Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/9536777. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Category: F/F, F/M, M/M Fandom: Fairy_Tail Relationship: Natsu_Dragneel/Gray_Fullbuster, Cana_Alberona/Juvia_Lockser, Lucy Heartfilia/Loke, Jellal_Fernandes/Erza_Scarlet, Levy_McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Laxus_Dreyar/Freed_Justine, Evergreen/Elfman_Strauss Character: Gray_Fullbuster, Natsu_Dragneel, Cana_Alberona, Gildarts_Clive, Lucy Heartfilia, Ultear_Milkovich, Loke_(Fairy_Tail), Jellal_Fernandes, Erza Scarlet, Levy_McGarden, Gajeel_Redfox, Laxus_Dreyar, Freed_Justine, Evergreen_(Fairy_Tail), Elfman_Strauss, Mirajane_Strauss, Lisanna Strauss, Pantherlily_(Fairy_Tail), Charle_|_Carla, Wendy_Marvell, Makarov Dreyar, Acnologia_(Fairy_Tail), Igneel_(Fairy_Tail), Happy_(Fairy_Tail) Additional Tags: Dark_Gray, Alternate_Universe_-_Dark, Gray_was_train_by_Acnologia, Gray is_a_dragon_slayer, Gray_is_the_leader_of_a_powerful_dark_guild, There_is gonna_be_a_lot_of_character_deaths, Be_Prepared_for_Tears, Psychological Torture, Aftermath_of_Torture, War, Natsu_Needs_a_Hug, everybody_needs_a hug, More_Tags_to_be_added_as_I_go Stats: Published: 2017-02-01 Updated: 2017-02-14 Chapters: 2/? Words: 4947 ****** Shelter for a Demon ****** by GoNEF Summary PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO !!! Instead of Ul finding Gray after Deliora’s destruction it was someone else…something else. They took him in, trained him, and prepared him to lead the strongest army that will not only destroy Magnolia but bring Fairy Tail to its knees. Notes Hello lovely people so I am going to do something very different and I am going to be stepping out of my comfort zone. Usually I tend to avoid writing stories that involve character deaths, torture, and other graphic stuff but like I said I am stepping out of my comfort zone and am going to write this story ^^ Now since I am trying something new it will take some time for me to update this story so please be patient with me. WARNINGS: this story will consist of torture, killing, rape, abuse, manipulation, and graphic violence as I said I am doing something different and I hope I can create a well written story. Anywhore that's all I wanted to say enjoy the reading ^^ See the end of the work for more notes ***** Like a Demon uninvited ***** Gray stare at the destruction that the demon, Deliora caused. His home, his family; reduce to ruble, destroyed, leaving nothing but a broken boy behind. Gray stared as his village burn to the ground, while the heavens rain down; washing away the flames that were destroying the town. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to do something but no matter how hard he tried to, not a single word escaped his lips. He knew why, if he were to scream, scream as loud as his little lungs will allow him to, scream until his throat burn from it all, no one would listen, and no one would care. They would just feel pity for him and if he were honest with himself, that was the last thing he needed, or wanted. What he needed was revenge, what he wanted was to get stronger so that he could defeat the ones responsible for this mess. He would kill the demon Deliora for taking away his family. He would get stronger to make sure things like this never happen again, he will never feel this weak ever again and more importantly he would never allow anyone he cares about to die ever again. Gray’s thoughts were consumed by revenge that he failed to notice a large figure standing behind him. The figure began to walk towards the boy and in doing so he began to make the earth shake. Gray felt the earth beneath him stir, he heard loud stomping sounds coming from behind him, thinking the worst Gray closed his eyes, he could feel the fear slowly creeping up his body as it began to shake, however as soon as he felt that fear clawing it’s way into his heart Gray stopped his shaking and pushed every ounce of fear he was feeling to the darkest corner of his mind. He was not going to let fear cloud his mind and allow it to take over. He would stand and fight whoever came and disturbed his mourning, even if it was Deliora he will not let allow fear to control him and make him run. No, he was going to stay and fight, even if it meant dying in the process he was not going to move from his spot. Turning around Gray came face to face with…a…dragon! His eyes widen in shock as he watched the large reptilian creature walk over to him. He stood frozen in his spot, unable to move, unable to do anything but stare as the creature walked over to him. The dragon stared down at the little boy who was looking at him with amazement and little traces of fear could be spotted in his eyes, but the dragon could see that the boy was trying really hard not to look away, he was actually trying to stare him down without flinching. “How odd, someone is staring straight at me with no fear of their lives, and a child no less,” Gray stare at the giant reptile. “You…can…talk?” “Yes child I can talk and it appears that you can as well; I was beginning to think that you might have lost your voice when you spotted me,” Gray growled at the beast before. “Well, you were wrong I haven’t!” The two stare at one another, the two continue to stare at one another daring the other to look away. Finally, the dragon looked away. “I see that your village has been destroyed,” “Yeah what of it?” “You have no family or friends do you?” “No I don’t,” he growled at the beast before him. “Good, let’s go,” “Wait…what?” “I am taking you with me,” “Why?” “Because you seem like a kid who will become a strong young man, that is if my training doesn’t kill you, not to mention you are the first to ever look me in the eye without flinching, you have guts kid I’ll give you that, now let’s go see how long it’ll take until I rip them out,” Gray stared at the dragon, this is what he wanted right? He wanted power and to be strong and this dragon was giving it to him, it’s as if the Gods have listen to his prayers and sent him this dragon in the form of their answers. “It’ll take a long time for you to rip my guts off, but I would like to see you try,” Both dragon and human stared at one another before they broke into laughter. “I’m gonna have a lot of fun with you kid, what’s your name?” “Gray, Gray Fullbuster your?” “I am known by many names but you can call me Acnologia…” ***** Life and Death ***** Chapter Summary Acnologia and Gray talk about life, death, and the difference between good and evil Chapter Notes Something else that I am doing differently instead of having giant time skips and getting straight to the point and having everything going through flashbacks I will be writing everything out so I won't have to worry about that many flashbacks. Another thing I want you guys to know I will be using other characters from other animes/ mangas to add to Gray's guild. It wont be a lot just a handful. Alrighty then that's about it now on with the show ^^ Also there will be some quotes by Emily Bonette, Darren Shan, and a few other quotes that I got from other books because they went well with the message I was trying to use ^^ See the end of the chapter for more notes -The light came into the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it -My heart holds all secrets, my heart tells no lies Gray and Acnologia landed on some island that looked to be deserted. Gray got off the dragon and listen carefully for any signs of wild life. Gray was shocked to see that he didn’t hear or see a single animal. “Acnologia,” “What is it child?” “How come I don’t hear any animals?” “Because there aren’t any,” Gray looked at the dragon, said dragon looked at the human and could see confusion in his young face, smirking the dragon began to walk Gray watched as Acnologia walked before he ran to try and catch up to him. “Why aren’t there any?” “Because I scared them away, they were too much of an annoyance and I needed to get rid of them,” “Did you kill them?” Without stopping the dragon answered, “Yes,” Gray wasn’t surprised to hear such a cold response, what did surprise him was how he didn’t care; if he were honest with himself he only asked because he was curious. He was surprise that he didn’t feel any fear to the dragon or remorse that he killed innocent wild life. Was there something wrong with him? Did Deliora’s attack on his hometown made him become cold and indifferent when it comes to innocent lives being lost? Acnologia stopped his movements making Gray stopped as well. “Gray,” “Yes?” Without turning around the dragon asked, “Do you know that to some people life and death angels?” “Huh?” the boy looked confused. Where was he going with this? “Yes Life is known as the Guardian and Death, The Reaper; The Guardian is supposed to protect all creatures that roam Earthland, every tiny life is supposed to be precious to The Guardian, they are to make sure that anything that breaths and inhabits this world is to be protected, happy, and loved. The Reaper on the other, they take whatever life they can. Whether it is ready to leave this world or not, whether it is an innocent heart or a corrupted mind Death takes no prisoners and it will steal anyone from this world. The Guardian who understood The Reaper’s job allowed them to take whatever life they felt was ready for the taking. However, The Guardian realized that while they understood The Reaper’s motivation, everyone else didn’t. It hurt The Guardian to know that people actually hated The Reaper, some say it even broke their hearts that someone they cared for so deeply was hated by the very beings it was assign to protect, in the end The Guardian having had enough of the humans’ ignorant minds The Guardian confronted The Reaper and asked them if it hurt to know that the humans hated them. The Reaper responded by saying that no, it did not, The Guardian decide to ask The Reaper this, ‘Why do people love me, but hate you,” Gray stared at Acnologia with wonder as he told his tale and waited for him to finish, however, when he saw he wasn’t he couldn’t help but ask, “What was The Repear’s reply?” Acnologia stared at the little boy. Memories of a past he long to forget resurfaced as he remembers a small little boy lying beside him telling the dragon the same tale he told Gray, and him asking the little boy with eyes that resembled the clear midnight sky with just a hint of brown whenever the sun’s glow shined upon his face, “The Reaper responded because you are a beautiful lie…and I’m a painful truth,” The dragon repeated these words to the boy before him as Gray stared at him, having all his attention focus on him. “The reason why I told you this is because I am training you to be a killing machine,” “A killing machine?” “This world, is corrupted, filled with envy, jealousy, hatred, and betrayal. You will have to learn at a very young age that; trust no one,” “Not even you?” “I will do things that will question your moral codes, as well as the codes of the human world; so if you want to trust me than do so but remember this; the trust of the innocence is the liar’s most useful tool,” “But what if the innocent wasn’t innocent,” Gray looked at Acnologia. “What if they pretended to act that way so that they can fool the liar and then when the time is right, the innocent attacks the liar, the innocent will always have a face of an angel and even angels have wicked schemes, I mean the devil was once and angel, wasn’t he?” Acnologia stared at the human, he had to admit the response wasn’t what he expected but he was impress that the child was able to come up with such a devious response. Maybe he made the right choice in choosing this human boy as his apprentice. “Then in the end, the liar was a fool and the innocent was nothing but a devil that was mistaken for an angel; leading its prey into a sense of security and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike,” Both dragon and human stared at one another, each pondering the other’s words as it slowly sunk in their minds. Aconlogia was the one to break the silence. “As I said child, this world will eat you and spit you out; it is why you will not survive in this world by always doing what is right, that is why I decided to take you as my student, you are damage and that makes you dangerous,” “Why does that make me dangerous?” “Because you know how to survive and with my training, you’ll learn how to make hell feel like home, this world, people think that you need heroes in order to save it, the truth is, this world doesn’t need a hero; what it needs is another monster. One that isn’t afraid to break the rules, take lives, and will not care if someone is willing to sacrifice their lives for something as tedious as a life that never cared for yours,” Gray didn’t know how to respond to that so he stayed quiet knowing that the things Acnologia just said will take some time before they fully set in. “Acnologia?” “Yes,” Gray had to ask, he needed to know if what he thought was true because the way Acnologia spoke, the way he acted, it almost seem like he too lost someone important to him. Gray asked him if he lost someone he loved, someone who was important, the dragon stared at the human before he responded, “Yes child I have, I trusted the wrong people; let the wrong ones in and believed them when I shouldn’t have, the price I paid for my mistake was the loss of my dear friend, his life was taking from me at the tender age of 13,” Gray stared at the dragon for a few short moments, so he did lose someone, just like he did. The two stayed silent for a few moments before Acnologia asked another question. “Did you know Gray that the living can become the dead?” “What?” “When someone they love dies they become the living dead walking among those who have a reason to smile, cry, or express some type of emotion,” “What do you mean?” "When I lost Eren, my friend; the only one who is ever worthy of that title I became a living corpse. When he died I did not cry. I did not understand why but for some reason I could not cry, it wasn’t until I saw my reflection and saw how lifeless I have become, as I stared into my reflection I could not help but remember these words; the death of somebody you love is the second worst thing in world, worst thing is letting it hurt you so much that you die too – inside, you will be dead too, even though your body lives. Empty is no good, you must fill eyes, if not with joy, then with sadness and pain. Even hate is better than empty." “Did you friend told you that?” “Yes, it is the reason why I have not become a dead corpse among the living, because instead of having empty eyes, they are filled with hatred and anger, I took revenge on those who took Eren from me, destroyed their homes and burned their empire to the ground their screams filled the nights while their blood covered the entire floor. I made sure there were no survivors and if there was any I would hunt them all down and kill them,” Gray looked at the dragon and could finally understand why he feared him the first time he laid eyes it wasn’t because he was some overgrown lizard that could squash him in a matter of seconds, no that wasn’t the reason why he feared him. He feared him because his eyes were filled with hatred, he could detect no other emotion but hatred, anger, and guilt. Is this what Acnologia wanted from him? Did he also want to turn him into a monster? Looking closely at the dragon he had his answer. “I understand what you want from me,” “Do you child?” “Yes you are training me to be a killer aren’t you?” “You are correct child I am training you to be a killing machine,” Small eyes stared at him; trying to understand the dragon and his reasons for wanting him to be like this. “You’re filled with hatred because Deliora stole your entire family as well as your friends and family; he also robbed you of your home and at the moment you are filled with pain and anger. You want revenge on the demon and I am going to give you the power to take your revenge. However, I plan to use the hatred that consumes your heart and you with that hatred, guilt and remorse will have no room in your heart,” “But Acnologia if I am filled with hate than…won’t that mean that I’m slowly killing myself. I was taught by my mom that a heart fill with hate will always lose against one filled with love,” “While that may be true to an extent child people often forget that while love is powerful emotion; it cannot exist without hate,” “What do you mean?”  “When you learn to love you must bear the risk of hatred, so you see Gray, while love drives you to become strong, gives people hope hatred slowly follows close behind. When it comes to love and hate I always prefer hatred; it burns everything it touches and slowly drives you to insanity. Both emotions are strong and give whoever carries what in their hearts strength to fight for what they want and refuse to lose, in the end hatred will prevail because while love seeks acceptance hatred seeks destruction,” Gray stared at the dragon as his words slowly sunk in. “Am I…going to be evil? Am I going to become a cold and heartless person?” “The funny thing about ‘good’ and ‘evil’ is about choice child,” “What do you mean?” “You are always given a choice child, no matter what circumstances you will face you will always have a choice; now each choice whether it is a difficult one or an easy one will always have a consequence. Whether that is losing a life, losing your mind, or having someone else take the fall there is always a price to pay. You cannot decide if the choice you make is the right one or the wrong one because no matter what choice you chose the world will find a way to make it look evil. Humans will always say killing is wrong but what if killing that person saves the lives of others? What if in that person was going to commit a horrendous crime and you had to take his life? There is always a choice Gray, most people just refuse to take the one that has the most consequences. They don’t want to be painted as a villain so they chose the one that will allow them to be the hero in the minds of others. As I’ve said little one, you can’t survive in this corrupted world by always doing what is right, you must break the rules and damn the consequences. Kill a life, save a thousand that is what I stand by and that is how I live,” “You mean how you hunted down all those people? Because you were worried that they will repeat what they would do?” “Yes child, some might say I did not have to kill everyone that I only had to kill the ones responsible for Eren’s death but in my mind what I was doing was right while in the eyes of others what I did was commit a monstrous crime. Remember this child you are a villain in one story, but a hero in another, some will try and paint as the villain and others will view you as the hero. Just remember this child, no man chooses evil because it is evil; he mistakes it for happiness the good he seeks, ” Acnologia looked at the sky as memories of the boy resurface, of how he was quick to listen to the queen and king when they told him he had to leave the kingdom and search for a criminal that never existed, how he found Eren’s body and the pain he felt. This was something he did not want a repeat of and he plan to never let something like this happen ever again. “This world pushes us without mercy and when some decide to push back the world points and screams monster. So whatever you do let this world call you a monster, in the end no matter what you do that is all they will try to paint you as,” Gray stared at the dragon before he looked at the sky. “Whatever I chose, if I chose to train with you or walk away from this I will have to pay a price. That price is either my humanity or my sanity,” Acnologia looked at the boy as he spoke, “I am free to choose but that doesn’t mean I will be free from suffering whatever consequence of my choice,” he looked at the dragon. The dragon and human stared at one another for a few short moments before Gray said, “I’ll stay,” “Are you sure?” “Yes, I want to defeat Deliora and in order for me to do that I have to be strong and not be afraid, I want to be able to fight, like you said Acnologia this world is full of horrible people that will not hesitate to kill me, I don’t want be weak and only fight them and put them in jail only for them to be free and come back and hurt me. I want to be strong and have the ability to kill them without blinking an eye. I don’t want to be weak,” “A rather impulsive decision wouldn’t you say?” “Yes but if I don’t make a choice now I will back out of it if I think to hard on it,” “Very well child you have made your choice, now be prepare for your training, it begins now,” “Alright, tell me what I have to do,” “The first thing you are going to do is kill someone,” Gray’s eyes widen in surprise, he was going to kill someone, on the first day? “Kill someone?” “Yes child you’re going to kill someone, that someone is you. You are going to kill the person you were yesterday,” Gray stared at Acnologia in confusion. “Yes child, you are going to kill the person you were yesterday,” “How do I do that?” Without warning Acnologia swung his tail and made contact with Gray’s tiny body sending it flying and hitting the trees. When Gray landed, he stared at the sky and was trying hard to fill his lungs with air. His body was in agonizing pain. He could hear a loud ringing sound in his ears, as he tried to breath in air he could feel his ribs aching which meant they were either cracked, bruised, or worse broken. He could feel blood running down his head as well as his left arm, turning his head slowly his eyes widen in fear as his saw arm in an angle that it wasn’t supposed to be in. He looked down or tried to look down at his legs and saw that a bone was sticking out while the other one looked fine which meant that it was probably thing only thing that escape the attack with minimal pain. He closed his eyes as tears started falling down his eyes; it hurt, not just the physical pain but the emotional pain. For some reason Acnologia’s attack somehow made him realized the loss of his family, granted it only happened a few hours ago but he still didn’t cry. The dragon’s attack remined him of Deliora’s; it came unexpected, paralyzed him with fear, and left a dull ache in his heart. Acnologia approached the human; his body was broken, his heart shattered, and his soul crumbling into pieces that will never be repaired. He watched as the boy cry not only from his attack but from the memories of Deliora taking everything away from the boy. “Scream boy and let it all out because as of today this will be the only time you will be weak, the only time you will allow Yourself to cry, because no one will ever be worth your tears; so cry little one cry and let the pain of yesterday escape your body,” That’s what he did, for the rest of the day Gray did nothing but scream and cried all the pain he felt in his heart as he remembered Acnologia’s words, “Empty is no good, you must fill eyes, if not with joy, then with sadness and pain. Even hate is better than empty." His eyes, his heart, his soul, nothing but hatred will fill his mind and body; revenge for his family, killing anything that threatens those he cares about, and he will never allow himself to be weak ever again. He will never let another person he cares about to ever get hurt. Yes, Gray will become exactly what Deliora wants him to be; a monster, a living, breathing, and killing machine. He will become all that and more. His name will bring fear to every man that will ever hear it, his face will become the nightmare of every human being and they’ll pray they never have to cross his path. Yes, he will become the worst thing in this world that his methods of killing will make hell look like heaven; he will be a monster but for now…for now he will just be Gray Fullbuster, the child who lost everything… Two years later Gray stared at the ocean; he watched as they pushed and pulled along the shore, how every now and then the waves would get a little bigger and a little louder. He took a deep breath and released it, he watched as his breath attack went straight for the water; however instead of make the ocean split in two he saw how it just went through the water; granted he saw how both sides went three feet higher than the last time he did this it still angered him that he wasn’t able to split the water in half. “You have improved young warrior, you almost had it,” “Almost means nothing to me, it just means you’re doing okay and haven’t improved,” “I did informed you that you are improving did I not,” “You only said that first so that I can feel good about myself, it wasn’t until you added the word almostat the end of your sentence. Which meant I am nowhere near advancing to the next level,” Acnologia laughed as he looked down at his student. “You are right child, I was trying to lighten the blow by being nice first and the criticize you in the end,” “I figured as much,” “Still, I will not lie; you have come a long way. You have mastered more than half of my spells, your breath attack keeps getting stronger, you have come a long way,” “I guess I have, it’ll still take some time before I can face Deliora, I am not strong enough to kill him,” “Then perhaps you should learn new spells, spells that will prepare you and assist you in your fight against Deliora,” “What kind of spells?” “Follow me child,” The dragon and human walked side by side as they headed deeper into the forest, the two then arrived in a large building that Acnologia allowed Gray to live in. “You will go to the library and read all my books on Devil Slaying Magic, this spell will help you when it comes to defeating Deliora,” Gray nodded his head and headed for the library. When Acnologia showed him this building he told him that the island they were inhabiting use to be the place he and Eren would come to spent time together. The dragon told the human that inside the building there was a library that was filled with endless of books filled with knowledge of empires, forbidden spells, lost magic, spells that were difficult to master and so on. Every morning Gray would be in the library studying different battle strategies, learning new kinds of ways to heal himself, and more about dragons. Acnologia informed Gray that if he wants to be a skilled warrior he must be as strong as he is brave, which meant he had to read, a lot. It is also the reason Acnologia gave him the library so that he could brush on his knowledge. Acnologia wanted his student to be wise and strong; he would not allow a pupil of his to be dimwitted as Igneel’s and Metalichana’s boys. He’s seen those two boys and it amazed him that they have survived this long without either dragon. He refused for his student to become an easy target for manipulation or to die in battle due to poor strategy. Granted he knew there will be times Gray will have to listen to his instincts but for now he wanted the boy to learn everything he can about battle strategies as well as having knowledge on technology and how it works. Gray searched for the book of devil slaying magic when he found it he pulled it out and began to read it. Once he absorbed the information the book had he stepped outside to see Acnologia waiting for him. “Well?” “It seems like it could be helpful, but how will that work if I am training to be a dragon slayer?” “The answer is simple child, you will be a dragon slayer, however you will know the spell it takes to kill demons, after all devil slaying magic came from me,” “Really?” “Yes it was a part of my abilities and I used it to destroy any demons that entered the Kingdom,” “I see,” “Yes, now do you wish to learn it?” “I do,” he said. Acnologia smirk as he began to show Gray the steps he needed to take in order to master the spell. One year later Acnologia stared at the thirteen-year-old before him, long gone was the small child that lost everything and in his place was a weapon that was ready for battle. “Three years child, you have grown and learned a lot over these three years, now are you ready for your final test?” “Yes, I am ready,” “Good, once this task is complete you would have officially killed the person you used to be, Deliora is the last thing connecting you to your past, once it is dead you will no longer be connected to your past and the boy you once knew will be long gone,” “I sacrificed everything to get this training; my sanity, my morals, and most importantly my childhood, me caring about killing who I use to be is the last thing on my mind,” “Well said child, now let’s go, we must get to the village that the demon is attacking, I will tell you this; killing Deliora will not be easy, he will use any weakness against you, in fact don’t be surprise if he becomes someone from your past and uses it against you,” “Very well then, let’s go otherwise we will lose sight of him,” Gray hoped on Acnologia’s back, the dragon took to the sky as he and the human flew across the lands and headed for the demon known as Deliora… Chapter End Notes For news and updates on my stories follow me on tumblr and twitter Tumblr: go-n-ef Twitter: go_n_ef_ songs that inspired this chapter -Broken by Leona Lewis _Broken by seether ft amy lee -Broken Pieces by Apocyliptica ft lacy -House of Pain by Biggie ft Mary J. Blige -I don't care by Apocyliptica ft Adam Gontier -It's a fight by 3-6 Mafia -Spill my blood by three six mafia End Notes Love it hate it tell me what you think ^^ For news and updates on my stories follow me on tumblr and twitter Tumblr: go-n-ef Twitter: go_n_ef_ Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!