These Blood-Soaked Pages (Fairy Tail) [Book 1 of Reaper's Scythe]

XVII - The Truth, At Last

"Gray, calm down!" Lucy whisper-yells. It's dark, but she can still see that he shifted into devil-slayer mode.

"How can I? A demon has been masquerading as one of my nakama, but I never noticed!"

"Just because Natsu-san is also E.N.D., it doesn't mean he's not our friend anymore!" Wendy tells him, looking close to tears.

Gray stomps his foot against the floor and it goes right through. "Oh crap..."

"Gray. I suggest you come down. Now." Erza calls out from below.

When Erza tells you to do something, you do it; so a few minutes later everyone is back sitting on floor cushions in the main room. Lucy, Wendy and Happy have sheepish expressions and Charle's can't be described as anything but 'I told you so.'

On the other hand, Gray is shaking with anger. "Why didn't you at least tell us what's going on?" He snaps, balling up his hands into fists. "Is it true what you said, that Natsu is actually E.N.D.?!"

Zeref looks at Erza and she nods. "There's no point in keeping it a secret from these five anymore."

"Alright." The dark wizard folds his hands on his lap. "You could say it's true, but more accurately the Natsu you know and E.N.D. are one and the same."

"I thought it was weird that you were apparently Zeref's brother, but this!" The devil-slayer marks spread further over Gray's skin like ink. "You're one of them, those monsters that killed my entire family in front of my eyes!"

"Gray, think about what you're saying," Erza cautions. "None of that was Natsu's fault!"

"That's not the point! It was my father's goal to slay E.N.D., and I promised him that I would in his place!" Gray raises his hands and shifts into a spellcasting stance. The air in the room grows cold.

Zeref and Erza glance at each other, they're obviously ready to subdue the ice wizard if he makes an attempt on Natsu's life.

"Gray-san, please, don't do something you'll regret!" Wendy pleads, eyes glistening like she's about to cry.

After a few tense moments, Gray lowers his hands. Directing his words to Natsu, he says, "Fine. I won't kill you, but I don't think I'll ever be able to trust you again. Even though you're an annoying flame-brain, I've always considered you a friend... not anymore." To the others he adds, "Do the job without me, guys; I don't want to be anywhere near him right now." He walks to the door and slams it shut behind him.

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"Natsu, are you alright?" Lucy, who is sitting to his right, asks with concern.

He sits there, shaking, a vacant look in his eyes. Several drops of sweat run down his face.

"We're all surprised, but please listen to me. None of us feel the same way as Gray-"

At the sound of the devil-slayer's name, Natsu clenches his fists. His hair is tousled by a nonexistent wind and he begins to glow a reddish orange.

Zeref grimaces, and snaps his fingers once. Cold water falls on Natsu's head and the strange light disappears.

He blinks a few times and his eyes return to normal. "Hey, what was that for?!"

"Sorry," the dark wizard says, but the others can see he doesn't really mean it. "Whatever intense emotions you were just experiencing could have caused you to shift. I had to snap you out of it. You don't want to burn down Warrod's house, do you?"

"Was the water really necessary though?" Natsu grumbles, wringing out his clothes. "Couldn't you have shaken me or pinched me or something? This is such a drag."

"That wouldn't have been as fun."

"FUN?!"

Erza interrupts the bickering siblings by coughing into her fist. "The point right now is, nobody else feels the same way as Gray. But right now, we have to do our job. With or without him."

Warrod frowns and interjects, "If there's too much going on, I can always look for someone else."

"NO WAY!" Natsu yells.

"Well, then. Your job is..."

(The monster on the job isn't even a challenge so it's boring to write, so I'm gonna skip it. DEAL WITH IT.)

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???'s PoV

"So, the preparations are almost done?" Lanya asks. The whirring of machinery and the sounds of our footsteps accompany my words through the dark stone hallway, but she can still be heard clearly.

"Of course."

"Any estimates on when we will be able to launch our attack?"

"Tomorrow, ideally."

"Sounds good."

"Remember, our goal is not the wizards of Fairy Tail."

"But if they get in the way I can still squash 'em, right?"

"Of course."