Decades Gone By Series: Insanity Takes All - Book 1 (Fairy Tail)

Chapter 17 - Blood & Magic

       Gray opened his eyes to ruin. Rocks met his vision and someone's back was faced to him, their brown hair covering their bare back, a small back string being the only thing to keep their top on. "Cana?" He felt his throat, surprised by the way her name came out. 

      Gray laid on his side, his right arm digging into a small rock as he sat up, his world tilting. He ruffled his hair, bits of white ash falling onto the floor and covering his hands. His white jacket was ripped, his black shirt underneath covered in white dust. When Gray sat up, he noticed that the railing of the balcony was gone, pebbles rolling off as barely anyone was on the balcony, when half the guild had been standing just a few minutes ago. 

      There was nobody to his right, only he and Cana were still on the balcony. The arena was covered in debris and dead bodies, but from where Gray sat, no one from Fairy Tail were those bodies. He turned to the brunette, stumbling to his feet as he made his way over. 

       "Cana," he whispered, touching her bare shoulder and rolling her on her back. Her hair was dusted with the white ash from the stones, some sprinkling on Gray's shoulders from above. She had a gash on her cheek but other than that, Cana remained unharmed which he was relieved about. He shook her again and she groaned.

      Cana opened her eyes, her purple irises glowing as she looked at Gray with confusion. "What happened?" 

     Gray shook his head, leaning back so she could sit up, rubbing her arms. "I don't know, but it's bad. Everyone else is gone," he said, helping Cana get to her feet and they both walked over to the missing railing, looking out into the damaged arena. Cana sighed, but it was a mix of a gasp as Gray glanced over his shoulder, noticing his necklace lying on the ground. He walked over and picked it up, slipping it over his head. 

     "We should find everyone," he stated. "Maybe they'll know what happened." Cana nodded, following him off the balcony and down the stairs, which was missing some steps. When they entered the arena, Cana gagged, the sight of dead bodies making her place a hand on her mouth. "None of them are Fairy Tail."

      They walked through the hoard of bodies and rocks. Gray recognized some of them from competing guilds like Fan from Diamond Rouge, who had her throat ripped out by what looked like an animal. One of the men from Twilight Orge was crushed by a boulder and as they neared the exit, Gray froze, causing Cana to bump into him.

      They both looked down at Sherria's body, who was lying in a pool of blood, her pink hair blending in well with the redness. She laid face down in the dirt but her neck and right side had no skin, her bone gnawed through. 

     "Sherria," Gray whispered, his voice cracking. Cana leaned down, placing her fingers on the girl's neck, the side that wasn't missing. 

     "She's dead," Cana said, straightening up. "She's been dead for at least ten minutes but she didn't go right away, by the looks of it." She placed a hand on Gray's shoulder as he stared at the fifteen year old girl's body, his lips quivering. "I'm sorry Gray."

      He glanced away from her body and his eyes drifted towards another body lying a few feet away. His eyes widened by the sight of scarlet hair and he burst into a ran, ignoring Cana's yell of his name. He soared through the flying dirt that circled him as he dug his feet into the ground, Cana's footsteps not far behind him. He glanced back and yelled, "go find our friends, I'll handle this one."

      She seemed to listen, cause her footsteps dispersed and went another way. Gray came upon Erza, slowly his steps and calming his breathing as he looked down at the red haired mage. She was pinned down by a steel pole from the judges station which she was directly below. A large boulder that was half of the arena shadowed her and her legs were bleeding but they hadn't been harmed.