13K! Hooray! Hooray!
Anyway, I'm sorry for those three certain people that commented (is that the right past tense form of the verb comment?) in the previous chapter because I killed off... you-know-who. You know who you are, you three certain people.
Arigato, minna, for the 13K! Even though I've already partied about it earlier, I still want to party about it.
Oh, and this one, while writing it, hit me in the feels. Extremely.
((I'll make you all suffer with this chapter like a certain TV show ended days ago, and the villain's body was pierced by a gigantic hook. It was so fucking... AGH.))
And, let us begin!
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Chapter Thirty-Seven (Ooh, it's my class number!) - Dramatic Antidote
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DAY TWENTY-FIVE - I WON'T LET YOU DOWN
11:03 pm
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"Requip: Flight Armor!"
"Ice Make: Lance!"
"None of your swords can hit me," Eras held their swords and made them bend, much to their surprise, "What can you do about it?"
"Ice Make: Floor!"
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel... Pentagram Sword!"
"You might have hit me," Eras gasped for air, "But, you will get tired for too long. Illusion: Death!"
The two of them were sent in a cold, dark place. When the lights were turned on, they were facing the opposite direction, instead of facing each other, and saw many artworks, sketches and paintings of the four deaths.
"They're all here..." Erza mumbled.
"Francinna, Jellal, Juvia, and Jade..." Gray muttered under his breath before creating his Cold Excalibur and slashing through the artworks.
"Gray, what are you doing?!" Erza screamed, "You're ruining their pictures!"
"This is just an illusion!" he said as he slashed through the last picture, which was a picture of Juvia smiling.
The illusion was destroyed, and they were back. When they got back, Eras was so close to reaching his elixir. With lightning-quick speed, Erza ran to the last bottle of elixir remaining and took it.
"No, daughter, give it back!" Eras shouted at her.
"Why would I give it back to you if you haven't even gotten it?" she glared at him before turning to Gray.
"Erza, what are you trying to do?" he asked, "Don't tell me..."
"I'm sorry, Gray," she frowned at him before drinking the elixir.
"What the hell?! I thought you were gonna make him drink it!" he screamed.
"No... the Elixir of Strength!"
"Strength...?" Erza asked after she finished drinking it. Then, she felt shocks run through her veins. Those weren't shocks at all.
That was the elixir, working its way through Erza's body.
"What?" Gray's eyes widened. When the elixir reached Erza's heart, she screamed in so much pain. Gray ran to her and tried to touch her, but the light and electricity hurt him.
What the hell is going on?
Then, Erza transformed into a new form. Not like Take Over, but she looked super strong and she was better than ever.
"Gray," she mumbled.
"Erza... you look so... strong," he said. Indeed, she looked strong. Her armor looked shiny, and she was able to summon or to requip into them faster, and easier. Her eyes had a strong glare that could send anyone to hell. Except for Gray. He was an exception.
"The elixir..." Eras mumbled, "You drank it all... I'll give you a taste of what fury tastes like, daughter!"
An evil yet strong aura appeared around him. The pressure was intense that it nearly sent Gray blown back. But, he was caught by Erza.
"Try me, then," she said.
"Grr..." Eras mumbled angrily before his evil aura started to intensify as time went by, "I don't care if I would hurt your feelings now, daughter... but I will separate you from that boy for once and for all!"
"Erza, watch out!"
Suddenly, it was like Gray's life flashing before his eyes as the extremely powerful beam of swords and magic hit him. The pain was excruciating, but he didn't care about it. Only a human body wouldn't make the beam go through.
But, he also fell for Eras's trick. He should have just pulled Erza out of the way. Instead, his life got taken away.
When Eras was finished, he laughed, "Rule number one of being a mage... don't shield the armored ones. You would die. Oh, wait. You already did."
"G-Gray?" Erza mumbled as Gray's body fell to the ground. Her tears began falling.
"Erza... you alright?"
"Yeah, but stay with me, Gray," she said, kneeling down to him.
"That was... some beam. Some tough... beam," he looked up at the sky, "It's kinda cold now... eh? All I wanted was to... save you, Erza... But, maybe... you didn't need to be saved after all."
"No, don't say that," she cupped his cheek, "This was the best thing ever that I've done with you, even though people died and tornadoes were created. I don't care about it anymore... Just, hold on a little bit, Gray! Just a little bit, and we'll get to Wendy and Porlyusica!"
He hesitated at first, the pain trying to make him succumb, but agreed. Erza immediately took out some bandages out of nowhere and helped him out.
"C-Can't your ice heal, Gray?"
"I don't know... anymore..."
"Just a little," she said, "It doesn't have to be a lot. One small thing can make a difference, Gray. What if that's the only thing that would keep you alive? Will you do it... for me?"
"Anything for... you." He began using his ice to temporarily heal his wound.
"Thank you," she smiled at him and kissed his forehead, "We can do this. I won't let you down."
"I know we can... I just know," he nodded, smiling.
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DAY TWENTY-FIVE - I WON'T LET YOU DOWN
11:19 pm
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"Damn this crap!" Laxus banged on the door, "Now we can't join the fight! Can anyone see from outside?!"
"There's a barrier blocking our way, Laxus-san," Wendy said, "But, it's slowly weakening. I can see Lucy-san and Lyon-san on the ground, unconscious, but not damaged. And, Gray-san! Oh, no!"
"What's going on?!" Natsu yelled.
"Gray-san is on the verge of death!" she screamed, tears forming in her eyes.
I knew it. He was the fifth one all along, Natsu thought.
"Damn it!" he had fire in his eyes, "We wouldn't be able to save him!"
"It's not really worth trying," Gajeel said as he went outside of the infirmary, "But, this thing's quite off."
"Off?" Laxus asked, "How?"
"Jade's still breathing."
"What?!" everyone in the guild screamed.
"Yeah," he nodded, "She's still alive."
"That's impossible!" Meredy shouted, "Juvia told us that the four people that meant so much to Erza would be the ones who would die!"
"And, Erza-san liked Jade-san and her cooking so much," Wendy said, "That's why she decided to stay with her before she left, right?"
"Yeah," Laxus nodded, "Are there any gemstone pieces left on her body? If there is, well, that means time is still accelerating. And, if time is still accelerating... she'd be alive."
"But, I checked her, Laxus-san!"
"Sometimes, there would be off and odd miscalculations in a game. This time, we are playing with the gap between life and death. And, all of our lives are at stake."
Everyone nearly gasped. Laxus sighed before looking down on the floor. Did they change the floorboards just now? And, how did the floorboards look interesting?
"The floor's weird," he said.
Then, it hit him. The floor. It was like, with Erza's new powers, she weakened the barrier. She gave out a sign through the weakened barrier, so everyone would see Gray's current condition. And, when Laxus looked out the window several minutes ago, he had noticed how many times Erza had touched the floor with her feet and often, her hands.
She was already giving out a sign. The floor. Use an underground passage, that's what it meant. She weakened the barrier, so they would see that Eras was so focused on getting rid of Gray that he didn't know his barrier was weakened. The barrier from underground was clear. All they had to do was to get an antidote for Gray, to get Lucy and Lyon back and to leave everything to Erza.
"The qualities of an S-Class mage," he smirked before turning to his guildmates, "So... who has a shovel?"
Someone randomly raised his hand and showed their shovel. He grinned and took it from him. Before he decided to dig an underground passage, he looked over at Jade, who was in the infirmary. Slightly breathing, but still alive.
I won't let you down when you've already done so much. Just wait and see, Jade. Trust me, even though I already know you do, ever since we met.
Trust me. There's still a way out of this misery.
"Porlyusica!" he called out to the pink-haired woman in the infirmary.
"What is it?"
"Make an antidote for Gray. Now!"
"You've become a great leader, Laxus," Makarov went to him, patting his back lightly, "It's good. That's good."
"Someone got me to do that," he smiled, "Someone encouraged me."
"Alright, brats, listen up! You have to give your all in this task, like it's the last thing you'll ever do! We have to save Gray!"
"Aye!"
Laxus smiled. Finally, ever since people began dying.
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DAY TWENTY-FIVE - I WON'T LET YOU DOWN
11:26 pm
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"So, you're still up, daughter?"
"I will never be down if I'm battling for the life of my loved one," she requipped into her Black Wing armor, "It might be tough... It might be hard... But, who cares? If the prize is Gray's life, I would gladly fight for it."
"Ha! You and your words! You think that's gonna get you through?!"
"Words are all that I need."
"Would you be able to stand it? Are you able to kill your own father?" he grinned evilly.
"Yes."
"What?!" he screamed, "But, we're father and daughter! I'm the only blood relative you have left on this planet! And, you'd kill me without a second thought?!"
"With pleasure, even," she said, "I might not be strong, but I put everything on my soul. If I kill you, I wouldn't be the one to blame, because killing someone is like, taking away their future. How can I steal what's already stolen? Does it make any sense? And, can you even kill me? I know, you can't. You did this all for me, and killing me... would be against your pride."
"Then, then... I will kill you!" he took out a sharp sword and began running to Erza, who wasn't even doing anything about it. He just ran and ran to her.
But, he was weakening again. Was time still accelerating? Erza had noticed this, too, but she was focused on defeating him.
Then, it hit her like a rock when a familiar voice came into her mind through telepathy.
"We're on our way, Erza," Laxus smirked, "Time accelerating, yeah?
She decided to reply back without speaking loudly, just mumbling to herself, "Yeah, but how? Isn't Jade dead?"
"Still breathing. We're still working on the barrier. Porlyusica's working on the antidote real fast. And, Gramps said that I was a hell of a leader."
"Well, that's good for you. But, make it real quick, alright?"
"Yeah, sure. Bye."
When communications were cut off, Erza took out her Benizakura sword and requipped into her Japanese cloth. Time was accelerating really slow.
Just ten minutes left.
Thank you, Jade. I won't let you down.
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Baiiii, minna!
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