Fairy Tail Rewind (Completed)

Chapter 13 -- Eternal Sealing Magic

"Wait a minute!" Lyra stopped them. "If we were to run to the Moon Temple, it'll take us about half an hour to reach there. By that time, Deliora has already gotten to us first. I know a one-minute's shortcut from here to the sea. I can conjure a boat that can sail us to the temple at the end of the coastline. With my special booster, it'll take us less than five minutes to reach there."

They agreed instantly. When they were in the boat, Gray told them the story of his Master. Natsu wasn't listening, as he'd busied himself with feeding the fish in the water with his vomits.

"Ten years ago, the city where I used to live was attacked by Deliora. It didn't even take a day for the entire city to be obliterated. My whole family didn't survive. Should Ul and Lyon arrive later than five minutes, I'd have died too, being buried in the rubble. That-- That was how everything began, and how everything ended." Gray's tears frost the steely floor of the deck.

Shivering in pain at the memory, he continued, "Ul told me before her death, she said, 'Seeing my two students becoming an adult is my happiness'. But she didn't manage to see... I'd just learned magic for three months when I heard that Deliora had attacked another city. Despite their objection, I went searching for it, stupidly believing that I could kill it. It was all my fault--"

Gray's mourning was interrupted by the noise of the boat hitting the rocks on the beach. The gang hopped down the deck and stared at the violet rune floating atop the temple. They'd almost reached the temple's entrance when Deliora roared again from underneath them. Outside, the coconut trees snapped apart as the wave of the roaring purled through the air.

Lyra tugged at Natsu's scarf, pulling him over as he prepared to dive into the basement from the crack he'd created earlier. "Deliora might be howling, but the violet rune still shines. It means that the Moondrip Ceremony is still in progress. Deliora might not be fully resurrected. We need to go to the top of the temple to stop whoever is carrying the ceremony."

They agreed and sped up the windy stairs. Lyon was too occupied in doing the ceremony that he didn't realize the incoming sinewy punch. He staggered a few steps before falling onto the floor.

"Stop it, Lyon! Ice-Shell Spell is a magic that turns the body of the mage who cast it into ice. The ice that entrapped Deliora, the very same ice which you're trying to melt now, is Ul herself." 

"Gray..." Lyon climbed up from his fall and strode towards his junior. He had only halted when he was at an arm's length distant. "I know all about that. But that ice is no longer Ul. It's just a piece of frozen stone." He smirked and placed his palm on Gray's abdomen. An Ice Tiger roared and jumped right through Gray's flesh. "I pity your foolishness."

Gray collapsed onto the floor. Lyon prepared to attack Gray again when Natsu leaped in between them. Lucy and Lyra pulled the semi-conscious Gray aside. Quickly, Lucy removed the diamond vial from her belt. This was the moment she dreaded the most and came it did. Gray's droopy eyes sparkled as he saw the turquoise ointment. He snatched it and without hesitation, drank it.

"Gray! That's-- Is it drinkable?" Lucy shouted. Had Gray lost his mind?

Biting his lips, Gray hauled himself into a sitting position. 

"Kana didn't get her title The Best Drinker of Fairy Tail for nothing," Happy explained. 

"Kana? What's it to do with Kana?" Lucy stored the empty vial carefully as she asked.

"Kana gave you the turquoise ointment, isn't it?"

"I-- I actually got--" Lucy waved her hand halfheartedly. "Never mind that. Please continue."

"You have a weak memory, Lucy, just like Natsu. Well, Kana gulps down anything that's in liquid form and is thus proficient in creating potions too, as she knows their efficacies. This healing potion has the best effect if it's being consumed, though it tastes awful. Everyone avoids drinking it if possible."

Lucy wanted to ask Gray how it tasted, but he was already walking towards Lyon.

Pushing Natsu aside, Gray spoke through gritted teeth, "Indeed, I've been foolish, believing that I could change you. I'll finish you off now before you waste Ul's effort." 

An icy sword appeared in his hand, and without a word of warning, he thrust it into Lyon's heart. But instead of hitting a solid form, Lyon's body vanished into an icy mist. 

"Gray, behind you!" Lucy and Lyra cautioned in sync.

Gray turned around and saw a bigger Ice Tiger springing towards him. Reflectively, Gray dodged. Stamping his right fist onto his left palm, he created a prison and caged the tiger.

"It's impossible." Lyon gawked when the tiger failed to break through the thick bars.

"Creations made with one hand are imbalanced. Remember? They lack power during crucial moments." Gray turned to look at his friends. "Let's go check out Deliora! Perhaps we can--" 

"It's too late!" Lyon smirked. His lips reaching to his earlobes. "The ceremony had completed before our fight actually. The ice enshrouding Deliora must've melted all now."

"Bastard!" Gray threw him a dirty glance before speeding down the stairs. 

Everyone tailed behind him, including Lyon. Gray's face blanched as he saw the sixty-foot tall monster glaring at him with evil red eyes. It had the head of an ox, the body of a bear, and a tail of a crocodile. Exactly the same monster that had made him an orphan. He'd decided to do what Ul did ten years ago. He was going to seal it up with the Ice-Shell Spell. He posed himself when--

Aiming at Gray, Deliora swung its boulder-like fist. Gray couldn't move as he was half-way charging his inner power from his mind to his palm. Out of thin air, two dozens of Ice Condors speared towards the monster. Deliora's body cracked instantly at the attack. In not more than ten heartbeats, it crumbled into shards of ice, melted into water, and flooded the cave.

"I-- I've defeated Deliora." Lyon collapsed on the floor. Not due to exhaustion, but because of shock. "So easily. No, it's not true. It's impossible."

Happy uttered in amazement, "Ul had fused herself into Deliora. She had killed Deliora's soul when she was inside its body. What Lyon had revived was only the monster's husk."

Lyra took a few steps closer to him. "Ul's ice has thawed into the water and flown into the great sea. But she still lives, in your heart." She lifted up Lyon's right hand and placed it atop Gray's. "She'll continue to watch both of you grow. I can hear her in the murmurings of the water. 'Fight no more, my sons,' she says. Will both of you fulfill her final wish?"

Lyon retreated his hand and continued sitting on the wet floor. The water had reached his chest but he ignored it. "I'm no match for her. She has something I'll never possess, a noble heart."

"Thank you, Ul, for driving my darkness away." Gray stared at the distance; his tears fused with the sea water. He stretched out his hand towards Lyon. "Let's start our lives all over again."

Lyon stared at it for quite some time, before he firmly grabbed it. 

"Mr. Reitei!" The click-clack sound of high heels was muffled as Shelly waded through the water. Her beautiful hair was all tangled. "Are you injured, Mr. Reitei?" She looked worse than Lyon.

Gray released Lyon's hand. "You two should join a guild. You'll have comrades and rivals. Soon, you'll find a new goal. That's the only way to make her happy. That's the best we can do for Ul."

They left Lyon and Shelly behind and returned to the village. The villagers were glad to find that the moon had resumed to its silvery countenance, and their appearance returned normal. Though the Fairy Tail's mages had again failed to accomplish the Destroy-The-Moon mission, the villagers were all happy that the curse which had been haunting them had finally been lifted. 

Moka the Village Chief was so generous in compensating them. Apart from the seven million Jewels, he had also gifted them four crowns sewn with coconut leaves. The group bade the villagers goodbye and sailed back to Fairy Tail. 

"I can't believe that we've completed an S-Class Job." Sitting on the deck, Lucy admired the beautiful moon. Natsu marred the serenity of the night with the noise of his vomiting.

"That's the power of teamwork." Lyra's eyes gleamed in excitement as the boat sailed through the dark water. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, dear!"

Not far away, in the middle of the sea, a familiar figure awaited them.