Hope's P. O. V:
The person who had frozen the thorns and Prison Flower was none other than Gray. I was so glad to see him right now!
"Thanks for the save, man!" Sting says in relief, holding up my mate with one arm around his waist, the other bracing one of Rogue's arms around his shoulders.
Rogue says while glaring deathly at Mard Geer who still has me in a vice-like grip, "He has such power."
I take a quick glance at the Fullbuster. He has a look of absolute rage on his face as he takes in the sight of my current position, his gaze on me and Mard Geer. He looks pissed.
"You'd better let go of Hope, RIGHT NOW, before I kill you, you teme!!" Gray roars, his death glare fixated on the Tartaros member.
Mard Geer keeps his grip on me even as he replies, irritation in his tone, "You...! Mard Geer is going to kill the girl, and then y—" Mard Geer cuts himself off when I clench my free, ether covered fist, my body now covered in ether, and launch it forward, my bangs hiding my eyes in a dark shadow, connecting it with the demon's face. The four males flinch as Mard Geer's head is wrenched back from the punch. In turn, he lets go of me. I raise my head to glare at him with narrowed, purple eyes, half hidden by my bangs.
"You should never take your eyes off your enemy," I advise him coldly.
Sting mutters, sweat dropping at me, "That punch has got to have hurt!"
Natsu agrees as he nods his head, a deadpan look on his face, "Y-Yeah..."
Hissing with irritation, Mard Geer straightens his head again and narrows his eyes down at me in anger and hatred. "You bitch!!"
This just makes the four males even angrier.
Mard Geer turns to me, a look of rage on his face. "You have made me angry!" He goes to attack me but stops short when he jerks his gaze down at his left arm. His arm is coated in ice, from his elbow to his wrist. I jerk my head to Gray in disbelief.
When did he...?!
Natsu voices my thoughts as he demands the ice wizard, "When did you freeze his arm?!!"
Gray says nothing as he gazes at me for a moment, before turning a hateful glare onto the demon.
Mard Geer asks with wavering eyes, "This magic...! Who are you?!"
Gray holds up his right arm as he says, "This face is the last thing you're ever gonna see. Because you're the thing I slay."
A strange tattoo of sorts appears around Gray's right forearm. That wasn't there before. When did he get that...?
Mard Geer questions, "You're a Demon Slayer?"
Sting exclaims, "He's a what?!"
Rogue says, "If the title is as simple as ours, then he's exactly what we need right now. Mard Geer's scared."
Gray says as he clenches his hand, "I've come here on behalf of the fallen."
My eyes widen a little at that, knowing exactly what he means. I avert my gaze, looking down.
Gray charges forward and thrusts his left arm toward Mard Geer. A tower of ice encases him. He murmurs in shock, "This magic...! It's Silver's!" Mard Geer easily breaks his prison of ice and dusts himself off. "Mard Geer never had a doubt that he would betray us eventually, but he couldn't have suspected it would happen like this. What poetic circumstance! Fate can be quite amusing, can't it?!"
Mard Geer throws his arm out toward me. I widen my eyes when more thorns wrap around me, and bring me closer to Mard Geer.
"Hope!!" Sting, Rogue, Natsu and Gray shout.
Rogue attempts to push Sting away and rush to save me, "We've got to get her out of there!"
Sting holds him back as he says calmly, "And we will, Rogue. But, you've just gotta stay calm."
Rogue glares at him with impatience before jerking his attention back to me, as I continue struggling against the thorns. My Ether Form fades.
Gray gives the Tartaros member an icy glare when he places a hand on my cheek, as I continue to struggle against the thorns, while he gestures with his other hand in Gray's direction.
Thorns erupt from the ground and race toward Gray at rapid speed. "Mard Geer will kill her!" The raven haired man says.
The tattoo on Gray's arm glows and in a split second, all the thorns racing toward Gray, as well as the thorns binding me, become frozen immediately, before shattering.
I stare in shock as Rogue says in astonishment, "He froze every thorn almost effortlessly!"
Sting mutters, "Incredible!"
Mard Geer thrusts his right arm forward, sending out more thorns at Gray. Once more, they become frozen immediately.
Gray says angrily, as the dust clears, "I don't see how Fate's to blame for any of the crap you've been pulling. And there ain't a damn thing about it I find amusing! You're going to pay for threatening to hurt Hope!! My old man sends his regards!!" Gray gets into a stance.
"'Old man...'?" Natsu reiterates.
I knew Gray means Silver.
"I've come to finish what he started!!" Gray shouts as he thrusts his arm forward, sending another spear of ice at Mard Geer. He cries out as he's thrown away from me. Gray yells as he leaps into the air above the startled Tartaros member, frost swirling around his fists, "YOU'VE SCREWED WITH THE WRONG FAMILY!!"
"ICE DEMON: ZEROTH LONGSWORD!" Just before Gray could launch his attack, however, something had jumped out of the frozen Prison Flower, and rams its elbow against the side of Gray's head. Mard Geer smirks, just before Gray is blasted away from the giant.
"GRAY, NO!!" Sting yells.
I throw out my hands and create an Ether Cushion for Gray to land on, softening his fall. He hits it with a pained grunt. I sigh in relief.
Once Gray was safe, the cushion disappears. I murmur as I look back at the giant standing before Mard Geer, "He came from that flower."
Natsu says, "Wait a sec! I know that smell!"
Sting breathes in shock, "There's no way!!"
Rogue just stares at him with wide, wavering eyes.
Mard Geer tells us with a smile, "The man who once stood at the helm of the strongest guild in this world. But now he's shed his humanity, and become something more powerful. You knew him as Jiemma."
"Our Master," Rogue murmurs as they gaze at him in shock.
He was still the same, though he seems a lot bigger, his eyes burning red, his hair now sticking straight up, and a beard growing out of his chin.
Natsu states in shock, "It's really him! Those monsters...! They turned him into a demon!"
I say, "Just like they did to Minerva. Though, it does seem to suit him better."
Jiemma says, "Of course it does! Power has always suited me. That's why I demanded to be transformed. And look at me now: the mightiest demon that's ever existed!"
Rogue asks, "Was it worth it?! Abandoning your humanity just for power?"
"The man's lost his freaking mind!" Sting growls.
Mard Geer tells us proudly, "My new servant is more powerful than any of the Nine Demon Gates, but Mard Geer supposes that you and he are already familiar."
Jiemma clenches a fist as he says, "My power stuns the heavens! I have no Master for I have no equal! No one calls me servant!" Magic energy glows around him. "DO YOU HEAR ME?!!! I'll demolish these insects first! But after that I'll come for you!!"
I notice Mard Geer smile at that.
I look back at Jiemma as Natsu charges at him with fist set aflame. "YOU DON'T SCARE ME! DON'T LET THIS FREAKWAD GET THE BEST OF YOU!! KEEP FIGHTING!!" He leaps up and punches the former guild master. After a moment, the pinkette is blasted away from Jiemma, and thrown into the wall.
"NATSU!!" Sting yells fearfully. He scowls as he faces his former master.
"There!! You understand now?!!! Stay down like a good bug!!"
I was pissed by that. How dare hurt my friend!!
I'm about to kill Jiemma myself when I notice Sting and Rogue charging at him. The blonde shouts, "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!!"
"Sting!! Rogue!!" I shout as Jiemma blasts them away.
"You're pathetic! Feeble! Unworthy to oppose me!!" Jiemma states as he stalks toward them. "You claim to be raised by dragons?! Are you sure they weren't just lizards?!"
Sting scowls, swiping at his mouth, "I hate this guy!"
"Sting, Rogue! I've been waiting for this moment for quite a long time now. For the chance to end your lives." Jiemma sweeps his arm across and Sting and Rogue are blasted with his magic.
Natsu shouts, "AWE, CRAP!! ARE THEY OKAY?!!!"
I'm about to run over to help Sting and my mate, but someone catches my arm. I whip a sharp glare around to Gray. "Let go, Gray!" I demand.
"Don't worry. They'll be fine. You've just gotta have faith in them—especially your mate," Gray tells me reassuringly, causing my glare to lessen at that.
He's right. I know that Rogue is strong—and so is Sting. I just have to believe in them that they can win against their former master.
Sting says, "We aren't scared!"
Rogue adds, just as determinedly, "And we won't stop!"
Rogue and Sting leap out of the dust cloud and punch Jiemma at the same time, knocking him back.
Sting shouts to us, "Leave this guy to us, Natsu, Hope!"
Rogue adds, "You just focus on Mard Geer!"
Jiemma tells them, "There's a difference between bravery and arrogance, lizard boys! Come on! I'll show you!"
Rogue says, "He called us out. You're ready?!"
"Sure am! Let's make this quick and get home!" Sting replies. "I wanna show M' Lady what we've done with the place!"
Mard Geer smirks, chuckling slightly as Natsu, Gray and I face him. Mard Geer muses, "Strong, isn't he? Though, Mard Geer will have to do something about that arrogance streak."
Facing Mard Geer, Gray says, "This is the end of the line! There's nobody left to protect you!"
Mard Geer asks lowly, as his body begins to glow purple, "And you think Mard Geer requires protection? You're a fool if you believe that little power of yours will have any effect on me, not after Mard Geer has take on his Etherius Form."
I utter, "He's changing!"
Mard Geer says as he transforms into a gargoyle like creature, "E. N. D is about to rise from a slumber lasting 400 years. The time has come for me to rise as well!"
Before us stands a gargoyle like creature with wings that spread outward, Mard Geer's hair now sticking straight up.
"Behold, I am Mard Geer of Tartaros, Absolute Demon and King of the Underworld," Mard Geer introduces.
I stare at him in shock, my teeth clenched together.
"Hope, Natsu," Gray says as he raises his right arm, frost swirling around it.
Natsu says as we both nod, flames swirling around his fists while my body glimmers with ethernano, "Don't say it, we know!"
I say in agreement, "Yeah!"
Natsu says, "We don't care what you call yourself King of! We're taking you out!"
Mard Geer says as he leans forward, "Come! Give me your all! For this battle shall be your last!"
We don't make a move for a moment.
Above us, Igneel and Acnologia roar as they fight each other.
Natsu, Gray and I charge at Mard Geer, ready to attack. Mard Geer crosses his arms in front of him and throws them outward, as his eyes flash red, sending out several thorns at us.
"Now it's time for you to freeze!!" Gray yells.
I send out my Spell Seal spell which covers the thorns before encasing Mard Geer, halting him in the air.
"Right after you burn!!" Natsu shouts as he sends a spiral of flame at the thorns. The thorns shatter and Mard Geer looms in front of us. I cry out in protest as he suddenly grabs me by my waist.
Then he grabs Natsu and Gray in one claw, before taking off into the air. Natsu immediately starts flailing around, screaming, while Gray and I struggle to get free of his grip, with me thumping my fists against Mard Geer's arm and kicking back at him, "HEY!! YOU BETTER LET GO OF ME RIGHT NOW, YOU WEIRD GARGOYLE LOOKING THING!!"
Mard Geer tells us, "At last, the time has come for you to see what lies beyond the Netherworld Gate!"
Mard Geer shifts his hand so that he's gripping my hair tightly, and he slams my head into the ground, causing me to cry out. He does the exact same to Natsu and Gray. He starts pushing us, head-first along the ground, sharp rocks and debris scraping at our faces.
"Mard Geer will savour every last moment of terror your souls will shred as he erases your existence!"
Mard Geer continues pushing Natsu, Gray and I around like this for a while longer.
I snap my eyes open a moment later, and my hands latch around Mard Geer's wrist, at the same time Gray's did. Ether appears around my wrist, fire and ice appears around Natsu's and Gray's. The three of us punch Mard Geer. We cry out as continue our assault, until there's an explosion that sends out a wave of debris.
Mard Geer rolls his eyes toward us, startling us. He then lashes out and grabs my head, then Natsu's and Gray's in the other claw. He raises himself into the air before flipping us over and throwing us face-first into the ground with grunts of pain.
Mard Geer fires a beam of energy at us.
I jump in front of Natsu and Gray as I throw out my arms, "Arc of Magic: Ether Wall!" A high wall of ether appears before the three of us, towering over us. When Mard Geer's attack hits the wall, it rebounds off it.
Natsu leaps out from behind the wall as he yells, "FIRE DRAGON: ROAR!!" The flames shoot for the demon but he swiftly avoids them.
"Ice Demon: Rage!!" Gray expels a burst of ice from his mouth, but Mard Geer avoids that attack, too.
"Arc of Magic: Multiple Ether Bolts!" I shoot out several bolts from my hands at Mard Geer. Once more, he easily evades them.
A sphere of energy appears beside Mard Geer, and he thrusts his arm down toward us. "Dea Yggdrasill!"
Thorns come out of the sphere of energy, down on us.
Natsu wraps flames around his fist, frost swirls around Gray's fist, while I just stand there with a blank look on my face. Natsu and Gray start punching it, but I simply cut my Ether Blade through them.
"Alright! Ice Make: Gungir!" Gray yells, putting his hands together. A spear of ice shoots toward Mard Geer. He simply jerks to the side to avoid it.
Natsu and I burst out of the spear, surprising the demon. "Man, that's cold!" I say, shivering a little. Natsu throws his hands above his head, while I throw my right one forward. "Arc of Magic: Multiple Ether Bolts" I focus my magic.
"Fire Dragon: Brilliant Flame!!" A sphere of flames appears above Natsu's head. Natsu thrusts his arms downward, as bolts of ether rain down on him, hitting the surprised Mard Geer. The attacks knock him back onto the ground, hitting it with a crash.
Natsu lands back beside Gray. Natsu quickly holds out his arms and catches me as I near the ground. "Thanks, Natsu-kun!" I say.
"No problem, Hope-chan!" He grins back at me, before gently setting me back on my feet. The dust clears to reveal Mard Geer, seemingly unharmed.
I ask in annoyance, "What is up with him?! Is he immortal, or something?!"
Gray says, "I just have to get a clear shot to hit him with my magic!"
"Well, humans, Mard Geer must admit. He has been quite entertained by your attempts to vanquish me." We scowl at him. "And now, it's my turn to entertain you. With a story about the one and only Primordial Magic."
Natsu and Gray gasp at that, immediately recognising the name.
"From that origin point, magic grew to form various distinct paths," Mard Geer says, a dark blue energy swirling around his hand. "E. N. D studied this revolution, and realised the immense potential for a new kind of power. Curses. A power fueled by the most dismal emotions: woe, spite, envy, and hatred. Each of these negative feelings gave us an incredibly powerful energy. And we channel this essence of life to manifest our darkest desires." He clenches his fist.
Natsu asks, "Do you even know what you're saying?! If that's true, then magic will always be stronger!"
Gray and I nod in agreement.
Mard Geer holds out his hand, palm facing toward us. We get into ready stances, anticipating an attack. We look around to see some dark energy beginning to gather around us.
"Gray, Hope! What is this?!" Natsu asks fearfully, as we stand back to back.
"Is it fog?" I murmur. The dark substance begins creeping up my body. I try to get away from it but I can't move. "No! I can't barely move!"
"Me neither!" Gray says, struggling to get free.
"What are we gonna do?!" Natsu exclaims.
Mard Geer says as he lowers his arm, "The era of magic is coming to an end. It's time for the true supreme power to rule! Welcome to the era of Curses!" We grunt as we struggle to get free of the dark energy now covering our entire bodies, our vision beginning to darken. "Prepare yourselves for purgatory! For Mard Geer will invoke the ultimate curse designed to destroy Zeref himself!"
We scream as the dark energy covers us further.
Mard Geer's eyes flash bright purple, as he says, "The Memory of Death."
I grunt as some black creatures begin to swirl around me, covering me completely in the dark substance. I can vaguely hear more of the substance turning into thorns as it rises up.
Mard Geer's voice reaches me, "Memento Mori!!"
I think as I feel myself fade away, "Rogue-kun... this is goodbye..."
Then, nothing.