I don't own anything.
Ur looked at her hands and began to flex her fingers. She could feel her skin, she wore the same clothes as when she cast Iced Shell.
'I gave my body to ice to seal Deliora...wait...if-'
Ur rushed forward to the door as she threw it open with haste. That's when she would be greeted with people throwing an absolute party despite the moon being out.
"The curse is lifted! The curse is lifted!"
"Deliora is no more!"
What the hell was going on!? Why were they dancing and stuffing their faces like no tommorow! Deliora should still be here! Yet, people were acting like that wasn't the case.
"Oh, you're finally awake." Lucy said.
Ur looked over to see a blonde hair girl.
"What's going on? I should be ice. If I'm not ice that means Deliora is rampaging around here! We have to get these people out of here!" Ur shouted.
Lucy put up her hands.
"It's okay, it's okay. Deliora died because of you. You froze the Demon to death that as soon as he was thawed out he crumbled to pieces. Deliora is long gone, I watched it happen with my own eyes." Lucy explained.
Ur took a step back in shock. She was flabbergasted, so what the villagers were talking about was true. Why...how...was she revived? Iced Shell was suppose to be irreversible.
"How...how...did I return?" Ur asked.
"Natsu sort of revived you so to speak but we don't know what spells he used to do so, it looked fairly complex. You'd have to find him if you want some answers on how he revived you." Lucy told her.
"Thank you...do you know where he is?" Ur asked.
"Should be up on the wall at the front gate." Lucy stated.
Lucy pointed in the direction of the main gate.
"Thank you."
Ur would make her way towards the main gate that Lucy pointed to her. She ran into a sight that made her freeze up. There was a older version of Gray and Lyon sitting next to one another. The two had seldom expressions on their faces. Despite everyone screaming and yelling in pure bliss. They were acting like they were drinking away their sorrows. Ur walked up to them.
"Hey...you guys remind me of...my students..."
Ur eye's slowly morphed to realization as she watched her disciples faces become pale to the point their color became snow.
"This...how long...how long was I in that iced shell?" Ur asked.
"Ten years." Gray managed to answer.
Gods, ten years! A decade!
For Ur this was all too much, she just got some sort of relief that Deliora had perished only to then be faced with reality. She had been at it for ten years.
"M-Ur...I need to confess something to you." Lyon spoke.
Ur took a moment to gain her bearings. She needed to gather her wits and put up a single finger.
"One moment, Lyon. One moment."
Okay, Ur, you froze Deliora to death, was revived ten years into the future, and you were standing in front of both of your students that were now eighteen. She got that down pretty well.
"Alright, go ahead."
Lyon explained to her everything that happened and to say that Ur was livid would be cutting it short. She striked Lyon with the back of her hand. Lyon crashed to the ground.
"You...you knew and yet you still went to melt the ice! You did too much Lyon, I can't ever see you the same!" Ur yelled at him.
Lyon knew this was coming but it still hurt all the same. Ur knew she had to put her foot down.
"Lyon, you're no longer my student nor will you be able to become my disciple again." Ur stated.
Lyon would have to take the stinging pain of the disappointment in Ur's voice. The woman's features not softening as she looked over at Gray. For all she knew, he could have been as stupid as Lyon.
"What about you? Do I need to know anything?" Ur asked Gray
Gray told his story of what he had been up too for the past ten years. It looked like he managed to move forward as he joined a guild after her death. He even stopped a Dark Guild that had resurrected a Demon of Zeref. That's when he meet Natsu and she got the gist of things.
"He stole a S-Class job and hadn't even spent a week in the guild? Sounds like a hand full." Ur said.
"He might break rules but it's usually for something personal. I mean, he is like these people that are looking for a cure for their curse. Natsu having a permanent curse had taken up the job to give them a chance because he didn't have that chance. On the surface level it's bad but when you dig just a deeper, it's really hard not to reprimand him." Gray explained.
Ur seem to take Gray's word.
"I see but why do you look so sorry, shouldn't you be partying it up?" Ur asked.
Gray grew a sad smile.
"I got my ass handed to me and besides I don't deserve to celebrate not when Natsu did everything. It would be wrong of me."
Ur nodded her head in approval.
"At least one of my students had his head on his shoulders. I need to find out about this Natsu, I'll see you around Gray." Ur said.
"I'll be here." Gray replied.
Ur left the scene as she made her way to the front gate. The crowds of people was starting to dissipate as she got closer to the front gate until eventually, there was no one in the area. The celebrations weren't as noisy as before and that's when she scanned the walls. Finally, she saw the person she was hunting down. Natsu was on the wooden wall sitting on the edge as he took a healthy drink from his mug. He finished his drink and without looking at her would address Ur.
"Finally, awake yeah? You have been asleep since this morning." Natsu told her.
Natsu turn his head to look at her and that's when Ur could feel his magic power. It was enormous as she found herself in shock at just how much magic energy was coming from Natsu. Ur composed herself.
"How did you revive me?" Ur asked.
Natsu gave her a shrug.
"Just learnt some ancient magic and called it a day." Natsu answered.
Ur rubbed the back of her neck. She was expecting him to elaborate but he hadn't bothered to elaborate at all. It was a bummer.
"Is that so? In any case, thank you for finding a way to revive me and Gray told me about your motivation to revive me. Do...do you...about..." Ur asked with hope.
Natsu knew the answer that Ultear is alive but he had to withhold it for the time being. He didn't want to play some of his cards too early.
"I said it could be a possibility considering she escaped a second time and destroyed the entire facility. However, Experiment 3373 is actually still unknown. I just wanted to give you a chance even if it seemed unlikely." Natsu said.
Ur knew Natsu wasn't telling her the whole story. To Gray, it seemed believable enough but to Ur, who is wiser and more adept at finding holes in someone's story would see a few in Natsu's.
'You wouldn't have gone out of your way to revive me if you didn't actually believe my daughter is alive.' Ur thought.
People. Especially strangers. Didn't do things on a whim. Yes, Gray did tell her about Natsu's more unsavory past but that was part of the puzzle. Ur grew a frown at having Natsu tell her that.
"But they showed me...a body..."
"A body with the daughters magic inside it to make it look real. They were talking about it in one of the logs." Natsu answered.
"You sure of this?" Ur asked.
"Definitely."
Ur put a hand on her head. By the gods if her daughter had really been alive, she basically sent her daughter to death.
"Fuck, I need to know as soon as possible. If she's really alive, I need to make amends." Ur said.
Though, Ur had a good feeling that Ultear is alive and that Natsu had known more than he was letting on. Sure, he was lying by omission but Ur could let it slide after all. He hadn't done anything to harm her. Hell, he saved Gray and stopped Lyon. It's not like Natsu is bad. If anything, him reviving her had align with his morality while also giving her more benefits than him.
'Gray is right about this guy. On the surface, looks sketchy but when you really think, he doesn't seem all that bad.' Ur thought.
"She'll most likely hate you, probably wants you dead. You'll need to knock some sense into her before she comes around. You sure you wanna try to make amends?" Natsu asked.
"Yes, I have too. I only sent her there because I thought they could help her but I was wrong, so horribly wrong." Ur answered.
Natsu took another drink from his mug before hopping down to the ground next to Ur. He walked up to her.
"I'll help you out too, I'll see if I can find anyone by your daughter's name. Lyon said her name, Ultear isn't it?" Natsu asked.
Natsu knew Ur wouldn't go to Lyon any time soon. Which suited him just fine.
"Yes, Ultear is her name but you don't have too." Ur said.
Natsu gave a shrug than a sad smile.
"Honestly, I never knew how my mother really felt about me and I wasn't able to get closure. Me helping you, is me wanting not to see other people experience my pain, my sadness, and my doubts. I guess, I want you two to have closure and get to have what I missed out on." Natsu said.
Ur was touched by his words. She couldn't help but grow a smile.
'This guy...' Ur thought.
"Alright, thank you Natsu."
"Anytime, now since all the heavy shit is over for the meantime. Let's go party, you getting your life requires a celebration. Let's go enjoy ourselves!" Natsu shouted.
Natsu sprinted towards the villagers with Ur following right behind. She had a lot of catching up to do but for now, Ur could celebrate her second chance at life.
The Next Morning.
Erza didn't bother for the ship to fully drop it's anchor. Erza jumped over the railing of the pirate ship and onto the beach. The female making a beeline for the village. When she got to said village she saw that the gate was open but some guards standing just outside the gate. There was at least four at the entrance, two were guarding the two people at the gates lever. They seem to have spotted her.
"Halt! What business do you have here?" One of villagers asked.
Erza watched as archers appeared on the wall as the village defenders became aware of her presence. Erza stopped walking to explain the situation.
"I'm here to collect a guild mate that not only stole a S-Class mission but kidnapped two of my guildmates. He goes by the name Natsu and he needs to be taken into custody."
This seemed to be a net negative for Erza. They treated her with suspicion instead of allowing her to outright pass.
"Don't try anything funny." The guardsmen spoke.
Erza was reluctantly given permission to go into the village. She made haste to try and find Natsu. The female aware that she was being followed by two people. Erza found Natsu along with Gray and Lucy. She saw her two friends in bandages as they were injured from the mission. The trio having a discussion.
"What did Lyon say he was going to do?" Natsu asked.
"He wants to turn a new leaf and has finally taken Ur's advice to move on with his life. His followers are doing the same, as their reason for staying here is no more." Gray said.
"That's good for them. I'm just glad that Ur reacting that way had knocked some sense back into him but is it really okay we let this happen? Shouldn't they be put behind bars?" Lucy asked.
"I think, Ur is Lyon's morality pet, like how Ur was Gray's constant reminder to his past. They both were trapped in the past for different reasons. Now that Ur is alive, I think both can finally move forward to create their own future." Natsu said.
"NATSU!!!" Erza roared at him.
Lucy and Gray seem to stiffen at the arrival of Erza.
'We're on a S-Class mission, we are breaking protocol! We are fucked!' Gray and Lucy thought.
If it wasn't for the fact that they were in a village. She would openly attack Natsu. Erza held herself back from striking at Natsu despite the overwhelming urge. Natsu went to face Erza. The woman looking absolutely livid.
"Hey, Erza here to bring me back?" Natsu asked.
"That's not the start! You kidnapped Lucy and Gray! You caused them to be injured! You took a S-Class job permission! You deceived and manipulated me! The Guild as well!" She roared at him.
Natsu raised a brow at that but kept it to himself. If they thought that he forcibly kidnapped the pair, they would get off scotch free. He could use that to his advantage. Lucy knew that she had a choice to join the mission all the way back at the docks. Even if she was afraid of Erza, she would stand up for Natsu.
"Wai-"
"You're right, the Guild is right. I did kidnap both of them for my personal reasons." Natsu said.
Natsu knew what Lucy was trying to do and had interrupted her. Natsu stepped forward much like Lyon did to him.
'Weird, it's like we switched places.' Natsu thought.
He surrendered herself to Erza with his arms out ready to be cuffed. The female became more irritated at having Natsu surrender himself to her with a smug expression on his face. Did he think this was funny? Erza put him in magical handcuffs. That way Natsu wouldn't be able to use spells. However, her putting Natsu in handcuffs had caused the villagers to rapidly start surrounding them.
"What do you think you're doing?" A villager asked.
"She's arresting him!"
"He broke the rules! He took a S-Class mission without permission-!" Erza tried defending her position.
"It's not like you were gonna come, I say he did the right thing!"
"Yeah! All the S-Class Wizards didn't come!"
It didn't take long for more people to come into the fray. This time people armed with weapons or brooms began to make themselves known as a mobbed formed around Erza.
"Where were you for the past three years!?"
"You seem to have your priorities skewered you bitch!" A woman shouted.
"Let him go!"
Erza was flustered, shouldn't these people be supporting her? He was the one breaking the rules! Why were they defending a manipulative bastard!?
"He only deceives people and tries to make himself look good at first before swindling you." Erza countered.
Eruption. That's all Erza could describe what happened next.
"They didn't even want the reward money!"
"You cunt, what are you talking about!?"
"I see how she is, she didn't like how someone was actually helping other people! She's just shallow!"
"Get her! She's just like that Lyon guy!"
Natsu stepped in seeing how things were going to become violent.
"Enough!" Natsu shouted.
Erza watch as weapons were lowered while people seem to follow Natsu's orders.
"I'll go with her, I did take a job and I must face the consequences of my actions. As adults, we must set an example to the younger generation that even with good intentions, we are to accept the consequences of our actions. I must abide by those words. Therefore, Erza Scarlet, take me to the Master for my punishment." Natsu said.
Erza saw this as a ploy but she had to get Natsu out of here before a similar incident occurred.
"Lucy, Gray, we are leaving now."
"Not without me." A woman spoke.
Erza looked over to see Ur, the woman was frowning at Erza.
"And who might you be?" Erza asked.
"I'm Gray's former Master, Ur Milkovich and you must be Erza Scarlet."
It became tense between the two females.
"Let's go before we keep making a scene. Lucy you get what we came here to get?" Natsu asked.
Lucy gave a nod.
"Good, we just need to collect our bags and we can leave." Natsu stated.