My Ice Incomplete Without Your Rain (Gruvia Fan Fiction)

Chapter 10: Sacrifice

It was 12 pm and the food court was crowded. Not simply because it was lunchtime but because there was a sight that shocked everyone.

Riku, Natsu, and Gray were standing in the center of the food court with their heads raised up. There was a tall demon in front of them. Lucy, Erza, and Juvia saw this and gasped.

     "Deliora..." Gray and Riku mumbled in unison. They were frozen in fear.

      Lucy's jaw dropped. "A demon in the mall?!"

Riku's traumatic childhood memories came gushing back into his mind. This "demon" reminded him of a demon from his childhood. Despite this, Riku refused to feel frightened anymore. He made a fist with his hand and looked the demon in the eye. He was ready to fight it. Gray also came out of his trance and gathered up his courage. He couldn't afford to be scared anymore.

      "What do we do? People could get hurt at this food court." Juvia was biting her nails in worry, and Gray couldn't help but smile that instant. There was something cute about her biting her nails. Lucy saw this and got confused. Gray was smiling in this type of situation? She brushed away that thought and got back to reality.

     "Happy and I will evacuate the people in the mall." Lucy said.

    "All right! Let's defeat this demon!" Natsu yelled.

    "Hahaha. Not so fast. You'll have to get through me first." A mage wearing a black cloak that stood beside the demon declared.

    "So you're the one who did this! What are your intentions?" Erza glared at him.

    "It doesn't matter if I tell you since you're going to die soon, but I might as well. I will throw this world into chaos with this demon, and become the ruler with everyone as my servants!" The mage laughed.

    "No way is that going to happen!" Fire flew out of Natsu's mouth, but the mage teleported before the attack could hit him.

   "Natsu and I can deal with this mage. Riku, Gray, and Juvia, please defeat the demon." Erza commanded.

   "Ha! I'm enough for this guy! I don't need any help." Natsu grinned but Erza hit him in the head.

   "Don't get so overconfident. Fine let's see how you do without my help." Erza smirked.

    "All right!" Natsu tried to punch him with his flames but he teleported again. He used several attacks but none of them could hit the mage because of his fast teleporting powers.

    "I guess you can't do this alone." Erza said. She used her Heaven's Wheel armor and shot a hundred swords everywhere so wherever he teleported, he'd get hit. The mage got hit with a few of the swords and fell to the ground.

    "Sm--smart move. But, let's see if you can defeat my demon." The injured mage chuckled.

   "Still not going to surrender? Now tell us how you created this demon." Erza walked up to the mage, and pointed a sword at his neck.

   "I don't want to spoil the fun. See for yourself." He answered. Erza and Natsu saw Gray and Juvia attack the demon. They used their water-ice combination and hit the demon. The demon flickered and the image disappeared.

   "What...You..." Erza looked back at the mage.

   "That's right. It was just an image. There was no real demon. Of course, if I wasn't hurt as I am now, I could have sustained the demon's image forever, but since I'm hurt, the demon's image is weak, and it disappeared. I intended to rule the world by pretending there were real, frightening demons so people would come to me for protection and obey me. Yet, you people had to spoil my plans." The mage frowned.

   "I guess there was nothing to worry about then." Lucy overheard the conversation and came next to Erza with Happy flying over her.

   "That was a piece of cake!" Juvia exclaimed as she walked towards Erza and Lucy.

    "Juvia! Look out!" Riku yelled and ran in front of Juvia to stop the mage's attack from hitting her. Riku fell to the ground, his body steaming up and covered in flames. The mage had used fire powers with his very last strength. Riku suddenly spat out blood.

   "Riku! You...why?!" Juvia cried out as she held Riku's body in her arms. All Riku could do was stare at Juvia's face, sad that his dream of being with Juvia would never come true, as his eyes slowly closed.

Natsu had sucked up all the flames on Riku's body, but it was too late. The flames had already made their impact.

At the very last moment, Riku whispered something to Juvia.

    "I guess this is the last time. I wish I could be with you longer, and I didn't want to have to say it just yet, but I..." Riku stopped talking and his eyes closed before he could finish his sentence. Juvia's tears dropped on his face.

Gray looked from the distance and he felt something rising inside him. 

Why is my heart beating so fast? And why do I feel so....irritated?

Erza stuck a final sword into the mage and put him in jail while the others went back to the guild. Erza soon followed in time to hear Riku's results.

Makarov inspected Riku and the mages with medical magic treated him.

Makarov finally declared to Team Natsu, "Riku is....."