Tribulation

Chapter Two: Decision

Gray couldn’t believe his eyes. Or his ears. In fact, he couldn’t believe any other sense that was functioning right now for one very reason.

He didn’t want to believe what his own senses told him.

Like pieces to puzzle he understood, but his still refused to get his head around what just might be his undoing. After all, he didn’t know whether it was the screams, the claws, the horns or the wings that first caught his attention because the only thing he could remember was the last thing his dad ever said to him.

“E.N.D. is a flame demon.”

The thought, like a mantra, kept repeating in Gray’s head as he watched the spectacle before him, as frozen as his magic to react in any way possible. He had been so certain, so devastated and so full of revenge that he swore he would be the one to destroy E.N.D. with the Ice Devil Slayer Magic his dad gave him in his last dying breath and yet… now all Gray could think was – why him?

Why did the responsibility of killing his closest friend rely on him?

The days long ago that consisted of group jobs and friendly rivalries all seemed like a dream compared to this agonizing reality. Gray had guessed, somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, that no matter what they would always be the victors, make it out alive with a happy ending. After all, their guild was Fairy Tail – the guild that obeyed no one and never gave up – the guild that nurtured dreams and stood for all that was good in this world.

That’s the very reason why Gray never considered that maybe for once in his life the thing he wanted most could also be his biggest regret.

Anger and despair swirled in his mind, clouding his thoughts to the point where he wished he could just close his eyes and shut his senses from the events currently happening. But he couldn’t. Gray knew that. Somehow he knew this very moment in time would be a factor in the future of many people, good or bad, and greatly influence upcoming events.

Despite that, all he could remember is his father’s final goodbye and the promise he swore to fulfil. Gray was torn between two loyalties he neither wanted to break nor keep.

After all, how could Natsu be E.N.D.? The Natsu he knew since he was a kid, the one he laughed, bathed, learned, fought and played with- how could he be a demon over four hundred years old? Not even just any demon- Zeref’s strongest demon?

Absentmindedly as the last of the screams rang in his ears, his left hand traced over the mark the Ice Devil Slayer Magic made on his right arm.

I might be one of the only people capable of killing E.N.D.

The thought shook his being to the very core, knowing he could be the other outstanding factor in all of this whose responsibility it falls onto in the end to make the ultimate decision.

With all Gray’s heart he wanted to avenge his dad’s suffering and honour his memory by killing the demon his father vowed to but was never given the chance. Even so, Gray didn’t know if he would be able to kill a friend all the same.

It was Igneel that finally snapped Gray from his thoughts, alerting him that this was no time to think but to act. As the ground shook with Igneel’s hasty landing Gray bounded closer to Natsu- or should he say E.N.D.- where Lucy also kneeled with tears streaking down her guilt-ridden face.

As he reached her, he was about to ask what exactly happened to see if there was any way to reverse it- because as Gray thought about it more, he realized as long as Natsu was Natsu there was no E.N.D. and he considered that just as good as dead if it meant he didn’t have to kill a friend. But, he never got the chance.