Part 1: Shadows of Magic (Rogue Cheney Love Story)

Chapter 12

Pic is of Ur Milkovich—->

Third Person's P. O. V:

Gray tells his guild mates while Happy hovers in the air, "The truth is... Ur's still alive."

Erza asks, "What do you mean...?"

Gray says as the memory of that day enters his mind, "It's been ten years... Deliora attacked my hometown. I've never seen such destruction. The whole place was wiped out in less than a day."

                     💥💥💥

Ur approaches a destroyed town with a young white haired boy with her. They pause and gaze around, a hand on Ur's left hip.

"I've heard of Deliora's destructive power, but I never expected this," She thinks. Then her black gaze lands in a head of dark spiky hair poking out beneath some rubble. The boy groans as he twitches.

Ur gasps and calls to her student, "Lyon! Get over here! We've got a survivor!" This causes Lyon to gasp and whirl around, running over to help his master free the unconscious, but very much alive boy.

"Hey! Are you alright?!" Lyon exclaims, crouching in front of the ravenette as his eyes start to peel open.

"Ur and Lyon found me. They pulled me from the rubble," Gray tells his friends in the present.

A young Gray kneels before his father's grave as he places a white flower in front of it, his gaze shadowed by his bangs. Lyon and Ur hang back to give him space as they watch on. Gray vows to himself, "Deliora... you're gonna  pay for this! I'll stop you! I swear it!" Tears are dripping down his face as he says this, and he starts sobbing.

"That vow... was how it all began," Gray murmurs.

Gray pants heavily on a snowy hill as Ur asks him, "Are you going to be able to keep up with me, Gray?" She turns to face her new student. "I warn you; training with me can be tough."

Gray responds, tone full of determination, "Yeah! But I'll do whatever it takes! I have to become stronger than Deliora, 'cause someday, I'm gonna beat him!"

Lyon mutters in an unimpressed tone, "Yeah, right!"

"Okay." Ur faces them fully. "Let's get started!"

"Fine! Ready when you are!" Gray says, but he was caught off guard when Ur suddenly strips off her top clothes and throws them at him, leaving only her dark blue bikini underwear on. This startles Gray greatly. "WHOA...!! What are you doing?!!"

This was not what he'd had in mind for training, nor was Gray expecting it.

"First step is to strip," Ur says simply.

Gray shouts, flustered, "Are you kidding me?!! You're crazy if you think I'm stripping in the snow! Back me up, Lyon!" He turns his head to the white haired boy, only to gaze at the sight of Lyon in only his light blue boxers, his clothes in a pile in the snow covered ground next to him. "Now you're naked, too?!" Gray's eyes pop in their sockets.

"Just hurry up and do it, kid!" Lyon urges him. "Come on! You wanna learn magic, right?"

Gray shouts in a flustered tone, hands clutching his head, "I can't believe you're making me do this!! It better not be some kind of joke!!"

Ur watches him take off his clothes, except his boxers, with a smile. She says proudly, "Atta boy, Gray! If you really wanna control the cold, then you'll have to become one with it. You'll get used to it soon."