edited chapter 9
September 5th X782
It has been three months since the day Natsu forged a blade for himself to help wield the power Osiris gave him.
Clang was all that was heard as Natsu and Erza dualed each other with their blades. Everyone in the guild was watching intently, especially Ultear, as Natsu is struggling for the first time in a long time.
Erza had a proud smirk on her face, after all. Swordsmanship is her specialty, unlike Natsu, who specializes in hand-to-hand combat.
"What's wrong? Natsu worried you might lose," Erza said with a sneer.
"No, I honestly don't expect to win since you have more experience with blades, unlike me," Natsu said as he manages to block another attack sent his way.
"I'm glad you acknowledge my skills," Erza said with a proud grin at finally having something over Natsu.
"No problem, and after our little fight so far, I don't think I'll ever surpass you, but that won't stop me from trying," Natsu said before striking at Erza only for her effortlessly block the attack and counter it.
"Good cause I wouldn't want it any other way," Like that, the two wizards continued for another hour striking, blocking, and countering each other attacks.
After the duel was over, Natsu went home to bathe. After all, he has to be spick and span why date night with Ultear.
He makes sure to stick to it if he wants to be able to get off scot-free for when guild brawls go a little overboard, as they do from time to time.
Date night went great like always, especially after a particular incident a while back, and now no one dares to cause trouble on the second Friday of each month, or else there will suffer the wrath of fairy tail Fire dragon.
December 18th X782
It has been three months since Natsu and Erza dualed. With the help of Erza, Natsu has progressed nicely, so much in fact that Erza had to buy a unique blade for their sparing.
The reason for this was simple Natsu progress to the point with his blade. That single slash would cut through your standard sword like nothing and slowly eat their way through her stronger swords as well. It's all thanks to the adamantine dragon tooth used as the base.
It was a bit expensive, but she found a blade that can take a lot of abuse before breaking, and when it did, it only took a few days to repair itself.
What's happening right now Mystogan, like in the old timeline, has won the X782 S-class trials and can now do S-class quests with the rest of the S-class wizards.
Because many guild members still have not seen his face, he's celebrating with Natsu, Ultear, and Wendy, plus Happy like you'd expect.
Panther lily would be there too, but he's on the job with Gajeel and Levy, who has also gotten extremely close over the years.
What are they doing for celebrating if you can believe it at Porlyusica house as VERY few people visit her and as you might have guessed, her most frequent one is Wendy.
It was an unforgettable experience for the young girl when she met her for the first time. Her unmistakable smell for Grandeeney set off many bells and whistles for Wendy.
The conversation that ensued was that she told her about how she and Mystogan are from Edolas, and she is the edo version of her foster mother and gave her the last note of her dragon slayer magic.
Of course, when that conversation was over, Wendy went off on her own to do a job with Sting and Rogue.
Natsu got quite the Earful from Porlyusica about time travel and how dangerous it can be as Grandeeney filled her in on what happened.
All she knows is something terrible happened in the future, resulting in the intervention of the dragon god Osiris nothing more, nothing less.
Not much has changed besides Porlyusica taking an active role in Wendy's life as she is the closest thing to Grandeeney until the time comes when the dragons reveal themselves.
A benefit of Porlyusica house is it's one of the few places he can take his bandana off without the fear of being mistaken for his earthland counterpart.
"Wendy where Carla she usually with you," Ultear said curiously
"Oh, Carla didn't want to come. She had this weird look in her eyes with her head down for some reason," Wendy said innocently, not aware of Carla's gift.
Everyone immediately traded glances at this as Carla's is still under the impression the exceeds are on Their MISSION.
"Well, I better get going. Sting and Rogue mention getting a new job for us," Wendy said as she headed off.
"By Wendy," everyone said in unison.
"By Nii-chan, Ultear, Jellal, and Grandeeney," Wendy said at the name of her dragon as she closed the door.
Porlyusica scoffed at the mention of the dragon's name but had a slight smile grace her face. She looks to her remaining guess, and they all grinned.
She slapped ALL four of them across the face, Natsu, Happy, Jellal, and ULTEAR, considering how protective Natsu is all rubbing a huge red mark on their cheek. Even at her age, Porlyusica can still bring the hurt.
"Anyway, congratulation Jellal on reaching S-class," Porlyusica said, returning to her usual demeanor.
"Thank you. " E. Jellal said
"Oh, I got this for a congratulation present for making S-class," Natsu said as he held up an S-class job request that just so happens to be the first S-class job he took in the old timeline.
"Natsu, I would be glad to take that job, but what about Ultear she's not S-class, and it isn't one of those jobs that master only lets you take since he put the same restriction on S-class missions like he did the first time" E. Jellal said
"Don't worry, we made a special arrangement with Makarov about this so all three of us plus Happy can do this job," Natsu said shit-eating grin.
"Mind filling me in then," E. jellal said to Ultear.
"Simple, I stop repairing the guildhall after all the brawls and the like if I can't go on S-class jobs with Natsu," Ultear said with a smile he knew was fake.
"She has control over the timeline of all nonliving objects, it's a good bribe considering how reckless fairy tail is," Porlyusica said
"When do we leave,"
"Tomorrow morning, we meet at the ….train station," Natsu said as the color drained away from his face at the mention of his greatest enemy.
"And where is Erza?"
"She left on a job today, and we'll be gone for at least a week, so no worries, " Ultear said as he tried to comfort Natsu as he is not looking forward to the train ride.
The next day
The three wizards plus Happy are at the train station waiting for the train's arrival. Natsu struggles to keep his composer.
The only thing keeping him from walking to the job was the comforting hand of his mate.
The three wizards plus Happy didn't have to wait long for the train to pull in, and so Natsu reluctantly got aboard and thankfully had his mate's lap to help deal with the motion sickness.
With Gray
Ever since that day when Natsu unleashed his power that causes half the guild to pass out, Gray had a new goal in mind to defeat a demon-like Delilora, so no one has to go through the same horror he had to endure.
Right now, he's on the job he demanded to take. Of course, it was a demon elimination job, not those kinds of demons job only Natsu can take, but it's dangerous nonetheless.
As he walks through the thick snow covering the mountainside, his mind was going over why he was taking this job.
flashback start
Makarov is currently sitting in his office going over one of the jobs sent to fairy tail by the council. One such job was left up to Makarov to decide the rating.
Suddenly Gray comes running into his office with a fierce look in his eyes, telling him he knows about the job sent to him for determining its rating.
"I take it this is what you hear about," he showed Gray the unranked quest.
"Yes, I heard from Mira that a quest was given to you for official ranking," Gray said
"Then you know I plan on giving this to Natsu since monster elimination is his specialty."
"Yes, I know, but….I have to take that job," Gray said with fierce determination with his head held down as tears began to form in his eyes.
"You sure about this Gray? Gajeel and Cobra are the only ones besides Natsu I know can handle this job," Makarov said sternly even though it's technically a lie.
"yes, I'm sure," Gray looked him dead in the eye.
"answer me this now. Why should you take this job," he said with a firm glare.
"Deliora,"
"I see,"
"I don't care if it's a little above me. I need to take this because…...because it's the only way to see how far I've come."
Makarov can see where he's coming from as he knew about Gray training alongside Natsu for some time now and can tell Gray has improved in both mind and body since that day Natsu showed him the power gap.
The question was, how has he changed in spirit since that day, and it seems this demon hunting job is the perfect test.
Makarov reluctantly let him take the job but warned him of the danger. Gray acknowledged the risk and took the job, but Makarov gave him some parting words.
"Don't be afraid to run Gray if it gets dicey?" Makarov said
Flashback end
He took this job because he needed to test how far he's come. Unknown to him, he's considerably stronger than his X784 counterpart.
The job in question is borderline S-class quest hence why Makarov had intended to give this to Natsu since the other S-class mage were out on jobs.
The job details are simple three demons are wreaking havoc in the mountains not far from the capital, and since Fiore is in its winter months, it's perfect for him.
One downside to this job is that one of the three demons' magic is unknown to him, unlike the other two.
One specializes in fire, no problem for him as he spared with Natsu a few times over the years, not including guild brawl.
His ice can resist most of Natsu's flames except his Azure flames.
The only reason he knows about them is he followed Natsu one time to see his training regiment.
He learned Natsu has other flame types at his disposal. So, of course, Natsu Being Natsu, he let Gray follow him.
The conversation that ensued afterward was enlightening to the ice make a mage, and it was at this time he had that much-needed conversation with Ultear.
He apologized for not stopping her mother from sacrificing herself to save his sorry ass for running off to what definitely would have been his death.
Her response don't worry about it. she discovered her fate on her travels before meeting Natsu and not letting her sacrifice weigh him down, she moved on.
Those words were just what Gray needed to hear for the longest time, and that day forward, he trained alongside Natsu whenever he can.
The two still but heads like they did in the old timeline unknown to Gray but a nostalgia trip for the pink-haired dragon slayer, glad this will stay the same.
Thanks to all his training with Natsu, he learned a few tricks. One such scheme is tracking, and thanks to the snow, he has a better grasp of his magic.
It wasn't until he got to warmer climates that he realized Ur's intent to run around in the snow in nothing but your underwear.
It was to understand better ice and how it works, mainly when your magic relies on your knowledge of whatever you are trying to make.
The second demon magic was identified as something akin to Elfman's take over magic.
It's able to form spike and blade-like horns and claws on his body, making it especially deadly in hand-to-hand combat.
"No wonder master wanted Natsu to take this job."
Gray was nearing what is believed to be their base. It was quite the trek for ordinary people in a remote region high in the mountains but not for demons.
After trekking for another 10 minutes, Gray found what he assumes in the entrance of their layer, and it was located in a relatively open area with a thick blanket of snow.
When he heard a strange noise from the cave, he can only assume it's a movement. So he got in his maker stance, preparing for anything.
He waited a solid minute with his guard up before three figures walked out in the open, allowing Gray to get a good look at them.
The first of the demon's body was well stubby. His overall height was smaller than him, but his arms and legs were well big would be an understatement.
They were buff but just big in general, the same thing for his legs, and he had two horns jutting out of his head. The color scheme of his body was a dark red color. Gray can only assume he's the fire-based demon.
The next demon was a little bit bigger with more human-like proportions.
He had small horns jetting out in different lengths, and his color scheme had a gray primary color and black secondary color.
And finally, the last of the demons was early twice the size of the other two demons with a more primal appearance resembling something akin to the monster Natsu defeated all those years ago.
It was the famed A turned S-class quest, going off the description Natsu gave him as that is one of the few things he said about that job when he asked about it.
The demon's color scheme was similar to the second demon except for white and blue.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to dwell on it as he has a job to do. Unknown to Gray and the demons, someone from afar was watching them.
"So I take it you are the wizard sent to stop us," the first demon said
"yes, and the names Gray," He discarded his jacket as he got into his maker stance, preparing for whatever the demon would throw at him.
"If you guys don't mind, I'll take care of this little punk," the first demon said as he got into a fighting stance as well.
"Don't mind me asking, but what is your name?" Gray said
"what's it to you," the first demon said
"a buddy of mine mentioned if you are going to fight, the first thing is to learn your opponent's name."
"Fine, I'll give you my name only if you can wound me first, " the first demon said. Then, a fire spontaneously burst from his fist, engulfing them.
"Fine by me."
At this, the demon charged Gray head-on, intending to end this miserable man's life and battle instantly.
He was gravely mistaken when the maker mage quickly dodged, causing the demon to have a date with the snow as Gray tripped him with his foot at the last second.
It took the demon a second to get his bearings and back to his feet; Gray used the opportunity to get some distance.
The demon got into the same stance before letting out a roar in rage. Gray is now only in his pants and shoes and still is his maker stance. For the second time, the demon charged at Gray, but he was ready.
"ICE MAKE LANCE" Gray shouts before a magic circle forms sending three spears toward the demon.
Wanting to show his superiority over Gray, the first demon took the attack head-on, just like he thought that attack did nothing to him.
"You honestly thought that pitiful little attack was enough to wound me," the first demon said
"a little, but I knew it wouldn't harm you. I just needed to gauge your power so I can know how much effort I have to put in my next attack," Gray said with a smirk.
"ha, that's a good one, but let's see how easy it is to defeat me if I do this," the first demon said as he engulfed his body in flames.
This surprised Gray a little as he thought only Natsu could do this but then remembered like dragons demons can use all sorts of magic.
So a fire demon being able to engulf his body with his flames is not that big of a deal for him.
The demon then charged at Gray once more and made his flames roar intensely as he got closer to the maker mage. Then, just as he was within striking distance, he channeled all his flames into his right hand.
He was preparing to unleash the full might of his fire into this puny human, but Gray was ready.
"ICE MAKE SHIELD" Gray shots as a giant shield of ice forms between him and the demon.
"you think that will stop me," the demon said as his flame-infused fist broke through the shield-like nothing.
"no, but this will, ICE MAKE HAMMER," Gray shouted as shortly afterword a giant hammer comes crashing down on the demon.
Just when Gray thought victory was his, the ground erupted in flames before the demon let out an ear-splitting battle cry in a rage.
The demon crawled out of the ground, still covered in his flames. He had a look of anguish across what he assumes is his face.
The demon struggled from what Gray can only assume to urge to rip him apart.
"My name is Zachariah, the fire demon," the now-named Zechariah said as he struggled to keep himself from pouncing on the ice make mage.
"it's in honor now. Let's get this over with, and I still have two more demons to defeat."
With Gray's piece said, the demon gave in to his anger and bolted towards Gray. One second Zachariah was on the far side of the battlefield. The next, he was within striking distance.
Gray was quick to cast an ice shield, which did little to nothing to stop the attack, but he wasn't trying to stop it. Instead, he was a diversionary tactic to give him some distance from Zechariah.
The only good thing about Zachariah's flames wasn't as hot as Natsu, giving him some hope that he can end this fight quickly. After all, he has two more demons to defeat.
Gray makes a beeline for the far side of the clearing as Zechariah made short work of the shield. On the bright side, he is taking a moment to breathe.
This told Gray powerful moves like the one on his ice shield are pretty taxing, which might be his chance to end the fight.
What he wasn't expecting was Zechariah to charge straight at him like a spear. Instead, he nearly manages to defend himself using his arm to protect his torso in an x shape.
Zechariah manages to land a hit; two gash marks found their place on his body, one was on his right forearm and the other landed just above the bottom of his rib cage.
He thought he was in the clear after that hit when all of a sudden, his entire body was engulfed in flames Zachariah uses before dissipating, confusing him only for it to happen again.
"hehehe, how's it feel to know that a signal hit is enough for my flames to find their way to you before engulfing your entire body," Zechariah said
"Hm, you call that fire news flash for you. I know someone whose flames make yours feel like a cool breeze," Gray said with a smirk, and it only grew after seeing the insulted look in Zechariah's eyes.
"you have no idea you inept human, I'll show you who has the hotter flames," Zechariah said in a rage.
Gray could feel the increase in power of Zachariah's flames; he has to be careful cause if his time in fairy tail has taught him one thing about rage.
It is a powerful trigger to unleash the full might of one's magic as he remembers the first time he met Natsu as he gets into his maker stance.
With the might of a battle cry, Zachariah unleashes a massive stream of fire, hurtling toward Gray at mind-boggling speeds.
"ICE MAKE SPEAR" Gray shouts before a spear of ice is sent straight towards the steam of fire.
The two attacks collide, and at first, it looked like Gray was winning as the spear spit the fire into several smaller streams as is still hurling towards Zechariah only for it to melt away into steam.
Unfortunately, the spear didn't make it far enough to deflect the remaining flames away from him.
"ICE MAKE WALL" Gray shouts just before a massive wall of blue ice suddenly appears to protects Gray from the fire.
Unfortunately for Gray, Zachariah had enough juice to follow his first attack. At this, he bolted into the forest behind him as he knew his ice wall couldn't take another hit as it was a miracle it survived the first time.
Gray did a dead sprinted into woods. Zechariah followed him. Unknown to both of them, their fight is nearing its end.
Gray ran through the wood, jumping and dodging fallen down trees, branches, bushes, and the like.
He was struggling to find a way to defeat Zachariah as, at this moment, he can melt away just about any spell he can throw at him.
At this moment, he recalled going through something like this with his training with Natsu and Ultear.
Flashback start
Year X780
"come on, Gray, I know you can do better than that," Ultear said
"easy for you to say," he willed himself back up
"How so?"
"for one, your Urs daughter and trained alongside Natsu all these years," Gray said tirelessly.
What is happening right now? Gray is sparing against Natsu and failing as every spell he sends Natsu's way is instantly turned into steam.
"that's true, but it doesn't change the fact that if you want to get stronger, you have to keep your ice from melting the moment it contacts a flame," she said
"I might be able to if he turned down the heat a little,"
"Not happening. If you want to stop a demon-like deliora, you need to keep flames equal to that of a dragon from making short work of your magic. You never know when a demon will use fire, and they won't hold back or give you a moment of rest like me," Natsu said as he walked you to the two maker mages.
"do I need to show you again,"
"it wouldn't hurt," Gray said as he paid attention to Ultear's demonstration.
"purgatory flames just like before, " Natsu said
"Yep, as no amount of training can keep ice from instantly melting from azure flames," Ultear said as she got into a make stance of her own
"PURGATORY DRAGON BLAZING HELL" Natsu shouts as his hand is engulfed in crimson red flames before having said flames shoot at ultear in the form of a beam.
"ICE MAKE SPEAR" Ultear shouts as a spear of solid ice shot towards the flames head-on.
Something was different about this one compared to grays ice spear besides the color; this spear was rotating like a spinning top from the getgo.
The moment collided with purgatory flames. I didn't melt what happen was it splitting the flames into several smaller beams that followed the spin of the spear.
This spin didn't last long as fire, and ice rarely mixes well as part of the spear broke off, revealing another small spearhead hiding inside the first one, still splitting the flames as it gets closer and closer to Natsu before it to melt from the intense heat of the fire.
"there, that's how you deal with a powerful fire wizard,"
"double-layered ice make a weapon," Gray said
"Exactly the outer layer purpose is to take the bulk of the attack while keeping the inner core cold to last long enough to do some damage to your opponent,"
"I think I get it,"
"don't forget the ice temperature is based solely on your knowledge of ice, and the spin is to help stabilize the attack and dissipate the heat over a larger area to keep one side from melting too fast,"
Flashback end
Gray stopped dead in his track, his back against Zachariah as he used his flames to rocket himself toward the ice mage.
Steeling his resolve, Gray gets into his maker stance once more, eyes shut as he draws on all of his knowledge of ice and the cold.
"ICE MAKE SPEAR" Gray shouts as he turns to face Zachariah for the final time.
An instant, a magic circle appears between Gray and Zachariah before a rotating spear of pale blue ice is shot out, hurtling toward the demon-like bullet.
Thinking it's like that last attacks Zachariah ignorant of what to come, he increases the heat of his flames and engulfs his body to deal with the puny attack with little effort. That would be a great mistake.
Just as the spear was about to collide with Zachariah, a smug grin takes its place on his face. Second, after they hit, the two attacks fought for dominance.
Much to Zachariah's surprise, the spear pierces his flames like nothing. He tried to get out of the way but was too late.
The spear pierced his demon hide, digging itself into him, and since it's rotating, Zachariah soon spins with it as he is sent flying backward through the trees, breaking one after another.
Not all the outer layer of the spear breaks away, revealing the second spearhead to the demon before digging into him, even more so before planting him against a tree.
It takes him a minute, but when Zachariah got his bearing, he notices the spear pierced his body, going through cementing itself into a tree trunk.
The spear found itself just above his right lunge between the suitable shoulder base of his neck; it was at this time he notices gray walking up to him.
"Our battle is over Zachariah, I won't kill you if you stay down," Gray said. He stood there for a minute and didn't get an answer, leaving the demon to elements.
Gray slowly made his way back to the clearing to finish off the remaining two demons.
Not too far away, a figure was watching the battle diligently on top of the tallest tree with the perfect spot to watch the match of demons and wizards,
A woman with a generous figure sits on top of this tree; she is where a long flowing white dress, the dress stretches to cover her arm to her wrist.
Her hair is snow white with streaks of blue mixed in, and her hair flows down to her mid-back. She has semi-tan skin.
She had dark blue eyes with what can only be described as a snowflake etched into each of her irises, Lastly she prominent smile on her face as she continues to watch the battle.
"If Osiris thinks he's the only one that can have fun, he is gravely mistaken," the mysterious woman thought to herself as she let out a giggle.
"I told you he would win. After all, you should never underestimate a fairy tail mage," another woman said who looks like a child.
"You were right, Mavis. Now we have to see if he can defeat the other two," the mysterious woman said
"He will, Khione. After all, that's why you're here," Mavis said as she rocked back and forth on an adjacent branch of a tree the two sat on.
"Yes, he's proven himself worthy of my mark, but that will have to wait and see if he can beat the remaining two with his power," the now names Khione said
"If he can't, you have what he needs to give him the edge," Mavis said. With that said, the two women went back to the battle at hand.
that's it for this chapter
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