Hope's P. O. V:
"Demon Slayer Magic?" I murmur after Keyes explains the type of magic Silver uses, and how his match with Gray was going to be one sided. I realise that it was also the exact same type of magic that froze the entire Sun Village and everyone in it.
"Yes. An ironic skill to possess in an ally," Keyes says. "He became one of the Demon Gates at the behest of the Underworld King in recognition of his might." Keyes holds out his arm and a blast of that mist shoots toward me.
I manage to flip backward out of the way to avoid it.
I say, "If he's really a Demon Slayer, then why is he on Tartarus' side?" I land with my knees bent.
"Perhaps our powers changed his mind," Murmurs Keyes thoughtfully. "Or perhaps he plots against us from within. Regardless, I'm certain the head sovereign had his reasons for recruiting such a man."
I straighten as I face him, getting into my stance with my fists clenched.Don't worry, Gray! I'll get to you as fast as I can!" I think desperately.
I throw my arms up to protect myself when I'm hit with a wave of that mist.
"Hope!" Alec, Lucy, and Juvia shout in concern.
"I have a question for you, ether wielder," Says Keyes. "What is it that you fear most? Losing the one you love, surely?"
I straighten as the wave ceases.
"But what would be worse? To slowly earn his hatred or find yourself abandoned to his indifference? Perhaps the least painful way to lose him would be through death."
"Shut up!" I snap, pointing at the skeletal figure as I straighten. "Your words don't hurt me!"
"Is that a fact?" The skeletal man asks me.
"Gray and I aren't even romantically together. We've been best friends for years! I don't care about him in a romantic way. So, there's no possible way he could ever feel hatred toward me. Besides, I'm in love with someone else, and, let's face it, he's a much better guy than Gray is. So, yes. You might as well save your breath!" I say, a smug look plastered to my face, not fully understanding why Keyes thinks Gray would hate me.
"You're unaffected," Says Keyes. "My, what a pleasant surprise!"
I throw my arms up to protect myself as Keyes sends another wave of that mist at me.
"What's the matter? Is your resolve beginning to waver?" Keyes questions. I dragged backward slightly. "I see it clearly! Soon enough, your friend will choose to make the same sacrifices his Master did!"
I look back at the skeletal figure when the mist dies down. "What is he saying?" I wonder silently. "That Gray will use Iced Shell?!"
"The aprophical tale comes to its end. What follows is dark truth, colder than stone," Says Keyes. He'd explained that the man Gray is fighting is actually his father.
"No, you're wrong! That man can't be his father!" I gasp. "You're lying to me!"
"Truth is not subject of what you believe. I was there at the story's beginning."
"Why are you so proud?!" I ask in shock at his tone. "What did you do?!"
Mist continues to pour out of his staff. I straighten from my crouch.
'Hey, girl! Can you hear me?' A familiar male's voice asks in my head, causing me to look up in surprise.
"Who is this?!" I inquire in confusion.
'Just making sure, but, you're Gray's girlfriend, right?' The voice asks, causing my sapphire blue eyes to jerk wide with shock and a blush to spread across my cheeks.
"N-No! I-I mean, I already have a boyfriend! But, I still love Gray-kun. Just, as more of a best friend..." I trail off, still blushing a bit. "Wait—are you his father?"
'Yeah. Listen, we don't have a whole lot of time here, so let me get to the point,' Silver says. 'That decrepit old skeleton you're fighting right now, that's Keyes. He's the weakest of the Demon Gates. You've got to find a way to beat him. He's a necromancer. And he's in control of that old Chairman. He's using the dead guy's corpse to launch a few thousand of those F. A. C. E bombs.'
"No... there are thousands of those things?!" I breathe in disbelief, remembering how Lucy told us that Wendy and Charlele had stopped F. A. C. E. But, there's more...?!
'Yeah. And they're gonna go off unless you can take that bag of bones down. Real soon,' Silver tells me.
"But, Sir, if I do that, won't it kill you, too?" I ask wearily.
'I guess Keyes told you that. Oh, well. You have to do it. It's the only way to save Gray.'
I blink my blue eyes at that, feeling slightly shocked.
I scream out as I'm hit with another wave of the mist. "Sir, are you still there?!" I ask desperately.
No response.
"Sir, please!"
Still no answer.
A ball of that mist is shot at me from Keyes' staff. I gasp as I jerk my head back, just narrowly missing it. "I can't hear him anymore! But if this is the only way to save Gray-kun... I'll do whatever it takes—I can't lose Gray-kun!"
I raise my arms to shield myself as Keyes blasts me with that mist.
"I foresaw this entire tale unfolding from the start. Even Silver's eventual mutiny," He says proudly. "Any fool could've seen it! He grew more powerful, mastering Ice Demon Slaying Magic. I knew he would someday use that skill to enact his vengeance upon us. But, as his creator, I relished it! I wanted that cold fire to keep burning! That righteous fury would ensure my most beloved experiment kept going for years into the future!" He chuckles triumphantly. "The ultimate atomoton! A relentless drive paired with a compelling narrative!"
I yell at him in anger, "You're playing with people's lives!"
"Such a delicious, ironic tragedy! A dead man and a living boy writing each other's final chapter; it's my masterwork! And it's worth more than every single drop of blood shed for a tink!" He says as he opens his stitched up mouth.
I was getting angrier and angrier with each word he spoke, followed rapidly by disgust. "Human beings aren't meant to be played with like your personal toys!"
"No, not toys. They're subjects for my experiments."
A blue dust swirls around me as I hold my hand out to Keyes.
"You're disgusting! Enjoying people's pain like entertainment!" I yell.
Keyes chuckles as he replies, "But human pain is so entertaining! Yours is turning out to be quite the spectacle! Perhaps enduring the pain of losing the boy will make your corpse do unspeakable things!"
"Never!" I shout back, voice full of anger. "YOU WILL NEVER CONTROL ME!!"
I move fast before he could turn into mist. "Arc of Magic: Eradico!!" I shout, throwing out my hand to the Tartaros member and feeling my eyes glow bright pink. Cracks appear along his body.
"What... is happening to me...?" He wonders aloud. As more and more cracks appear, the skeletal figure soon explodes.
"Gray-kun will never truly lose his father! You won't break their bond! He'll live on forever in his heart! You will never erase him from that sacred place! No one can, because true love will always outlast death no matter what!" I say hotly, tears pouring down my face. My Ether Form fades.
Usually, I come off as tough and impassive, but with the tears rolling down my cheeks, I appear to be more vulnerable than usual.
"Hope!" Lucy, Juvia and Alec exclaim in relief, grinning at me.
I stand there as I sob, feeling sad for Gray.
"It's over. My tale has reached its end..." Keyes says as the rest of his body fades away.
Torafuzer utters in disbelief, "Keyes is gone. She killed him."
"Please forgive me, Gray-kun!" I think as tears pour down my face. "It was all for your sake. I swear it!"
'You released me. Thank you,' Silver says to me telepathically.
"Sir, I..."
'It's quite a day, kiddo. You ended my suffering. And saved all of the magic in the world,' Silver tells me, tone filled with gratitude.
"I don't know what to say," I reply, tears still dripping down my face.
'You don't need to say anything,' Says Silver assuringly. 'I understand you already have a boyfriend, but... Just take care of my boy.'
I cry even more at that, knowing exactly what Silver means. With my face buried in my hands, I promise him, "I promise I will!"
I didn't care if Gray ends up hating me for the rest of his life. He's still my best friend! I'll look out for him and protect him no matter what.
💥💥💥
"That human killed a demon?!" Torafuzer exclaims in disbelief.
"Way to go!" Natsu exclaims.
"She pulled it off!" Gajeel adds.
I turn and go toward my brother, Lucy and Juvia but drop to my knees, tears still pouring down my face.
"You alright?!" Gajeel asks in concern.
I hiccup as I wipe the tears away with the backs of my hands, nodding as I do. I don't say anything as Alec rushes toward me and embraces me.
I was vaguely aware the sun has fully set, and it's now dark out.
After several minutes, I pull away from my brother and wipe away more stray tears, feeling my shaking body beginning to calm down.
"So what's up? You okay?" Natsu asks me, seeing I'm beginning to calm down.
"It seems as though Hope didn't ingest any of the Bane Particles," Lucy replies.
"I'm fine, guys. Really," I say, giving them a small smile.
"Listen, guys, be careful," Lucy tells them.
"We know!" They shout in unison.
"Try to keep up!" Natsu challenges the Redfox.
"Piss off!" Gajeel snaps back, before they both charge the remaining demons, Tempester and Torafuzer.
I wrap my arms around Alec as he continues to comfort me. "I'm glad you're okay, Hope-chan.
Behind me, I hear Natsu and Gajeel clashing with the Tartarus members, but I don't look.
"Well, Juvia thought you were amazing, Hope-chan!" Juvia praises me. "She has no doubts you could pull it off at all! Now Gray-sama will be alright."
I give the water mage a small smile. "Th-Thanks, Juvia-chan."
I look back and gasp when I see Torafuzer and Tempester glowing blue as they transform.
"Can you guys transform into monsters, too?!" Lucy exclaims. I remember our fight with Jackal.
Natsu then activates his Lightning-Flame Dragon Mode, while Gajeel surprises everyone but me as he activates his Iron-Shadow Dragon Mode.
Lucy utters, "Did Gajeel... just transform?!"
"How are you doing that?!" Natsu demands to know.
"Oh, you know! I just devoured Rogue's shadow. Now, I'm kickass enough to destroy your sorry butt!"
"You're talking like a freaking villain!" Natsu yells.
"You're jealous 'cause I'm stronger!"
"Laxus' lightning wrecks Rogue's shadows! What're you gonna do, get darker?!"
I let out a mushroom shaped sigh at them. Lucy glances to me and says, "You don't seem so surprised of Gajeel's transformation."
"I saw it during his fight with Roguey in the final round of the Grand Magic Games," I reply vaguely.
Then Natsu and Gajeel make a bet that whoever beats their opponent first is the strongest, and that they'll count from ten.
I mutter, "You've got to be kidding me."
Natsu and Gajeel throw attack after attack at them. At some point, they'd ended up punching themselves, and getting into another argument. I'd just face palmed while Alec deadpans at that.
Just then, Torafuzer said they'd both lose and throws his arms outward, creating a massive dark wave. "Deep Deluge!"
The wave swirls and rushes toward us. "Oh, no!" I exclaim as we're swept up by the flood.
Torafuzer rushes at Gajeel and Natsu, slamming his arm against them. Natsu attempts to use his flames to attack but nothing happened. Torafuzer kicks at both Dragon Slayers, knocking them back.
Gajeel yells at Natsu, "Salamander, listen! You can't fight in this stuff! Just take the others and find a way out!"
I glance at Natsu to see he's unconscious. I look at the rest of my comrades to see that they are also unconscious. My eyelids droop close as I'm about to black out.
"Not good," I think to myself. I contact Juvia telepathically, 'Juvia! You've got to create water bubbles for us! Gajeel will be fine for awhile...' I trail off as I'm losing more energy.
'O-Okay, Hope-chan!'
I create a bubble of ether for myself and Alec, my body glowing with ether.
Juvia swims over to Natsu and creats a bubble, before putting it on his head.
She then goes to create bubbles for the others. I ignore the sounds of Gajeel fighting Torafuzer.
After a moment, Natsu blinks his eyes open, and asks, "Wh-What happened?!"
"You fell unconscious after Torafuzer activated his curse power," I explain. "Apparently, your powers don't work in this water, so Gajeel's handling this fight."
This of course makes Natsu upset. "No fair! Gajeel gets all the fun! I didn't get to do anything at all!"
"Aw! Poor Natsu-kun!" I say sarcastically. Natsu scowls at me in annoyance.
We swim over to the others to see that they all have bubbles on their heads, except for Juvia.
"Hey, what's Levy doing here?" I ask, looking down. The others follow my gaze and see Levy... kissing Gajeel?!
I look back at Levy to see she's fainted from lack of air. Torafuzer goes to attack her but Gajeel yells as he strikes him with his Iron Dragon Club, "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!!"
After fighting the shark demon more, Gajeel finally managed to defeat him by absorbing the carbon in the water, turning the curse against Torafuzer, using it to make steel, and the water vanishes. Our feet touch the ground, and Juvia releases the bubbles.
"You did it, Gajeel!" Juvia exclaims in relief.
The Iron Dragon Slayer chuckles, "Okay! Well Salamander! You owe me a song!" Gajeel grunts with pain and drops to his knee. The bubbles all disappear.
"Gajeel!" I exclaim in worry, floating up to him.
"Everyone's alright, but there's still one demon to go," He mutters, as I crouch down beside him, checking him for wounds.
"Are you alright?!" I ask worriedly.
My eyes widen when Tempestsr suddenly appears behind the Iron Dragon Slayer. Gajeel turns his head and utters in annoyance, as he's unable to move, "Awe man!"
"You may have just defeated a Demon Gate, but it's cost you your magic power," Tempester says, raising his right fist. "You've fought well, humans, now die!!"
"Gajeel!" I shove him down to take the blow instead, causing Gajeel to grunt. Damn! I'll do whatever it takes to protect Gajeel!
I ignore my comrades shouting my name and for me to get out of the way, as I stand my ground, prepared to block the demon's attack.
Before Tempester could strike me, however, a familiar bolt of lightning strikes down toward him. Tempester jumps back to avoid it, and the lightning bolt strikes the ground right where he'd been standing.
The dust clears and I gasp at the sight of the familiar blonde man.
"I must say, I'm surprised. You should be dead, or still in agony," Tempester states. Tempester blinks his eyes in astonishment. "Nobody has ever taken in that many Bane Particles and survived."
"I have the old woman to thank for that," Laxus says, smirking. Laxus mutters, "Last one up. Déjà vu."
"Not fair!! I wanna fight!" Natsu complains.
"Stay out of this, Natsu," Laxus snaps back.
"No matter. Defeating you in your weakened state should prove to be an easy task," Tempester says. "Come on!"
He then charges toward Laxus, and their battle commences.