Darkness Unknown

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Gray turned to charge the masked man. Before he could, the man spoke.

"You could do what the young man told you too or you could just watch with me and honor Ur with me."

Gray could feel his rage swell. He did even bother to answer. Gray charged forward call out his Cold Excalibur. He swung the sword, barely missing the masked man. The man ducked and sidestepped Gray's next attack to his head. He whirled and laughed at Gray's attempts.

"You're too slow. You're not worthy of having Ur's wonderful magic."

Gray charged once more but before the masked man could step back again he dropped the sword and made a large Ice Hammer bringing it down on his head. The masked man held up his hands in defense. Gray's hammer shattered as it made contact. Using it as a distraction, Gray moved forward again causing the man to step closer to the edge of the water. The man cursed and darted to left, going right into Gray's trap.

"Ice Make: Prison!" The Prison formed around him, trapping him between Gray and the Moon Drip.

"Why?! Why don't you join me?" The masked man cried.

"Why would I ever join you?" Gray asked, shouting.

Surprisingly, the masked man smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know where Lyon is?"

Gray paused. He hadn't seen Lyon since Ur died. It was a less than stellar parting. Lyon had blamed Ur's death on him, then left. "What about him?"

The masked man laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?!"

Gray gritted his teeth. As much as he would have like to say he didn't care about Lyon, he did. He wondered everyday about what had happened to him. He even tried to find find him a few years ago but he couldn't find any leads on him at all. It was like Lyon had dropped off the face of the earth. It was unnerving and scary.

"Tell me before I kill you." The masked man laughed again.

"I'm already dead. Too late for you to kill me. Fine, I'll tell you two things: Lyon is alive and I would also beware of Natsu. He has more Darkness than is Known." With that the masked man did something unexpected:

He broke the prison and walked into the water. His body slowly started to fade. With a bright flash and a faint pop, his soul was released, leaving an empty body behind. Gray watched amazed as the body itself disintegrated into a pile of bones.

Gray couldn't make sense of his warning. Beware of Natsu? What did Natsu know that Gray didn't. A sound made Gray turn his attention back to Deliora. The cracks in the ice were getting larger and wider. Gray could see Deliora's dark blue skin and mane-like hair peeking through the gaps in the ice. Gray sunk to his knees as the last of the ice started to melt away.

Erza could feel the magic power of the released Deliora. It shook the ground with its loud bellow. Erza only hoped that the masked man she saw earlier was defeated. Around her, the village was more or less intact with a few burnt buildings. The villagers she knocked unconscious were coming around with confusion. None of them remembered anything.

Lucy had defeated Sherry and was helping Happy with reuniting the children with their parents. She met Erza's gaze with worry. They hadn't seen Gray or Natsu since that attack. Erza still could feel periodic burst from Natsu but Gray had dropped off the map sometime ago. She was more worried about Gray then Natsu.

With a sigh she met Lucy gaze again. I'm going to find them, it said. Lucy nodded and turned back to help a particularly fussy child. Erza headed in the direction of the cavern, knowing that was where Gray probably was.