Hey guys! So, I finally got my inspiration back, and this is the first chapter in awhile I've felt really good about! I had lost my drive because I'd gotten too concerned with the reactions and I forgot the actions themselves. Still, I've gotten my motivation back!
... Just in time for college to start. So yeah, I'm going to have to give up the every two week update schedule. Don't worry, I'll keep up with updating obviously, it's just that things are going to keep popping up, and having a deadline intimidates me into rushing. I think I'll actually do better without forcing myself.
So yeah, no big deal, but... HOLY SHIT WE ARE AT 90 FOLLOWERS! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! As a reward, this chapter is actually one of my best, in my opinion. Still, as a celebration of reaching one hundred, I'll post the next chapter, the finale of the Demon's Shadow arc as a present to my amazing readers!
Thank you all so much! I'm posting the chapter on the day before my birthday, so this is going to be an amazing day, getting to see all of your support!
Thank you for the reviews, please leave more!
The single staircase Gray had descended had quickly turned into a labyrinth of crisscrossing corridors and dead end tunnels, each time going through the twisting stone hallways getting even more lost. It was impossible to know where to go, but he rushed through the halls without hesitation, simply guessing as he went. Gray couldn't understand why there were glyphs in another language along every wall, Gray unable to understand, assuming they had something to do with navigation, yet following a string of them led him nowhere.
There was no sound, no clues to where Ayrae could be, but he just kept moving forward.
It was at least half an hour later when a voice called out, echoing against the stone: "Gray? Gray, where are you?"
Erza's voice- Gray turned toward the sound, yet hesitated. Is it really her? Or is Doppelganger trying to trick me? Gray, hands raised and ready to attack, called back, "Here!"
A few pounding footsteps later, and Erza came running around the corner, sword in hand. "Gray, you're alright. Good."
Gray swiftly demanded, "Is that really you? Tell me something only Erza would know!"
Erza's eyes narrowed as she growled threateningly, "You'd doubt me after all this time, Gray? I'm disappointed."
Gray backed up a step, wary but still on guard. "You can't blame me for wanting a bit of proof."
Erza shook her head. "Fine- when we were younger, when Happy was born, Ayrae played with him so much, you looked for a kitten on the streets-"
"Okay, I believe you!" Gray felt embarrassment rise in his chest- he'd tried to find a cat for Ayrae, but when he couldn't, he'd given her one made of ice instead. He let out a breath, knowing that Erza was the only one who'd seen him looking through the streets for a feline. "Well, do you have any clue which way to go?"
Erza shook her head. "I was wandering through this maze of tunnels looking for you, but it's nothing except more passages. How do the guild members navigate these tunnels?"
Gray scowled. "I have no idea. I guess we just have to wander until we find something. If Natsu or Wendy were here, they could pick up their scent. I'd even take Gajeel. But since the lacrima isn't working, so we just have to work with what we have."
The pair made their way forward, wandering the halls, Gray in the lead. Behind him, Erza's armor clanked as she grinned, slipping a card into her hand. Goodnight, fairy.
The armor on her arm clanked loudly as she flung the card at Gray's bare back, yet it bounced off a light sheen of ice on his back. Turning, he smirked smugly, asking, "What? Did you think you could fool me, Doppelganger? Ice Make Arrows!"
A hail of frosty arrows flooded from his hands, a few hitting Erza and shattering on her armor, one slipping through a kink in the metal, piercing her skin and pinning her to the stone wall. Letting out a pained cry, Erza demanded, "W-What do you think you're doing, Gray?!"
Gray rolled his eyes. "There are many things Erza could've said. But of all things, that's something she swore never to mention to anyone ever again. Even me. Erza doesn't break promises." Gray quickly forged an icy sword in his hand, holding it to her neck. "I don't know how you beat or escaped Erza, and I don't know how you found out about that, but I know you're lying about who you are."
Erza sighed. "You fairies are starting to get on my nerves." In a flash of red smoke, she was once again Doppelganger, her bare shoulder dripping blood onto her red clothes from where the frozen arrow pierced her. "I want nothing more than to kill you worthless pieces of shit, but nooo..."
Gray growled, "Where is Ayrae?!"
"Isn't it obvious? In the tunnels."
"I'm looking for something a little more specific."
"Well, I'm looking for eternal life and a goddess to serve under, but we don't always get what we want. Well, I will, but-"
"Stop trying to divert my attention. Where. Is. Ayrae?" His voice dangerous, making it obvious he wasn't playing anymore.
The edge of his blade scraped against Doppelganger's neck, drawing a trickle of blood. Yet Doppelganger only laughed. "You don't scare me, little fairy. You'd never really hurt me when I'm defenseless, and you don't have the stomach for torture." Her eyes gleamed from within the tattoo that covered her face. "No, I'm just going to stay right here and watch you squirm. Maybe I should tell a story, just to pass the time."
Gray hissed, "Knock it off and just tell me!"
Doppelganger ignored the boy, musing, "I know! How about the one where the traitor to her kind turned herself over? She was so weak and soft, she gave everything-"
Gray shouted, "Shut up!"
Doppelganger's ever-changing eyes seemed to pause on the same black as Ayrae. "For a guild that didn't care enough to send more than two people looking."
"I said shut up!" Gray's sword swung, but the ice shattered in his hands just before it could hit Doppelganger's head. Rage in his eyes, he ripped the arrow from her shoulder, the girl gasping as she fell to the floor. "I'll find my own way."
Of all the things in the world, the very notion that he could abandon a guildmate was absolutely ridiculous, much less abandoning Ayrae. She was more than family or just a guildmate- she was his best friend. And he would never leave her like this, not as long as he could take a breath.
Doppelganger stared after the boy, then looked to the shards of ice on the ground. He destroyed his own weapon? Why? Why not finish me? I can't even fight him, with this agreement not to harm their guild. So what was that?
Gray quickly rounded the next corner, the blood on the arrow suddenly glowing gold. Pausing, he stared at the stained weapon, the golden blood pulling itself off the weapon and floating forward in a glittering trail forward, the glyphs on the walls glowing faintly.
Gray stared, realizing: the tunnels were under a massive spell, one somehow activated by blood.
Assuming he had to follow the glittering trail, he followed the thin trail of golden sparks that were floating through the halls.
After following for almost half an hour, there was finally an end to the tunnel, Gray rushing past the sparks as the tunnel opened into a massive hall, towering so high, it must've been underneath one of the mountains around the city. Arching ceiling and tables scattered around, a wall pinned with assassination jobs and assorted other jobs, it was obvious this was the guild's main hall. The wall that the tunnel emerged from peppered with many other passageways.
No one sat at the tables, the hall entirely silent. Gray turned, wishing Erza would follow through the tunnel behind him, but the only one who'd come would be Doppelganger, and he really didn't want to speak with her anymore.
Here and there, a few more passages led out of the main hall in other directions. Yet as Gray was choosing his next path, sound began echoing down one of the halls- footsteps and faint voices.
Gray quickly diving back into the tunnel, he crouched down just inside the edge of the shadows, watching as a small group of mages emerged. Only about three of them, they all wore loose white robes, black lining at the sleeves, neckline, and hem. The three, all fullgrown adults, were laughing as they walked out of a tunnel and toward the passage on the far right of the hall.
"- ceremony tonight?"
"Yeah, it's finally time."
"Well, we've waited long enough! I still say we should've just attacked that pathetic light guild to draw her out years ago."
"Dumbass, without Kyja, we can't defeat the Magic Council and all their little light guild friends."
"No, but once we wake her, I say we just go and take over this country already!"
"Take it easy, Aqua. We follow Diviner's words for now, and once Kyja wakes and gives us her orders, we can destroy as we please, just like the old days of her last host."
"Ha! That old thorn bitch has nothing on the power Kyja will have this go around!"
The voices had slowly grown softer, fainter as they faded into the distance. Gray leaned against the wall, heart pumping, anger swelling in his mind. I won't leave her to this. I have to hurry.
Peeking around the corner, he could see the trio who had been talking disappearing down another tunnel. Looking around, he could see besides the tunnels leading back into the labyrinth, only three other passages led out of this mess hall. A split second decision led Gray to run down the hall the dark wizards had just emerged from.
Racing down the hall, it wasn't a minute before doors began dotting the hallway, wooden doors with barred windows, making them look like prison cells. On each door, what seemingly was the names of the members written on the doors. Gray couldn't help but notice the enchanted deadlocks on each one.
Running down the hall, he found very few people. He met perhaps three, quickly knocking them out and shoving them into the nearest room, then continuing onward.
Suddenly, he was among a patch of familiar names- Scribe, Doppelganger, Briar, Shade.
Gray swiftly honed in on the last-mentioned, grabbing onto the door handle and yanking it open, nearly off the hinges, not thinking about the fact that the deadbolt wasn't locked. "Rae!"
Looking inside, it was the same as every other room- a simple cot with a blanket, nothing more to the room- except Ayrae sitting on the bed with her forehead in her hands. Looking up at the sound, her eyes widened in surprise, the girl standing. "Gray?"
Grinning, Gray stepped forward, reaching out. "Come on, let's go."
Ayrae hesitated, looking around. "Then let's go quickly." She took his hand, smiling, Gray returning the gesture. Then her grip tightened, the girl swinging her arm with incredible strength, throwing Gray into the wall. Stone crumbled but the wall held, Gray crashing to the ground, Ayrae laughing coldly. "I can't believe you fell for that, ya dumbass fairy!"
A plume of red smoke, and Doppelganger stood where Ayrae had, smirking, blood still thick on her shoulder where she'd wrapped bandages around her wound. "How pathetic do you fairies get? You've fallen for that trick some three times now!"
Gray scowled, pushing to his knees. "Where's Ayrae? And how'd you get here before me?!"
Doppelganger chuckled darkly. "I don't have to answer that- I think I'll let the suspense kill you on that last one. But as to how I got here first, well you used the oldest method of navigating our tunnel system. That old maze was created and enchanted by Kyja herself when she created this entire base for our little guild. The tunnels are ever changing, making it impossible to simply know how to travel through them. No, Kyja designed them that the blood of those bearing her mark may lead them through." She put her hands on her hips, seeming mildly saddened by the idea. "But we got tired of the constant scarring. So, we dug our own tunnel parallel to the labyrinth. A bit of a cheat, but you have to find the entrance. It's shorter, faster- and made it easy to set a little trap here."
Gray stood, now able to see a cluster of Shadow wizards had emerged from the surrounding rooms, sneering at him. Towering above them, the blood red-haired guildmaster stood with his staff, chuckling. "Did you truly thin you could single-handedly take down our entire guild, little fairy?"
Gray stood, hitting a fist to his palm as his hands began to glow, growling, "I don't need help to defeat you weaklings. Ice Make Lance!" Thrusting his hands forward, two dozen ice lances shot forward, two spears rocketing toward each of the Shadows.
Doppelganger growled, "Ice Make Shield!" An almost flower-like shield burst forward in front of her, both the spears and the shield shattering as the other lances swerved through the doorway to hit the other members. Diviner simply said, "Protect me, my children," the small group of dark wizards quickly forming a circle around him, backs to him as they were shot down, acting as a human shield for the guild master.
As they fell groaning around him, Gray growled, "You'd sacrifice your own men just to stay untouched? What kind of guild master are you?"
Diviner simply explained, "They are nothing compared to me. They know they must become the stepping stones to Kyja's rise. Doppelganger, move this obstruction from her path."
Doppelganger nodded. "Yes, Diviner!" Lunging forward, she hissed, "Ice Make Geyser!" Throwing her hands forward, ice burst forward, Gray easily dodging to the side,
Smirking, his hands falling into position, he growled, "You can't beat me with my own magic! Ice Make Cannon!" Only a few feet from Doppelganger, the room was coated in ice, nowhere to go back backwards through the door. Trying to back away, she couldn't move away fast enough to avoid the pointblank shot of ice Gray shot straight at her chest. Flying through the doorway, Diviner side-stepped, allowing Doppelganger to hit the wall, shattering the stone as the girl slumped, groaning.
"Hmm, disappointing." Diviner sighed. "I truly expected more, my daughter."
Doppelganger, pulling herself from the rubble, shaking slightly as she rubbed her chest, her top having been mostly shredded. Quickly waving her hand, Transformation Magic taking over, now in a new shirt. "I'm not done yet, Div-"
Another shot of ice collided with the girl's head, the girl letting out a scream as she was once again forced against the wall, this time breaking through the stone completely, falling into the next room.
Gray, panting and rage in his eyes, grip tight on the cannon balanced on his shoulder. Aiming for Diviner, he growled, "Tell me where Ayrae is!"
Diviner sighed, shaking his head. "I have no time for this distraction. I have preparations to attend to."
Gray scowled. "You've got one more shot to tell me."
Diviner turned toward him, asking, "Tell me, boy: what will you do should Kyja prevail?" Gray's breath seemed to disappear, fear cropping up in the pit of his stomach, though he quickly pushed it aside, but it was too late.
A deep blue mist began to spread from Diviner's staff as it swirled around Gray, the man's deep, booming voice seeming to come from every wall.
"Unlock: Terror."
Gray couldn't explain how it felt, that feeling the pit of his stomach suddenly creeping outward, seeming to freeze every bone in his body. He wasn't used to the feeling of cold- he hadn't felt so chilled since a child, training with Ur in the mountains. His blood turning to ice, his cannon crumbled to nothing as his body began to shake. He couldn't think, he couldn't speak. He didn't even know what he was scared of- but this absolute fear was all-encompassing.
Crumpling to his knees, his body shook violently with the panic, hands clenched on the ground.
Diviner walking forward, he stood over the boy, sighing. "I can't truly hurt you, without breaking my oath. All I want is to raise my Lady to her fullest once more."
A sword's edge appeared next to his neck, Erza's angry tone hissing, "And we want our friend back."
Diviner's eyes widened, Erza's eyes cold as she pressed the blade closer, forcing Diviner to back away from the ice mage. The guild master inquired passively, "What will you do if I refuse, Titania? That is you, is it not? You fairies don't have the stomach for torture or murder." A grin creeping onto his face, he chuckled in his deep bass voice. "Not like Shadows."
Erza gritted her teeth, hands shaking with rage, not noticing the dark scarlet mist leaking from around his hands, curling like a snake around her legs. Eyes filling with fire, anger beyond her dreams flooding from she didn't know where.
She wanted to destroy everything in sight.
Swiping her sword, Diviner caught the blow on his staff, smirking. "It seems you need to calm yourself, Titania. You'll grow careless with your anger."
Erza didn't seem to hear, seemingly unreachable as she lashed out at him. At the same time, Gray was shaking off the fear, Diviner's focus now on Erza. Heart still pounding so fast, it didn't seem to be beating at all, he took measured breaths as he pushed to his feet, leaning against the wall, watching in half awe, half fear of Erza and Diviner's battle.
Erza having chased Diviner into the hall, she swung angrily, without any of her usual precision and grace, Diviner simply dodging every time with ease.
Ayrae mentioned he had Emotion Magic, but this... I don't know how to counter it. I just have to have faith Erza can handle this while I get out of range and find Ayrae.
Racing out of the room, he dodged around the corner, leaving Erza to her battle, eyes tearing over every door, trying to find some hint to where she could be. Finding himself at the end of the living quarters, there was a T in the road- the corridor he was on and one running perpendicular to it.
Looking side to side, it was a split second decision to go to the left, racing down the hallway. Running as fast as he could, it wasn't long until he ran straight into the center of a massive, circular arena. Sand coating the ground, a twenty foot wall of stone raised a complete ring of spectator seats around the arena.
Standing in the center of the arena, he could see some of the sand was still colored with red, the walls of the arena scratched and stained, the red too deeply ingrained in the stone.
This is it. This is where Ayrae... Shit...
However, Gray shook off the realization of just how real her pain here was. He needed to find her. There were two tunnels into the arena, one of them he'd just emerged from. Racing to the other side, he emerged in what seemed to be almost a locker room.
Opening every door, inside was always the same. A bench, white robes- some stained with blood, and a set of shackles hanging on the door.
Yet opening the fifth door, he found a girl, loose black robes as her clothing, styled gemstones used to pin her black hair into an elegant pile on the top of her head. Yet despite her seemingly royal attire, her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks tear-soaked.
"Rae!"
Black eyes widened in surprise, Ayrae shooting to her feet. G-Gray?"
Gray knew this time. This was no illusion or trick- this was his Ayrae.
Grinning, he lunged forward, pulling her into a hug. "Damn it, you idiot!" He tried to hard to sound angry, but he couldn't stop the relief from draining into his voice. "You ever run off like this again, and I'll freeze you to the guild's floor, ya hear me?!"
Ayrae, still froze in place, staring at the doorway where Gray had appeared. "Y-You're here..."
Gray, pulling away to hold her at arms length, smirked. "What, you thought we'd leave you here? Rae, if you died, I'd freeze Hell's flames and drag your sorry ass back home."
Ayrae felt the tears begin to streak her cheeks once again. "... Gray, you have to leave."
Frowning, Gray narrowed his eyes. "Without you? Not gonna happen."
Ayrae insisted, "You can't stay here, alright?! I don't need saving this time! I chose this!"
Gray growled, "Knock it off with this bullshit, Rae! You know I'm not budging! You're coming home and that's final!" His hand slid to her wrist, though instead of soft bandages, he found cold metal. Brushing away the sleeve of her robes, seeing the black manacles he'd found in every other room. "Is this why?" Frost spread from his hands, the metal becoming brittle as his grip tightened, forcing the ice to shatter, the metal falling away with it. "There, problem solved! Now, we have to get Erza and go-"
"Not this time, Gray." Ayrae wouldn't move, staring at the shards of metal scattered across the floor. "... This is my fate."
Gray groaned. "Why are you being so stubborn about this?! You have the chance to come home! Everyone's out looking for you, wanting you to come back! Why are you the only one who doesn't want the same?"
Ayrae pleaded, "I do Gray, I really do, but I made a deal! This is how I protect you all!"
"What are you talking about?"
"It's simple, Gray. My life for the lives of every other Fairy Tail wizard." Gray tilted his head forward, bangs shadowing his eyes, teeth grit. "You have to understand, Gray. This always was my battle, not yours- not any of yours. My life will end someday anyway- at least this way, it means something. Now, you have to get Erza and-"
"Is that it?"
Ayrae blinked, surprised by the sheer rage in Gray's voice that made his tone shiver. "Gray..."
"Is that what you think? You don't think this involves us? You don't think we want to protect our own?" Looking up, Ayrae felt her heart start to shatter like her chains at seeing the faintest glimmer of tears in the corners of his eyes. "You think your life is worth so little?! You know, you need to learn a lesson I got awhile back- you don't die for your friends!" His hands clenched into fists, mist formed in the air as it began to crystallize. "You live for them!""
Ayrae closed her eyes tight, turning her head away, trying to stem her tears. "Stop, Gray."
"Wake up, Rae!" His hand reached out, fingers intertwining her hers, Ayrae's heart seeming to try and piece itself back together. "Come and live for us. Because we live for you."
Rae couldn't stop the tears that joined the rest falling from her eyes, dripping and turning her black robes even darker. "Damn... Damn it, Fullbuster."
Her fingers tightened on his hand, the two holding tight to one another, Gray smiling as her grip failed.
She was going to listen to him. She was stubborn, but now, maybe he could convince her to leave.
"Unlock: Agony."
An acidic green mist swirled around Gray, tightening around his neck like a noose. His hand pulled from Ayrae's as pain racked his body, his vocal cords straining as he cried out in pain, his hands pulling at the mist with futility.
Ayrae's eyes wide, she rushed forward to help, quickly finding Doppelganger between the two of them, blood still dripping from a massive cut across her forehead. The scarlet liquid leaking into the corner of her mouth, she licked away a drop, grinning. "Hey, little sister." Her fist collided with Ayrae's stomach, knocking the wind out of her as the Shadow wrapped her arm around Ayrae's neck with the other holding an arm behind her back, swiftly snatching another set of manacles off the wall and snapping them on Ayrae's wrists.
Gray finally collapsed from the pain, the mist fading away, Diviner entering the room proudly, chin tilted toward the ceiling. "Oh, it seems that you tried to escape. A clear violation of our agreement. It appears our bargain is null and void, little girl."
Ayrae tried to lunge at him, Doppelganger holding her back, hissed, "You know that's not true, Diviner! You're breaking Kyja's First Law- talk about a fucking hypocrite!"
Doppelganger actually seemed slightly on edge at this. Eyes avoiding her master, she softly said, "Master, it is her law. You know little sister wouldn't have actually left, yet you violated the-"
"Silence!" Raising his staff, Doppelganger winced, lowering her head slightly. "You would question me? You don't deserve to be a Shadow of our Queen." Looking to Ayrae, he grinned. "Now, we strike a new deal."
Putting the end of his staff against Gray's neck, the man chuckling. "Now that there's no Magic Council to breath down my neck, I can follow through with my first plan. Now, you can either willing merge with Kyja, or I'll be forced to kill the fairy."
Ayrae once again tried to lunge forward, yet Doppelganger used her immense strength, easily holding her back. The manacles, Magical Sealing Stones, blocking her powers, Ayrae had little chance to fight back. "Stop, you can't hurt him!"
The mist gathering around Diviner's staff was purple, though darker than when he had used his magic at the Fairy Tail guild hall. "Yet I don't hear your agreement. I suppose I'll have to grant eternal rest-"
"No!" The tears in Ayrae's eyes gleamed, her body shaking with the her raw refusal. Letting her head hang, she softly agreed, "I'll do it. But you have to send him away from the guild, now!"
Diviner smirked. "I'm afraid you won't be making the terms of this agreement. No, these are my rules, little Shade. He'll live, should you give yourself to Kyja."
Droplets splattered on the ground below Ayrae, the girl trying to keep the tears from flowing so heavily. "... I suppose I don't get a choice anymore."
"No, Shade. You don't." Looking to Doppelganger, he nodded. "If you would."
Doppelganger, head still low, nodded in response as she let go of Ayrae, grabbing yet another pair of shackles, she quickly snapped them around Gray's wrists, never looking up from the ground. Diviner walking away, Doppelganger dragging Gray by the chains of his manacles, Ayrae's fists tightened behind her, the girl trying to stem her tears.
Why am I crying so much? I never feared death before, always staring it in the face. So why am I so scared now...
Watching an unconscious Gray being pulled away, his fate unknown, she felt the answer swelling in her chest.