away from the monster and faced his friend.
"What do you mean explain?" His voice cracked.
"Gray," Cana warned, "We can't do this now…"
He yanked his arm out of her grip,
"You mean to tell me, that you know what this thing is?!"
The brunette bit her lip despondently but slowly nodded her head. Gray felt as if his entire world had fallen from under him. He stared back at the monster; his heart pounding rapidly in his chest as it inched ever closer to his position.
"Gray," Bacchus' hurried voice reached his ears, "I know you're confused, but we really have to get out of here now; if you don't move your ass in .05 seconds I'm going to carry you out of here!"
His eyes widened in disbelief,
"Y-You know it too?! Just who the hell are you people?!"
He almost felt guilty when he saw the pain shoot across Cana's face; it was if he was the one who betrayed her. She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something only for an explosively loud roar to pull his attention away from her. He turned just in time to see the monster gather a strange light in his mouth before a beam of green shot out from it; Gray was frozen as the beam of light rocketed towards him at full speed. He didn't know what it was, but something about that light seemed so familiar to him…
"GRAY LOOK OUT!"
The next thing he knew, he was thrown onto his knees and he was staring up into Cana's eyes as she all but lay on top of him; her arms almost wrapped around his shoulders in a protective embrace. He flinched as something splattered across his face; something that was extremely warm…His hands shook as he slowly raised them to touch the only girl who was brave enough to reach out to him and become his friend.
"C-Cana…"
She smiled brokenly; her frame shaking with apparent pain and tears streaming down her face,
"I'm sorry Gray…I'm…sor…ry…"
All he could do was sit there as his best friend fell on top of him completely; her dead weight nearly smothering him despite her build. He could hear Bacchus' enraged voice echoing behind him; the sorrow mingling with the triumphant roar of the monster as if it knew that it succeeded in taking a life. It was like he could suddenly hear everything; he finally took notice that there were actually other people around them the entire time…probably from the first time the creature actually roared.
He could hear Magnolia Town exploding into chaos and fear as the monster took fire on the village…
The worst part was…
He remembered now.
The monster standing before him now was the monster that haunted his nightmares; he could remember the dreams that have plagued him for the past thirteen years. His parents' voices seemed to be louder than ever; it was as if they were standing right beside him…warning him and apologizing to him and he didn't know why.
But most of all, he remembered how Ur truly died…
She was protecting him from this thing…
"Gray…"
He could hear her voice…
"I'll seal you from your darkness…"
There was so much pain…so many tears…so many fears…heat…so much heat…they were all burning. Everything was burning. There was going to be nothing left. His home was going to be destroyed before his eyes and he wouldn't even know it…he wouldn't even remember it… It was only because of Cana, a best friend that he never truly knew, sacrificed her life to save his own.
The darkness she told him that she sensed was much bigger than she realized…the darkness that Ur sacrificed her own life to seal for him had been seeping through for years. There were cracks forming in his foster mother's ice shell that he never knew about, but Cana did. And it was finally Cana's sacrifice that broke the remaining restraints the seal had on him.
He felt so cold…
So cold…but it was so familiar…
The cold was his home…but strangely enough…so was the heat…
Especially the smell of campfire…with pink hair and green eyes…
THAT was his home…and he forgot all about it…
"GRAY!"
His head slowly turned towards the source of the voice; a familiar stranger with a body engulfed in flames. Even from where he was he could see scales spreading across his face and extremities. He slowly raised his hand in an attempt to reach the figure; the subtle burning in his chest saving him from being swallowed by the cold…
"'Tsu?"
And everything went black.
TBC
EDITED! – I don't know if this is any better; I hope you liked it!
Hey Minna! So sorry for the late update on this story, but school is happening atm and things are getting hectic! Also I hope this chapter is okay and not too confusing (especially with the whole time-skip thing)! And I also apologize for making everyone very much OOC, hopefully it doesn't bug you too much! Waiting on your lovely reviews! :)
-sktrgrl
AND THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR REVIEWS, FAVOURITES, AND FOLLOWS! If it wasn't for you guys this story (plus others) just wouldn't exist so thank you so much for your support! XD