A/N: (Skip if you want – you probably should.)
Special thanks for the feedback. I know it may seem weird putting in that last AN chapter with the questions but there was a reason. I am just the type of person who needs reassurance that what I am doing is right at every step of the way, I constantly worry that I may be doing something disliked but people are too polite to tell me so honestly if you dislike something then tell me because I can change it. I'll explain more after the chapter.
Anyways, on with the story... I think this may be my best chapter yet and it's extra, extra long...
Previously
The struggle continued with words which could not be heard being thrown back and forth. Neither side was backing down. Everything went to hell in that moment though. All eyes were on her position.
"WE KNOW YOU'RE UP THERE SO JUST GET DOWN HERE IF YOU WANT THIS BOY TO LIVE!" was the last thing she heard before everyone succumbed to the complete and utter chaos.
…
.: Before Her Time Runs Out :.
…
.: Chapter 5 :.
...
.: Veiled Intentions:.
…
Three Days Prior
Gray wiped the large amount of sweat that had accumulated on his brow thanks to the sun's harsh ministrations. What was he doing again? Oh yeah, he was helping around town. For what reason?
He was stuck here for three days. Three whole days of labour under the desert sun.
Seriously, he was an S-Class mage of Fairy Tail; if they wanted a labourer then why did they take him? It's not like this was his profession. He slumped down on the bench and decided to take a quick break, sit back and watch. The woman he was supposed to be helping was currently tugging and heaving on the rope dipping into the deep black cavern that was the village well, her long brown sari billowing as she did so.
Like the rest of the villagers, she wore a veil which completely concealed her face. What was with that? Was it a different religion out here? Was it to stop sunburn? The people of Ammos Fontana wore no such thing. Was it just a tradition in the village? Come to think of it, the only person he had seen not wearing such concealment was the mayor, but even so, he had been wearing reflective sunglasses. His eyes completely obscured. Was that it? Did the villagers have to cover their eyes?
"Are you going to sit there or are you going to help?" Gray all but fell off the bench as he did a double take. Did she just... speak? He had gotten so used to the silence that he had begun to think that most of the villagers were unable to form words.
Getting up, Gray decided to approach her about this matter. "You spoke?"
"Yes... are you going to help?" Wow, straight back to the topic. No conversation here.
"Of course, I was just surprised that you actually spoke..." Gray rubbed his head nervously and continued, "Why is it that you hardly say anything?" he asked sincerely.
The woman sighed, tied the rope to an iron rung and threw her arms up in exasperation. "Why is it that you wish to know?" She walked towards him. "Words are unnecessary. There are far more things in this world which can be communicated without words. Time spent speaking is time wasted. Words can be... misinterpreted. Words can be lies, actions are the language of truth." She put emphasis on the last word as she grabbed the end of the rope and shoved it into Gray's hands.
The ice mage was surprised by the forcefulness, not just by the woman's actions but her words as well. What did she mean by that? He totally forgot about the task at hand when the woman untied the rope from the metal rung.
SLAM!
The massive weight that was on the other end of the rope was too much for the unsuspecting ice mage. As a result, he lost all balance and was pulled straight into the circular wall surrounding the well with a crash and some displaced stones falling into the well. A few seconds later, several splashes echoing from within the underground cavern could be heard.
Gray stared in disbelief at the villager behind him. He was sure he heard a slightly suppressed giggle and was certain that behind the veil he would find a big smirk. This annoyed him.
What kind of monstrous strength did this woman possess? She was like, Erza, level strong. Gray was no weakling but he was defeated instantly by a bucket of water.
Just how big was this damn bucket?
She did not move to help Gray but instead stood looking at him in a silent challenge of 'do it yourself or do you want to be beaten in strength by a woman?'
Begrudgingly, Gray admitted to himself that he didn't actually have the physical strength necessary for pulling the bucket back up... but he wasn't S-Class for no reason. There was never only one way of doing something and he would not give up until he found the logical solution. He already had one in mind. Standing up, he took the loose end of the rope and fed it through the iron rung that hung from a wooden beam over the well. He proceeded to create a massive, dense clump of ice attached to the rope before releasing it to let it fall into the well.
Despite standing at least ten metres higher than the surface of the water, Gray was still soaked from the massive splash caused by the clump of ice falling. The concurrent result of the new imbalance of weight was more than enough to hoist the water bucket on the opposite end of the rope. The distinct whirring sound of rope-burn accompanied the water bucket straight to the top where it now swung slightly, sloshing over and spilling. Sure enough, it was a massive bucket—more along the lines of a trough.
Gray turned to the woman with a smug expression. She clapped... almost sarcastically and unhooked the bucket from the rope before dropping it unceremoniously by the side of the well.
The two were then surrounded with at least six little children who looked to be in the range of five to eight years old. It seemed very sad to Gray as not only did even the children wear the veils but they followed in their parents' example of not speaking a word. To see so many children running around yet not chatting, laughing and teasing each other was just plain wrong in Gray's opinion.
The children began filling up many canteens of water and Gray decided he could at least make them a little happier. So, he gathered magic in his hands and released hundreds of ice cubes into the large bucket. Gray only wished he could see the excited look in their eyes or hear them thank him but sadly no such hints occurred or could be seen.
Although, if the manner in which they were now playing with the ice cubes was of any indication, they were excited. Perhaps this was their first time seeing ice? Some of the children cheekily slipped the ice cubes down each others' necks; the victims of such acts squealed as the slippery cold substance slid down their backs.
Progress, Gray thought. I can take this further. He positioned himself in the Ice Make stance as he readied what was normally an attack, but in this case: "Ice Make: Floor!" The ground was covered in a thick sheet of slippery ice. At once all of the children slipped and fell over, and Gray heard... giggles.
It was pretty amusing to watch. The children who had never seen ice before were now skidding and sliding around on the frozen ground, some of them fighting here and there, leaving the forgotten canteens lying next to the bucket.
He turned to the only other person besides him who was standing still. The woman whom he had been helping earlier was standing, looking at the sky wistfully. Why? Why are you looking like that? It looks like this is the most amount of fun these kids have seen in a long time? She raised her hand into the air and the fun was stopped. All of the children turned their attention to her, the ice floor dispelled and they got back to work.
Once the children had finished filling their canteens, she motioned for Gray to come closer and help her carry the bucket. Maybe she's right, words aren't always required. Gray used both arms to steadily lift his side of the bucket while the woman took the other.
There was one question he wanted to ask her, "what's your name?" he grunted due to the exertion.
"Andriaa," she replied.
"I'm-"
"Gray." She finished for him. Okay, no need to be so rude, Gray thought.
Andriaa started taking steady steps to lead the bucket in her direction of choosing. Gray was very careful not to take a step in the wrong direction and spill any of the precious liquid.
After painstakingly moving through the streets, Gray eventually found himself looking down at a staircase leading into some kind of nice shady looking sub-level room. Andriaa took the first step down and lifted the bucket higher to keep it level. Gray followed after her and slowly but surely they made their way down the stairs.
Gray breathed out heavily and shook the built up tension from his arms and knees after finally having set down the trough inside. One thing which he would never get used to here is how long it took for his eyes to adjust when moving from inside to outside.
Outside it was so bright, to the point where you might damage your eyes. Inside it was so dark, the lack of windows evidently kept the temperature down within the mighty stone walls. At least one was always in for a surprise when entering an unknown room.
And surprised Gray was.
He never would have expected to see a wine cellar in this dried up hole of a village. It wasn't just a few bottles either. There were rows and rows of big oak barrels, many of which looked untouched—if the dust gathered upon them was any indication. Andriaa reached into a tiny alcove in the wall and retrieved an oil lamp. She promptly lit it, and the cellar was filled with a flickering orange glow.
Gray took in the new detail now that it was possible to do so. It wasn't just a wine cellar, no, there were bags of flour, cheeses, cured meats and were those... fresh fruits? Gray had difficulty deducing the answer to this question since they looked so foreign to anything he was used to.
Just when he was about to ask about what he was thinking, Andriaa was beside him holding out one of the fruits as if she'd read his mind. It had a purplish brown... shell, and Andriaa cut it open to reveal bright pink flesh which looked succulent, juicy and delicious.
Gray unwittingly began to drool.
As if in response to this, not at all judgemental, she pushed the fruit towards him as if to tell him he could have it. He sliced off a segment, dropped it into his mouth and let the flavour linger for a while as he chewed it down. It was thirst quenching without sacrificing flavour. He quickly gobbled down the rest of the fruit, not caring about the juices dribbling down his chin.
"The only fruit which grows in the Aesif Desert." Once again, the breaking of the silence startled Gray, but at least it was his cue to ask her another question.
"Where does all this food and wine come from?"
"Do not think little of us, aside from the rozova fruit—which we harvest—we ordered this food and wine from a far away place, a long time ago."
"A long time ago? It looks so fresh..."
"Did I not just tell you to not think little of us?" Gray felt like he was treading on thin ice here, and that was not a good thing in the desert. Nevertheless, Andriaa explained, "This cellar is protected with the script of the ancients. No food within this script will expire."
"That sounds a lot like Freed's runes magic..." Gray mused.
"Please, do not bring unnecessary information into an already wasteful conversation," she said threateningly.
"Sorry," Gray mumbled.
She stepped dangerously close to him and added one final bit, "apologising is also unnecessary. I can already see that you regret wasting my time." Yeah right, woman. Like I care about wasting your time. "You better not be thinking what I think you are... A man who disregards the time of others is only true to himself. You are selfish, you will gradually separate yourself from your friends until one day you will surely die alone." Her words were venomous, and Gray felt each and every one of them as if they were attacks – like knives which served to damage his pride.
Gray was starting to honestly believe that she was a mind reader.
Andriaa left a very wide eyed Gray as she opened the door, flooding the cellar with unwanted light. "However... I will let you off this time. Your time happens to be very precious." She turned to him one last time, tightened her sash and whispered the last part, "treasure it." She was then gone, with a slight flick of her silk sari and the darkness of the cellar once more prevailed.
Now, much more so than previously, Gray desired to see the expression in her eyes. Was she toying with him? Did she know something? Did she KNOW him?
Gray only wished that she was not toying with him. She could see his eyes. They betrayed complete confusion, concern and—reluctantly he admitted it: fear. For some reason, not once had words instilled such intense emotion within him. Not Makarov, not Ur, not Natsu, not Erza, no one.
Why did this come from someone with an unknown face whom he had only known of for a few hours. More importantly, was she threatening him?
.
.
.
Gray decided to let it go. He was being irrational. No way this woman had anything on Erza or Mirajane... right?
…
Gray looked right, and then left. Taking in the abandoned tools, the empty chairs and in general the lack of people, he now walked through the desolate streets of Terraminos. Where was everyone? The village had gone from busy to ghost town in the time that he had spent in the cellar. Andriaa hadn't done something had she? She was certainly behaving weirdly.
Without realising where he was going, he ended up in front of the town hall. Thinking there was no point in not trying it, he knocked on the front door and was surprised when his knock was reciprocated with the door being immediately opened for him. The mayor's wife was holding it open for him, no greeting—naturally.
She walked up the stairs to the mid level and waited expectingly for Gray to do the same. When Gray did reach the second floor she had already moved on, now standing to the side of the doorway to another room. She led him straight inside towards a freshly made bed and pointed to it.
It seemed more like an order than an invitation but Gray could see no harm done in taking up the offer so he clambered down until he was comfortably resting on the soft surface. The mayor's wife let him rest there, pulled the curtain by the open archway closed and left the ice mage in peace.
Gray was soon drifting off to sleep, the ominous words spoken by Andriaa replaying over and over in his mind as he tried to make sense of why she would say that to him. He dreamt of his training with Ur in the snowy forests of the north. That was his true home, that, and Fairy Tail. He vowed to himself never again to be seen in any desert of any form.
Your time happens to be very precious... treasure it.
Sometime Later
Gray awoke to a slight nudging. Each nudge got incrementally more forceful until his eyes were wide open and he was sat up staring at the source of the intrusion. Judging by the lack of light coming through the curtain, it was now late evening.
No point in asking why I'm being woken right? It was the mayor's wife once again and she was doing her usual routine of walking somewhere and waiting for Gray to follow before moving again. This time he was lead to a closet full of various different garbs.
She looked like she expected him to choose some of them. I'll probably end up ditching them accidentally anyway. Are you sure you should trust me? Gray decided not to voice his concern and instead settled with an orange set which complemented his blue eyes.
He was shuttled wordlessly outside where the gathering darkness brought the temperature down to a comfortable level. Gray by now was used to surprises in this weird and wonderful village but each surprise was... well... more surprising.
This time instead of being greeted with a ghost town Gray was brought into a highly decorated version of the streets. There were rows of tables set out, covered in white cloths, candles and fruits. Lanterns were hanging out on strings across from the buildings and they swayed ever so gently due to the air currents.
Did they do all this when he was asleep? If so then why? He wanted to ask someone but he also didn't want to be scolded for talking.
He felt a tug on his hand and looked down to see one of the village children from a few hours before at the well. The child started walking while gently pulling Gray behind him until they reached a table set in the forefront of the village square. The square was quite surprisingly grand, surrounded by noble columns and strong stone arches. It looked more like a location from a grand ancient city rather than some dusty deprived village.
Since arriving at the village Gray disliked all his decisions being taken for him and the latest such decision consisted of being seated at the mayor's table. It didn't slip past Gray that the man was still wearing sunglasses even though it was dark.
Once he was sat down at the table in silence, he began snacking on the various foods that had been spread; he particularly savoured the so called 'rozova' fruit which he had tried earlier.
One glance at his empty wine glass though and the mayor swiftly refilled it with the dark rose liquid. Without realising what he was doing, he drank the entire contents of the glass without setting it down. Not good, now he's going to refill it again and sure enough Gray was soon sipping his second glass.
This carried on for a while. Gray soon lost himself in the silence of the desert; the only noises that reached his ears was the chinking of glasses and the shuffling of footsteps every now and again. Gray was beginning to think it wasn't all so bad. It was certainly a change from the rowdiness of Fairy Tail, and for once he could listen to his thoughts.
Unfortunately, Gray did not know what to think. There were too many things going on in his head to sort – the wine wasn't helping. There was his team-mates, Ultear, the mysterious village itself but most of all was Andriaa.
A man who disregards the time of others is only true to himself. You are selfish, you will gradually separate yourself from your friends until one day you will surely die alone.
Was this related to him avoiding Erza, Natsu, Lucy and the others? Was he disregarding their concerns about his behaviour..? Did that count as disregarding their time? Was he selfish for taking the high reward quest for himself?
If so, he was beginning to really feel like a jerk for the way in which he'd been acting over the past three months since becoming an S-Class mage.
You will surely die alone.
What an awful thing to say.
Early Next Morning
Nudging. Again. What a way to wake your guests. No good morning, no offer of breakfast within earshot. Fortunately Gray did not have a hangover—even though he had consumed a rather large amount of alcohol last night—so he wasn't snappy at the mayor's wife (her name was..?)
Gray was led straight outside to the well where one of the villagers was already waiting for him with a dry looking chunk of bread. Once he took it and ate it the villager waited expectantly by the fresh trough of water.
Gray understood what he wanted but he'd only just bitten into the miserable breakfast and he knew that he'd need his energy for whatever work that he'd be set. If the new guy was going to be impatient then Gray was going to make him wait.
Why had there been a feast last night? Gray risked voicing his question, "what was with last night?" The man in question shrugged before pointing to the bucket. At least he didn't tell me to be quiet, that's good I suppose. Regrettably, Gray's curiosity had not been satisfied.
He poured hundreds of ice cubes into the bucket like he'd done yesterday and although he usually enjoyed the feeling of helping out it just wasn't the same when he did not receive any thanks or at least a smile. He didn't feel appreciated even though he knew that his ice magic was of great utility.
"Come."An order came from an all too familiar voice. Andriaa. What's she going to say to me next?
"Oh don't look at me like that..." She crossed her arms—in what Gray assumed could only be a pout—and continued, "today we harvest the rozova."
Hmm, she may be scary—or even dangerous—but at least she'll probably answer my question.
"Why was there a party last night?"
"Did I not tell you your time is precious?" She snapped at him, her voice getting dangerously low, "Now come," she ordered.
Was that supposed to be the answer to my question? Gray could not shake away all of the nagging questions from his conscience since arriving here and by far the most nagging question of all so far would be: Why is she telling me my time is precious?
Day Three
Well, if my time is precious, these people sure aren't treating it that way. 5AM. That is the time at which Gray had awoken on this morning. The same method of rousing had been used—that is: nudging. The same lump of dry bread had been his breakfast—he'd noticed that he'd not since been treated to the high quality food like he had been two days ago. He'd been working for two hours already and been doing the same labour he'd been doing yesterday.
Harvesting.
The heavy manual labour had certainly taken its toll on his body as he now found his back aching from leaning down to pick the fruits. His face now displayed a prominent red burn and he swore he would be coughing up red sand for weeks to come.
Fortunately, the message he had been waiting to receive had just arrived. Gray was interrupted from franticly sawing at the thick, dry vines to free the delicious fruit prize from its tangled prison when he saw a shadow encroach his vision. Turning around, he saw the mayor, wearing his sunglasses as usual, holding out a map, a canteen and what Gray assumed to be a bag of supplies.
Without a word spoken, the supplies were dumped into Gray's arms while the mayor jabbed furiously at a red mark on the map.
Gray opened his mouth to speak but he was surprisingly cut off. The mayor gave him a forceful push in the direction of the road out.
"You go now to point of intercept. Wait for them there in ambush, hurry up now," the mayor explained crudely, "bye-bye now!" He said this all while grinning manically.
Great, I've barely had any sleep at all, I ache all over from all the manual work, I'm burnt, and now I'm being kicked out. Way to treat a guest.
Several Hours Later
Gray was poised behind a rock in the position in which the caravan would supposedly be passing through shortly. Gray tipped the last few drops of water from his canteen into his mouth before refilling it with ice. Being an ice mage in the desert was actually turning out to have more advantages than he originally thought. Who else would have instant access to water at any time?
Despite this, Gray was not actually in a fighting mood. On the first day he'd arrived at the village he'd thought that he would take his months of building frustration out on whoever crosses his path. However, since then he'd been vigorously put to work while thinking deeply about the questions which plagued his mind.
Does he like Ultear?
Is he really pushing his friends away?
Why is his time precious?
What is with Terraminos?
But no matter how much he thought about all the various different possibilities and outcomes of these questions, there wasn't an answer in sight. He'd never felt such emotions as love in that way—in fact 'like' was pushing it. Asides from love of his parents—if he could remember that far back, he loved his teacher Ur as family, he loved his guild-mates as family... so that brought him to the next question. Why was he pushing them away? Did he admit that this was indeed the case? Or was Andriaa just getting to him?
This was pointless. More questions entailed each original question. The job at hand was what he should be focussing on.
Gray looked around at his surroundings, taking in what was new. The area was surrounded by tall crimson sand dunes and Gray was hiding amongst the grey stones of a ruined temple in the slight valley formed by these dunes. The ruins and the sand dunes provided shade – elsewhere the rays of sun could practically be felt as if they had mass.
The ice mage was just about to nod off when he saw a very slight shimmer, and movement in the distance.
Cautiously, he created a layer of ice around his hiding space. It was designed to reflect light in such a way that it appeared like a rock surface but from the inside, vision was clear as a window.
So he now safely observed the movement he had caught before. The shimmers suddenly took shape, a group of blurry black silhouettes. They phased in closer—gradually becoming clearer and taking more shape.
Finally they were standing next to a group of thick columns surrounding what Gray assumed to be the entrance to the monolithic site.
He could finally observe them closely. It was quite a strange thing however. They were all wearing matching uniforms. They wore robes, large hats which were attached to the robes and... veils. Just like the people of Terraminos. There appeared to be two groups: one wore navy blue robes and carried sabres with well... burgundy hilts just like the guild name: 'Burgundy Scimitar'; the other group wore white robes and carried no weapons in sight.
The second group were all helping to carry a sedan chair which had beautiful carved wooden decorations and lattice windows which obscured whoever was sat inside. They stopped moving for a minute but did not set it down.
Well it's now or never. Gray decided to make his move.
The ice camouflage was dispelled and shattered as Gray emerged from his hiding place.
Before he could attack with the ice lances he was planning, he was knocked off balance when an intense wind descended upon the valley. He shielded his eyes from the needle like sand that was blown around as a result. When he decided it was safe to uncover his eyes, the wind had not completely settled and the dark robed group had all drawn their swords at him.
Element of surprise gone, but never mind I can still attack them. Just as Gray was about to do so, he heard a deep female voice that sounded like an order. Gray could not understand what was said but he noticed that none of the dark wizards were attacking him so he paused to see what would happen next.
The white robed group set down the sedan chair and the door slowly opened with a loud creaking noise. Gray first saw the full length pink silk dress followed by its owner. A tall veiled woman with long, wavy green hair who wore black gloves which went past her elbows, leaving only her biceps exposed had emerged.
Gray could hear the surprise in the dark guild members' voices as they muttered incomprehensible things while the green haired woman stepped towards him.
"At long last, you are finally here," her voice was gravelly but each word was very clearly pronounced.
What? Gray's breath caught and he found himself unable to speak.
"After so many years, finally I can have my way..." Gray could hear the wicked intent in her voice and all of his instincts told him to either remove the threat now or run away. But he didn't, and the woman was slowly drawing closer and closer, dangerously so.
She put her right hand to left and pulled away the black glover... revealing... her hand was made of diamond! She drummed her fingers menacingly against her 'palm', each time Gray heard the clinks of her razor-like nails against the hard crystal surface. What the hell is she going to do to me?
Gray had had enough of observing, and got into the ice-make stance ready to push back her advance.
Hindrance to this 'plan' came in the form of Gray being surrounded by rocks, boulders and sand. They spun around them, blocking Gray's vision for a good thirty seconds until they ceased... and Gray felt the cold metal of a very sharp blade against his neck. This was courtesy of one of the presence behind him who had just... materialised and held him such a way that he could not move at all without risk of imminent death.
For a moment there was only silence, broken only by the new wind while Gray comprehended the possible outcomes of his current predicament - most of which ended with the knife lodged in his throat.
"What is the meaning of this, Lazara!?" The woman who Gray had gathered was some kind of leader—if not the guild master—barked. That certainly surprised Gray. So this 'Lazara' guy is going against orders? Gray didn't really know who was more dangerous. The rest of the dark robed group all had turned their attention to the one who was threatening him. It dawned on Gray... Am I a hostage?
"You're wrong about this guy, pathetic 'Sage', there is a far more capable subject!"
"So you're a traitor? Is that it!?" the 'Sage' shouted. "If he is really the wrong subject then why aren't you killing him immediately? What use is he to you?"
"Hahaha! Do you really think I'm that simple minded. The one who is actually powerful enough for completion is closer than you think. This boy is only useful as a hostage." As if to emphasise his point, Lazara slowly drew the knife across Gray's throat, drawing small droplets of blood. Gray flinched at the stinging sensation as his heart pounded in his rib cage.
"STOP!" she screamed, "what did you mean by that?" she spoke slightly more calmly.
"What I mean is..." he raised his head up to the high sand dune where there was a pile of stones and a high flying flag. Everyone followed his gaze up. He then bellowed at the top of his voice, "WE KNOW YOU'RE UP THERE SO JUST GET DOWN HERE IF YOU WANT THIS BOY TO LIVE!"
Gray hadn't a clue who Lazara was speaking about but he wasn't going to get a chance to know. The wind suddenly became oppressively strong, taking the breath out of everyone. The roaring sound came first and what followed the wind was not a sand storm but more like a wall of sand. The wall of sand impacted with the gathering of people and threw Gray's attacker far, far away. As Gray was ripped out of the man's grasp, the knife caught against this throat, successfully deepening the already painful cut into a dangerous gash.
No-one had any control of their bodies as they were suspended in the air at the mercy of the sand and thrown around like rag dolls. Amidst the utter chaos Gray felt a constricting grip on his ankle. He whipped his head down towards the source where his gaze fell upon something he would never ever forget.
.
.
.
Those eyes. Eyes which burnt his soul. The Sage's veil had been thrown off in the storm and now she stared him in the face with tiny black reptilian eyes which could only be described as hungry. A searing heat-like pain rose from her grip where her diamond claws pierced his leg.
Moments later he lost consciousness when he was slammed into into the desert floor. Everything went dark, but just like sun spots, the sage's eyes did not escape his peripheral vision.
He felt... branded.
…
.: End of Chapter 5 :.
…
.: To Be Continued :.
…
Wow, such cliffhanger. I hope you enjoyed the length of this chapter.
As to the questions from the AN, I wanted to know if people like how descriptive I'm being. I believe that if writing a story, every single scene should be described enough so that you can actually picture it when reading. For example I like to constantly reference the heat of the desert, the sun and the sand. The setting drives me to obsession – what better embodiment of despair is there than a desert? Also, up until last chapter nothing much really happened and I guess I kind of needed to know if people were sticking with the story, I like to go really slowly with a lot of atmosphere, plot building and hints and not everyone enjoys this I think. BTW I think this story is now ¼ of the way through.
So onto the second second set of questions...
1) What do you think of Terraminos and its inhabitants?
2) What do you think of Andriaa?
3) What have you guessed from the hints?
4) What do you think now that you've seen Gray's POV of the confrontation?
5) Is the new summary better, if you read the old one, if not, is the the summary good?
Again, answering these questions will be very useful to me.
Review time, haven't done this in a while (I won't answer all reviews - especially repeated instances since last time—but every single one has my thanks.)
blueAztec: You're welcome. And keep up the writing of your own story.
Mira-san7: Yes, and Gray will be making plenty more mistakes... just wait and see. I am glad you like the quality of descriptions as well, as I said I like describing everything, I only leave something vague if it adds to the story.
XXChiasaHamuraXx: I'm glad, next chapter you will find out just who that author is... ish.
PlutoGenesis: In due time...
MANSPLICE: What may I spend these GrayTear points on?
AsDarknessSpreads: Great to see you enjoying the story... and being a sadist...
Kakarot: Good to see you got that at chapter 2. Gray is very stubborn though and won't admit something like that so easily. Glad that you enjoy this story.
Sal: Good to see that my cliffhangers are the 'right cliffhangers' I hope this one does not disappoint. And unfortunately I can't rely on luck for six maths exams and two physics exams... I deeply regret my subject choice.
Thank you all reviewers, favourites and followers for your continued support!
One final note, if you're a non-member follower of this story, I only update on Saturdays or Sundays if that's any help.