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This fanfiction contains violence and sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.
"Gray Fullbuster."
The name was spat out like a curse – and it was intended to be one the moment he became an exterminator.
Commander Fernandes scanned the young man's scarred chest that gleamed with sweat.
"Being an exterminator will destroy you."
Gray's eyes simply bored into the wall, unwavering. "I know, Jellal" he muttered. "So let it." Commander Fernandes slipped a tongue across his lips before unsheathing a dagger. He bit down on his bottom lip cautiously, eyeing Gray before revealing a dagger. Its razor-sharp edge reflected Gray's trembling throat as he swallowed.
"It's going to hurt."
Gray's eyes urgently clasped together as he felt the tip rest above his collarbone. With a flick of his wrist, Jellal drove the dagger into his skin, and in a single motion it left a deep cut that flushed wide open. Blood meandered down his bare chest, leaving a trail of red behind. Its sting left Gray's shoulder throbbing, as he felt the pain linger through his arms.
Jellal's fingers recoiled around the handle tightly before angling the edge the opposite direction. Gray gritted his teeth as he felt the dagger grind against his skin before it penetrated his flesh and inched closer to his bone.
"All done," Jellal announced. He quickly pulled away and with a brisk swing, the blade disappeared behind a thin piece of cloth.
"Congratulations on ending your life," he laughed bitterly. "It's your first day as an exterminator." With a twist, the blood soaked into the cloth. "Try and stay alive." Jellal turned to leave, but only after giving Gray his last piece of advice. "Sometimes memories are the worst form of torture." And he withdrew into the darkness.
The bubbling flow of blood continued to spill over his chest as Gray peered down at his collarbone. Blending in with pools of blood, the number '1' was left behind to scar him for life.
As the son of Silver Fullbuster, Gray was constantly reminded of his privilege, his honour and his power. Yet Gray never found any of those things in his life. Only the lingering feeling of being tortured by an emptiness scoured his heart. Every morning a miasma of purple haze was pumped through his throat which he would inhale into his oesophagus. Choking him from the inside, the mist crammed against his chest, dissipating into his lungs. He felt his body stagger as the mauve flame began to ignite from within, thriving against his constrained muscles that desperately denied its entrance. A lash paralysed his body completely, its serrated hooks clung onto his back and all Gray could remember was screaming before it assimilated into his skin. It tore at his raw flesh, marking him with a violet ink that contaminated his bloodstream. As it bloomed across his body, it spiralled, forming intricate patterns that forever scarred him. As it faltered across his hips, it detached and ripped, ascending towards his chest where the number labelled him permanently. The conflagration ravaged freely within his body.
When he equipped his gloves, he found his veins glowing purple; and when he gazed into the mirror, his onyx eyes emitted a purple glare that engulfed his pupils completely. It excavated his eyelids and stretched his orbs irrationally. As he found his reflection in the mirror, his eyes blinked drips of blood that oozed a mauve glaze. Dripping into the sink, they churned before trickling down into the drain.
Every day, he found more and more purple around his body. The colour left him sick. Although the agony in his heart was relieved; he found himself devoid of any emotion.
Every night, the agitated flames ate at him; its flares burning the sides of his stomach before swelling against his ribcage. It roared against his lungs, depriving him of oxygen before relinquishing its power, until it finally gushed out of his lips. Gray's throat smouldered as he let the noxious ash seep out of his mouth. The acid scorched his lips until they split open, exposing purple blood that combined and pooled at his feet, gurgling as it dissolved into cinder.
When Silver Fullbuster witnessed his son bent over the bleak floor with a hand strangling at his own throat, his arms simply folded across his chest.
"This change is simply a small price to pay, Gray." He disregarded the fragile and tormented condition of his own son. "Gray Fullbuster," he hollered. "I expect great things of you." His sharp gaze narrowed as they slanted to inspect his crouched body.
Gray gurgled another pool of mauve liquid.
"The administration will not tolerate any cowardness or weakness," he hissed. "So, get up," he seized Gray's shoulders between his grasp, "and look at me, you weakling." Gray's eyes remained closed, his body weak and jostling along with his father's grip. When no response was received, Silver released his grasp and watched Gray deflate, his face splattering against the hard floor.
"If you don't get up," he urged, "you will die." Hurling Gray's shoulder up with a foot, Silver jerked at his dishevelled hair. "Gray Fullbuster," he screamed. Before he could raise a hand against his son's lifeless body, he found a suffocating grasp against his wrist. Gray's eyes slowly raised to meet his father's.
"Shut the fuck up," he growled. Silver immediately dropped his hands in shock. "Don't touch me, you piece of shit," he barked. Gray's knuckles burned red as they smashed against his father's outstretched arms. "Mark my words, old man." He bashed a fist against his chest. "I'm going to kill you first."
And that was when Gray experienced the greatest regret in his life.
»»—- —-««
After countless days of undiscernible pain, Gray awoke in the middle of the night to his heart bursting. His eyes shivered open as he clawed a fist against his chest, shrieking as his heart accelerated uncontrollably. It clobbered against his hand and he sputtered, choking on air. He felt blood pumping faster to his heart, until he was certain that it was also stained purple. Sentimentality and morality were now completely lost.
It was the same morning when Gray found himself drenched in blood that didn't belong to him. The fluid dripped from finger to finger and as his eyes trailed its path, he found it merging against several other lifeless bodies that tattered across the metal floor. Their dismembered joints lay upon one and another, until he found himself in a room covered entirely by lifeless bodies. Yet when he took a deep inhale of the metallic scent, he found it alluring. His lips curled into a sinister smirk as he flickered a tongue against his thumb. As members of the administration observed from behind glassed walls, they knew at that very moment that Gray Fullbuster would become one of their best killing machines.
Gray's extermination skills accelerated faster than all those who trained with him; yet he was the youngest to succeed. And it all began when he was given his first order.
"Kill Silver Fullbuster."
And so Gray did exactly as he was told to do.
Engineered to be violent and ruthless, he found himself lost in the scent of the blood of his victims. Their faces slowly merged together, combining into one colossal pool of red. Gradually, their identities became undiscernible. Gray could barely recognise the face of his father as he fell to the floor, unconscious against the strike of his blade. That was the night when he lost all the love that he had left in his heart. Like a river, Gray let his victim's blood run through his hands, watching it seep into the earth. He found pleasure in the sound of screaming; and the ultimate feeling of relief overwhelmed him when he put a stop to the heart of his victim. The days became months and Gray simply did what he did best – what he was born to do; kill.
But when those sapphire eyes gaped back at his, a trigger pulled in his brain. It sent a shock that protruded against his chest. Suddenly, he found himself inhaling a gush of water. It seeped into his nostrils and circulated through his throat before drenching through his body. The freezing cold sensation put out the ravaging flame that ate at him every day. Like a river, it washed away the cascading thirst to kill.
The way her voluptuous body clung onto his sent him panting. When her delicate hands skimmed across his rough ones, they sent a tingling sensation that left Gray gasping for air. When her slender fingers nonchalantly trailed down his throat, he wanted to bring her closer; and when her hair spread across his mattress, he wanted to extend his lips across hers and smash them together until they both ached for oxygen. His tongue would then infiltrate her slightly ajar mouth and venture, locking tightly together with hers, dancing against each other.
The foreign feeling of keeping this new victim alive thrilled him, and suddenly, a completely different need for someone else's body pervaded him.
When he found his own reflection in her crystal-clear eyes, he could only see himself. There was no mauve haze that blinded him senseless, nor was there purple blood that drilled through his veins. He only saw the eyes of Gray Fullbuster and he couldn't seem to look away. A tide flung against his chest, recharging his heartless body with a cold torrent. It hushed against his ears, beckoning him to venture her body. His hand creeped to her delicate thighs, coiling carefully around them. With the other, he swiftly captured her jaw. Gray Fullbuster always got what he wanted.
"I don't know why I helped you." His eyes studied her for a moment, watching her hide behind her sweeping eyelashes. His other hand edged closer, riding higher as they dared towards her hips. Juvia restrained from letting out an exhale as she gawked back at him, too shocked to say anything.
"I also don't know why you make me want to do this," he muttered. Juvia's lips opened in response, but before words spilled out, his lips slammed against hers. Their lips moulded together in a harmonious rhythm. His palms dug into her hip and harshly pushed her onto the mattress. She winced but before she could pull away, Gray grasped onto her tighter. He never had a prey escape from his grip, and Juvia Lockser was no exception. He lunged his mouth onto hers with a violent thrust. His tongue slipped across her bottom lip before prowling at her mouth, forcing its way inside. He slanted his body, pushing onto her and shifting his entire weight so he could claim her harder. When Juvia let out a small moan, Gray flinched as he felt his body rattle with pleasure. Her voice vibrated against his mouth as he enveloped his lips over hers hurriedly, attempting to force the same sound out of her. Juvia recoiled against his hold, her palms pressed hard at his chest at an attempt to push him away. Knitting his eyebrows together, Gray glided his lips over hers a final time before ripping his body away. A strand of saliva attached them together still, their faces inches away from each other. Juvia gasped, her breath unstable as she covered her mouth with both hands.
"Gray…?"
Juvia's heart bruised against her chest as she found herself begging for more. Her body yearned for his embrace one last time and she almost gave in to his touch when she ached against his rough grasp against her hip.
"You're hurting me," she whispered. She watched as his eyes darkened, trailing down to her side that bruised purple. Its colour sent a shiver down his spine, a force writhing around his muscles before he felt his heart escalate. Digging his fingers into her hips, Juvia shrieked in pain. Her eyes watered as his grasp showed no signs of letting go. Pulling at his tightening grip, Juvia desperately tried to tear his hands away.
"What are you doing?" she screamed. Juvia's eyes widened in shock as her bruise materialised into trickles of dust, spiralling until it abruptly burst into a flame that dissolved into thin air.
"Follow the hallways and you'll find your way back." Gray swiftly rose from the bed, rubbing at his palms that were stained red.
"Your hands…" Juvia wobbled onto her feet, attempting to take a closer look. "They're bleeding."
Gray retreated from her extended arms. "Go now," he seethed. "Now!" Juvia backed away in astonishment. His eyes glared, an ombre of grey stirred inside his orbs as he followed Juvia who disappeared behind the closed door.
Gray glowered at his oozing hand. Vivid trains of blood discharged from his fingertips where they rested against her creamy skin. The sight of blood was a common occurrence for the exterminator, but when it belonged to him, it made him feel sicker than ever.