Chapter 56: The Book
A cool breeze blew through the cemetery as Gray's eyes watched the two figures in front of his parent's grave carefully. He studied the man in front of him in particular, he was an imposing figure clad in some sort of metal chestplate similar to what Erza wore, the word "Sub-Zero" on the armor's right pec. He looked like an older mirror of Gray himself, aside from some scruffy stubble and a huge scar going down the left side of his face. Gray's breath hitched in his throat as the man squinted at him.
"Gray…is that you?" Gray's mouth dropped.
"I-It….can't be…." He mumbled, Juvia turned to face her boyfriend placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Gray dear, do you know these people?...Something feels off…especially with that one." Juvia pointed to the taller of the two. Whereas the one who Gray was locked in a staring contest with looked human, the other one quite literally was a skeleton. The strange imposing figure wore regal cloaks with a checkerboard pattern and strange golden headpiece with a black logo on the forehead. Juvia's eyes widened at recognition at the mark, she had seen it before. It was the same mark that Jackal had tattooed on his chest, she had remembered seeing it briefly when Jackal began his transformation into his Etherious form and burst out of the tank top he had been wearing. Gray never replied to her question he just kept staring ahead of him at his older lookalike. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"Sub-Zero….I've allowed you to pay your respects. But we must be going now." The skeleton person muttered holding up a staff. Gray's heart stopped when he heard the name.
"T-That's impossible…..Dad?" Gray questioned. Sub-Zero glared at him, noticing the Fairy Tail emblem on Gray's chest poking through his open jacket.
"I'm sorry Keyes, but I must disagree. These two appear to be a part of the same guild that killed both Jackal, and Tempester…" Sub-Zero spoke coolly, his eyes never leaving Gray. Keyes stared straight at the two teenager's with vacant hollow black holes where eye's should be.
"Is that so?...very well then as members of the Nine Demon Gates I suppose it's only fair we repay the favor." Keyes whispered darkly.
"What the-?" Gray muttered as before he could blink he was sent flying through the air by a pillar of pink ice that erupted out of the ground. The man known as Sub-Zero sped at Gray who had landed somewhere on top of a nearby mountain.
"GRAY!" Juvia shouted, staring at the direction he had been launched in.
"Yes, I knew you looked familiar….you were once a member of Phantom Lord, one of our sibling guilds…The Rain Woman is what they called you back then." Keyes' voice made Juvia look away from where Gray and Sub-Zero had gone too.
"You must be another Etherious of Tartaros, just like Jackal." Juvia questioned crouching down into a fighting stance. Keyes merely nodded his head.
"I want to get one thing clear, I do not care about the other two Etherious your guild killed. I do however see it fit to destroy anyone who stands in the way of Tartaros, and our quest for the perfect world….and so that means that Fairy Tail must be destroyed." Keyes mumbled. Juvia glared at the Etherious, the atmosphere around the cemetery growing gloomier.
Gray landed on the top part of the mountain that shadowed over the small village. There was a small sheet of snow onto the mountain which wasn't unusual for this time of the year with how far North they were so even in April snow was a common occurrence. Sub-Zero rose up on another pillar of pink ice that worked like an elevator to bring him to the cliff where Gray was on. He hopped off the pillar and stood across from Gray who was slowly rising to his feet.
"HEY! What's the big idea with that sneak attack? Just who are you? And why do you look like my father?!" Gray yelled at the man who cracked his knuckles and neck.
"Yeah sorry about that…I needed to get you away from the other two….I need to know something…Are you Gray Fullbuster?" Sub-Zero scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Maybe. What's it to you?! And you still haven't answered my questions!" Gray threw his jacket off leaving him shirtless as he prepared for a fight by getting in his ice-make stance.
"All will be explained in due time….but first….since you seem to be ready for a fight then let's go a round." Sub-Zero grinned and got into a stance that matched Gray's catching him off guard. Taking advantage of Gray being stunned, Sub-Zero took his opportunity to strike first. Summoning a large sword out of pink ice in his hand he charged at Gray who had shaken himself out of his confusion and formed a sword of his own. The two swung at each other parrying the other's attack and engaged in a contest of strength which Sub-Zero easily won. Gray's sword shattered and he skidded backwards leaving a trail in the snow, regaining his balance he clapped his hands together before slapping the ground. Spikes began exploding from the ground Sub-Zero's sword dissolved as he leapt out of the way of the spikes, his cape flapping in the wind. He grinned and held his hands out in front of him. A spear made from his ice shot out of his hands at Gray who hit it with a hammer he had formed in his hands, shattering the spear. Gray sprinted at Sub-Zero and held out his hands for two icicles to form that he held like daggers.
"Well you sure seem to have a mastery over your powers….impressive." Sub-Zero mumbled to himself, and formed daggers of his own. The two charged at one another and engaged in hand to hand combat. The icicles connected with one another as each person tried to find an opening Sub-Zero certainly had the upper hand in the combat. Gray gripped his ice dagger tighter and made it grow longer so that he could put at least a little distance in between the two. Sub-Zero noticed this and stomped on the snow covered ground coating it in a sheet of ice, as Gray was backpedaling he slipped and stumbled. Gritting his teeth Gray regained his balance and formed a scythe in his hands spinning on his heels and swinging the blade at Sub-Zero who bent his back like he was playing limbo and evaded the blade.
"Damn." Was all Gray spoke as his spear disappeared from his hands and he was left in a standstill with Sub-Zero who glared at him. The stern look soon softened and a small smile formed on his face. He began chuckling.
"Well you are certainly no slouch that's for sure….Okay I've seen enough…time to get serious." Sub-Zero's body loosened and he grinned at Gray who looked confused.
"My sis certainly did a good job raising you….You've grown up into a fine young man." He spoke with a large grin filled with pride. He walked over to Gray who didn't lower his guard even for a second.
"What are you going on about?!" He questioned the man who now stood directly in front of him.
"I suppose it is time I answer your questions. My name is Sub-Zero, an Etherious gate of Tartaros….but in reality my true name is Silver Fullbuster. Your father." Silver smiled brightly down at Gray who stood there in shock. Soon the shock turned into rage, and disbelief.
"NO! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! MY FATHER DIED!"
"Sixteen years ago…yes, I did in fact die when I used Iced Shell in an attempt to kill E.N.D….I was unsuccessful however." Silver sighed while Gray tried to process the information.
"B-But…if you're dead….how are you here? And why would you be with Tartaros?! This is all so confusing!" Gray rubbed his hands through his hair and scratched his scalp. Silver frowned.
"In truth, I really don't have a say in whether or not I want to be a part of Tartaros or not, because believe me I would like nothing more than to destroy Zeref and all his demons. But he has one Etherious amongst his ranks, the one I was with earlier who I am a servant to of sorts. His name is Keyes, the necromancer. And when Zeref revived him he wanted to use me as an experiment of sorts." Silver tried to explain, but Gray just stood there like a wide-eyed doe.
"W-Wait….so you're still dead?...B-but you are still here, because that one skeleton looking demon can bring people back to life?" Gray tried to make the situation make sense to himself. Silver chuckled.
"More like reanimated, I'm neither alive nor dead. But that being said I am not Keyes' puppet like he wants me to be….As long as this body of mine is awake I will fight against Tartaros, and that's exactly what I've been doing…I know everything there's to know. But first….I want to do something if it's okay with you." Silver explained, before Gray could respond Silver undid his armored chest plate and let it fall to the ground with a loud thud. Closing the distance between the two, Silver pulled Gray into his chest wrapping his large arms around the teenager who stood frozen and stunned.
"I never did get to hug you before left. I still remember the day, you were only three years old when I left you with your Aunt while I went off to the city of Rosemary to fight….I love you Gray." Gray couldn't help it, his tears began to water. If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up from it. He couldn't trust the man's words, but yet his smell, his voice, it all felt so real and familiar.
"...Dad…" Gray choked out as his own arms wrapped around the man. Silver felt a large smile form on his own face, and tears sting his eyes.
"Gray. I can't tell you how proud I am of the man you've become. You have my looks, but the eyes of your mother…." The boy fell to his knees at the words of his father the two fell into the snow and pulled apart. Gray had tears streaming down his face.
"I-I've missed you…so…so much." Gray sobbed, Silver just beamed at the kid and wiped the tears away before ruffling his unruly hair.
"And I've missed you." The two sat on the edge of the cliff and overlooked the setting sun together.
"Say, that cute girl that was with you….Is she your girlfriend?" Silver teased, and nudged Gray's ribs with his elbow. Gray blushed and looked away from his father who broke into a fit of laughter at his son's embarrassment.
"I knew it, that's my boy." Silver's laughter soon faded, and his grin faded away.
"If she's with you she must be strong…I have no doubt then that she won't have any trouble with Keyes without me by his side. That demon is pretty useless in a fight….I guess you need to know what's awaiting you." Gray looked up at his father's stern expression. Silver sighed, and fished into a large pocket in his baggy pants. He pulled out a maroon leather bound book with a golden latch. On the front of the book the letters E.N.D. were scribbled in a weird font. Gray's eyes widened as he was handed the book. He slowly took it into his shaky hands.
"I stole that book after it got left on Zeref's desk one day after a meeting. I haven't been able to read it but I feel like you should. I believe it will tell you everything you need to know about Zeref, and his motives, his plans for using a machine known as F.A.C.E to revive E.N.D. and the demon's true identity. Not that it matters, E.N.D. needs to be killed no matter what. Sixteen years ago when Zeref awoke that demon over five hundred people lost their lives as the entire city went up in flames. That's when the true battle began. Lord knows how many more lives were lost." Gray sat there stunned as he examined the book. A lump in his throat formed as he felt like the weight of the world had just been placed on his shoulders. Silver noticed the look in his eyes and frowned. He placed an arm around the teenager.
"Tell me Gray. Can you use the Ice Devil Slayer power I could?" Silver questioned, Gray just shook his head.
"Yeah, I can. Ur said I was the only one in the house who could use it." SIlver smirked at the knowledge.
"Then good, I have sub-zero doubts that you'll be able to stop E.N.D. if he does get revived." Silver smirked at his own pun, and Gray just rolled his eyes, but still had a smirk on his face.
"I'm afraid my time might be running out, I imagine that girl of yours is putting a pounding into Keyes, I can feel my power fading…" Silver muttered as he stared up at the sunset. Gray's smirk vanished and he scooted into his father's embrace trying to enjoy the time they had left.
Silver was correct. Juvia was indeed handling herself quite well against Keyes. She held her palms out and two jetstreams of boiling water surged from her palms. The skeletal demon's body turned into a black colored mist as the blasts went straight through the Etherious. Keyes pointed his staff at Juvia and a purple blast shot out of it. Juvia copied Keyes' strategy and turned her entire body into water. The attack missed Juvia as she sped towards the demon in her water state. Only returning to a physical state to slash at him with a sharp blade of water. Keyes didn't react to the attack and only stood there staring at Juvia with those vacant eye holes.
"I'm curious, girl. That boy who was with you. He seemed to recognize my servant. Could he have been Silver Fullbuster's son?" Keyes whispered. Juvia glared at the demon.
"So what if he is?! If you try to hurt my beloved I will make you suffer!" Juvia hissed. The demon just stood still.
"Ah so he is…and he means a great deal to you. So then you will want to proceed carefully, because the life of Silver is in my hands. If you kill me then you will take a father away from his son." Juvia stood there motionless. That man that had been with Keyes was Gray's father? But Keyes was a member of Tartaros so she needs to stop him or else more people will get hurt or lose their lives. Falling to her knees Juvia felt ready to cry. How could she do that to Gray? The love of her life? How could she take away his father? But at the same time she couldn't let Keyes live. Jackal, and Tempester had already hurt so many innocent people and taken many lives.
"Pathetic, humans and their reliance on forming meaningless relationships, and bonds. They only serve to hold you back in times like this." Keyes then cracked his staff against the ground, a strange wave rippled in the air around the cemetery. In a second the ground began to shake and out of a grave she was next to a skeleton arm shot out of the dirt. This happened all over the cemetery as various corpses of different levels of decay moved in towards Juvia in a zombie like fashion.
"Kill her." Keyes whispered his command and at once the corpses closed in towards her. Juvia felt her blood run cold as she watched the army of Keyes' corpse puppets speed at her. She morphed her body into a liquid state to avoid getting hit by any of them. Keyes simply raised his staff and shot another purple blast at the water form of Juvia. The blast hit her, and instead of going through her it sent shocks through her entire body and a loud scream traveled through the empty night. She fell to the ground and at once the group of Keyes' puppets pounced on the girl kicking and punching her while she was on the ground. Juvia hissed in pain, holding her hands up she shot a blast out of her palms of boiling water that began to spin around her like a water spout. The attack sent many of her attackers onto their backs or flying through the air allowing Juvia to get back onto her feet.
"TAKE THIS!" She shouted at Keyes and a huge wave formed and washed away the remaining puppets. Keyes however was left unfazed by the attack. He simply turned his body into a gaseous form again. Juvia cursed under her breath and ran at the demon in her hand. A long tendril appeared, she flung it like a whip at Keyes who had just reformed before getting hit by her attack. The water whip actually connecting was enough for Keyes to stumble a bit. Juvia punched Keyes right in his Skeletal face. Keyes fell backwards where Juvia then punched the ground and a large geyser of steaming water erupted from the ground making Keyes spiraling through the air and crashing into a tree. Keyes slowly rose to his feet.
"You seem to have forgotten what I told you. If you kill me then Silver will die too. I personally don't care for him, he was just a puppet that I used as an experiment. Master Tartaros decided to anoint him as a demon gate on nothing more than a whim. But I have known from the very start I knew he opposed us….but taking him away from your dear beloved. You would have to ask yourself who really is a demon." Juvia lowered her hands hesitating Keyes took her hesitation as an opening and turned his body into a gaseous state once more he flew at Juvia who wasn't able to move out of the way. His body returned to a physical form only like it was made from rubber as he began wrapping himself around Juvia who just cried out as Keyes tight grip on her crushed her like a boa constrictor. She gasped for air as Keyes' grip on her only grew tighter and tighter.
"A world without weakness. A world devoid of the pesky bonds you humans value so closely. A world devoid of illness, of death, of pain. That is the world we Etherious strive for. That is the world Lord Zeref yearns for." Keyes spoke darkly. Tightening his grip on Juvia who cried out. She kept screaming out, her voice going hoarse as her body felt ready to break. With one final squeeze the poor girl vanished, her hat falling to the ground. Keyes returned to his normal state thinking that he had won, but in reality Juvia had transformed into water and entered Keyes' body through his eye hole.
"Gray…I pray you can forgive me. But I can't allow Tartaros to get what they want. I love you, but I'm afraid that I also love this world and won't let these demons destroy it….I'm sorry." She muttered and began expanding. Keyes' body began to inflate.
"W-What is happening?!" Keyes questioned out loud as his body continued to expand and blow up like a balloon. Steam was coming off him, and soon he inflated too much and exploded into a shower of golden ethernano blood that rained from the sky and coated Juvia who knelt on the ground. Tears streamed from her eyes as she knew that she had just taken her boyfriend's father away from him for a second time. Silver's body began glowing gold, he looked down at his hands with a smirk. Turning to face his son who had tears falling down his face.
"Well looks like it's time for me to go. Don't be sad Gray, I get to be with Mika again. You got yourself a strong girl down there. Look after her, protect her, protect this world….defeat E.N.D." Silver laid his forehead against Gray's before pulling him into one final hug.
"I will Dad…I'll make you proud."
"Oh Gray, you already have…..one last thing before I go. Zeref will be in the ruins of Rosemary tomorrow…..be prepared the fight hasn't even begun yet." The two tightened their embrace.
"Be strong my son. Never falter, only you have the power to save the world. I love you." Were Silver's last words before placing a gentle kiss on Gray's head and disappearing into the night sky in a golden flash. The particles of light floating upwards as an angel soared back up to the Heavens to be with his wife once again. Gray fell back to his knees sobbing, clutching the red book tightly in his hands. After a few minutes Gray composed himself, and made his way back down the mountain where he found Juvia crouched next to his parent's grave weeping.
"Hey." He muttered quietly and sat himself next to her. Juvia avoided his gaze as he wiped off some dirt and snow from their gravestone.
"I'm so sorry…" She muttered quietly, but Gray just pulled her into a tight hug needing her support now more than ever.
"Don't be….you set him free….thank you." He whispered, and Juvia cried harder before wrapping her own arms around him. She winced at the pain in her sides from when Keyes wrapped himself around her but didn't say anything. The two sat there for hours, they got back to Magnolia late, and Gray walked her to her place making sure she didn't need to go see Porlyusica, Juvia just assured him that she would be fine and if she needed to go she would tomorrow. It was early in the morning by the time they got back home. Ultear had gone off with the rest of Crime Sorciere, and Lyon was nowhere to be found. But Ur was waiting for him when he walked through the front door.
"Gray. Are you okay dear?" Ur asked, noticing the sad look on her nephew's face. She got up to the teen, but paused when she noticed the book.
"I'm fine." Gray replied coldly and tried to walk past her.
"W-What is that book?!" Ur questioned in horror as she read the three black letters on the cover. Gray frowned and began walking to his bedroom.
"My destiny." Gray muttered and threw himself into his desk chair in his bedroom, flicked on the lamp and turned the book open. The first words on the first page simply said.
Never forget why you're doing this. It's all for them.
Gray's eyes danced from word to word, page to page. His face contorted with each word. Sloppy cursive filled each page with incoherent thoughts of a lunatic.
We will be reunited.
The world took them both from me. I will have them back.
F.A.C.E. is the key.
Mother and Father always called me a mad genius, but what is mad about wanting my loved ones back.
My head floods with contradictions, I enjoy the beauty of this world but want it to burn to the ground to create a better one. I hate humans, but have pity for them.
They call themselves demons, but they are creatures of Ethernano they are Etherius. Creatures who can be revived if they die, creatures who can't be sick…
Dear Baby Brother, Happy Birthday. You would be eighteen today.
Mavis this gloomy August day reminds me of that day we met. I miss you.
Gray's eyes widened in horror as he read one last sentence. He slammed the book shut and his heart was pounding. His breathing grew harsh, tears threatening to pour from his eyes.
"N-No…." He glanced at a framed picture on his desk of himself, Erza, and Natsu when they were kids. He picked the picture frame and threw it across the room, the glass shattering on impact. The sentence read:
The weapon I plan to use that will bring about destruction and pave the way for the age of my Etherious is known as E.N.D…..It feels weird calling you that baby brother, just this one time I will refer to you with your real name…
Chapter 57: E.N.D.