Archive Of Love

Chapter 14: Gray's Story

Pretend that Jellal is in that picture above too. Also sorry for the long break in updates I've had so much inspiration for two of my drafted stories and my lives been pretty crazy lately, I know this one is just Gray talking most of the chapter but all the action will be in the next chapter so it should be a lot more interesting, thanks for you patience with this long pause though!

Word Count: 1757

Tyraea's POV:
''Go ahead Gray, tell us what happened to you and the others before we got here'' Lyon said as Hibiki took my hand in his and gripped it tightly, I returned the pressure on his hand with my own as I turned my attention to Gray. He nodded then began to speak,

''alright well it all happened when Natsu, the others and I all left the village towards the temple of the moon, the villagers had told us about the possibility of the demon encased in ice inside the temple being Deliora was high so we decided to head out right away. We got to the temple then we decided to split off into three different groups we didn't know who or what we were up against so we wanted to split up to cover more ground and be less noticeable to our possible enemies'' Gray started we all kept quiet but nodded along to what he was saying, encouraging him to continue.

''I was paired with Natsu and Happy, since you know we are kinda a thing and we would be too worried to be apart from one another. Erza and Jellal were paired of course and that left Lucy so she summoned Loke and paired off with him, again because they are dating and Loke was worried about letting her go off on her own'' Gray continued,

''okay so you were in three groups to be less noticeable I get that but there is only one entrance to the temple of the moon the last I checked so what happened with that?'' Hibiki asked Gray nodded to him knowing what he was talking about because he had brought up a really good point,

''yeah I don't get that either, I know the temple is a decent size but its not that big so even if you all went in at different times you could still be caught quite easily right?'' I added on 

''I know what you both mean, we also had that concern so Erza suggested that Lucy and Loke go into the temple first just to scope the area out since those two would have had the best chance to stay quiet and not engage in a fight like Natsu and I would have done. And she and Jellal wanted to check something out first so they didn't want to scope it out either. They both agreed and said that they would be an hour at most and if they were any longer than that, that was when we were to start worrying about them and follow them in'' Gray said 

''so what happened?'' Lyon asked it was like he was almost afraid to hear the answer as if he knew what was coming. To be fair I think all three of us knew what the answer to that question was but we still had to ask. Gray looked down a pained expression on his face as he started gently tugging at the bandages around his chest and stomach,

''we waited for a full hour but they never came back, Erza and Jellal had come back after that and said that they would be the ones to go in and see what had happened to them, Natsu, Happy and I were all really antsy and wanted to go with them but they told us that we had to wait outside for them. They promised us that they would only be an hour, maybe an hour and a half at most before they walked in. Of course we couldn't go against Erza so we waited outside for them'' Gray said as his expression got harsher as did his grip on the binds around his wounds,

''what happened to them Gray? What happened to my brother?'' I asked in a shaky voice, I already knew what was coming but again I needed to ask. Hibiki looked down to me and pulled me closer by wrapping his arm around my shivering body.

''We had only been waiting about ten minuets when we heard a massive explosion inside of the temple and a massive hole was blown through the roof of it with the collision of powerful magic I recognised one of the magic being used as heavenly body magic but I didn't know what the other was'' Gray said his voice fading slightly until it was just barely louder than a whisper,

''Jellal.....'' I whispered trying my best to force the tears back but it didn't matter they still fell, Hibiki held me tighter and wiped away my tears, he gave me a small smile of reassurance then turned back to Gray who looked to me sadly before returning his gaze to his hands, I felt Lyon's hand on my shoulder as he looked to me with concern I quickly shook my head to focus again. ''S..... Sorry I'm okay, I just lost myself for a moment there keep going Gray'' I said he looked to me again his expression unchanging but nodded.

''Well Natsu, Happy and I instantly started panicking, we weren't gonna just stand there when they could have been in danger so we all charged into the temple and followed the sounds of fighting to the main room where I faced you in that battle Lyon. Once we got there we noticed that there were cages lining the wall, Lucy and Loke were in two of them unconscious but they still looked to be in a lot of pain. Erza was on the floor really hurt and Jellal was fighting, he was trying his best to keep up with his foe to protect Erza, but he was overwhelmed another came from behind and knocked out Erza throwing her into another of the cages then whilst Jellal was distracted his enemy did the same to him'' Gray growled as his hands tightened until his knuckles started to turn white.

''Gray just try to stay calm, if you need to take a break you can we can wait for you to....'' Lyon started but Gray shook his head, some of his raven hair falling onto his face as a result 

''no its fine I need to tell you now I don't know how long the others can last, or what our enemies are doing to them'' he stated 

''alright, then before you keep going can you tell us who the enemy is we need to know what we're up against'' I said quickly, Gray nodded and turned to look at us all rage now showing in his eyes 

''it was three members from one of the dark guilds that we had stopped just after you saved Jellal and he joined fairytail and team Natsu, Oración Seis. It was Angel and Kobra and it seemed that Midnight was leading them. Natsu and I decided to try take them on, for some reason Angel wasn't fighting she took off, something about watching the entrance to the temple in case anymore of us light guild scum had decided to come and help. So that left me with Midnight and Natsu and Happy with Kobra and Kinana, we were doing well until I didn't notice an attack coming from behind from one of Angel's celestial spirits but Natsu did he...... he pushed me out of the way and took the attack head on, he had already been poisoned by Kinana it wasn't sever but it was weakening him there was no way he would have been able to take an attack like that head on and been totally fine. Then again Midnight had weakened me a lot too so its not like I could have taken it any better, Happy had already been knocked out cold and thrown into his own cage and Natsu was in front of me struggling to stand and even struggling to breath. I tried to go to him but he glared at me, told me to run, to get out of there and to use that chance to escape, he said he knew someone was coming and I had to be there to tell them what was going on or we would never have been found!'' Gray shouted as his voice cracked he was clearly upset as tears were rolling down his cheeks but I couldn't blame him I walked over and hugged him gently.

''It must have been hard for you to leave the one you love behind, especially seeing him in that state and after him saving you, you must have hesitated before running out of there, its natural and I would have done the exact same if it were Hibiki in Natsu's position and me in yours'' I said gently Gray's arms tightened around me as he started shaking  as he cried, I knew how much Natsu meant to him they loved each other and it must have been hard on Natsu too, shouting at his lover to leave and leave him there we had to get our family back,

''I'm sorry Tyraea'' Gray whispered I shook my head and pulled back from him, 

''you have nothing to apologise for Gray you tried to save them all but you had to escape so we could find you. You made the right move even if it was one of the hardest decisions you had to make in your life I promise you, we all promise that we're gonna save them all and get you all home safe'' Hibiki said standing up and walking over to stand at my side then Lyon stood up and walked to my other side,

''yeah what Hibiki said, you just focus on resting up here in the village and leave everything to us alright?'' Lyon said, Gray was about to argue back with something before deciding to stop himself and just nodding instead. After that Lyon, Hibiki and I all left the village and started to make our way towards the temple of the moon, our friends and our enemies. This was going to be a long and difficult battle but it was one that we refused to lose!