Family is More Than Blood
Arc 1 Chapter 1: About Dreams of Memories and A Cry for Help
Ishgar, 400 years ago…
Lidia sighed in content as she walked through the forest. The trees always gave her a much required sense of silence and solitude when she needed, and it had never failed in making her feel at peace watching the light and shade chasing each other through the gaps in the tree leaves. From afar, so heard the light bubbling and giggling of the water pond she walked past earlier. If there was something she had always enjoyed is bathing in those little cleared-water ponds, standing under the morning sun and listening to the birds chirping and announcing that the day has begun.
The brown-haired woman had stopped at a little clearing in the forest, taking a deep, long breath and just enjoying the silence. closing her eyes and stretching all her senses to all directions in order to take in everything she could- before her eyes suddenly opened, realizing what it is that her senses were trying to tell her. The quiet of the forest, it was unnatural. No birds chirping, no little animals running around, no laughing sound of the humans from the nearby village and the smell of… smoke?
Lidia clenched her teeth and fists before bolting in the direction of the smell, anger bubbling up her throat and the feelings of hope, self-loathing and murderous intent mixing inside her. arriving at the village, already prepared for the destruction and calamity that had claimed it as their own, she was not prepared for the number of bodies that were laying on the dirt paths between the houses, the once light-browned colored road was tainted in dark red, flooding the streets and making walking there completely impossible if you wanted to go out of the village with clean feet.
Sighing again, this time in defeat, Lidia was about to turn away and walk to the nearest river to clean her now blood-tainted feet. The dragons struck again huh? She thought to herself in sadness why can't they just get along with humans and stop pouring the blood of innocents? Why not treat them like equals and be allies? Shaking her head, she made her way down the village towards the small river at the end, taking in the burning ruins of the houses and mourning the lost lives of the villagers, who once owned said homes. It was a tragedy that does were the times they lived in, where the dragons saw themselves as the ruling race over the land, sea and sky, while the humans saw themselves as superior to the dragons, thus provoking the latter to open in some sort of twisted tug-of-war kind of game, where two teams fight with almost equal power for the win, but the only way to win is completely erase the other team's race.
She stopped near the farthest house of the village, which was also the closest to the river, and bent down to observe two bodies laying on the ground, seemingly dead. The first one was a male with pink hair and quit the lean build. He was wearing a white toga with a red sash tied from his shoulder to his pelvis. He would have even seemed handsome if not for the ugly hole in his stomach, staining his white toga in mud and blood. But what really interested Lidia was that the woman who was beside him, was alive. The woman had black curly hair and a pale skin, dawning around her neck a jewel that held two long white sashes that splitted in the middle of her chest, covering it on the sides and reconnecting down as a gown. She seemed bruised badly and it was quite the miracle she hadn't die up until now, seeing as only those with high magical abilities managed to survive those kinds of injuries for long, and Lidia didn't sense much magic power coming from the woman.
Carefully placing the black-haired woman in her lap, Lidia touched her on the forehead, channeling a tiny bit of pain-killing magic in order to help the woman wake up, removing her fingers once she saw that the woman's eyelashes are stirring open. Once the woman opened her eyes, Lidia smiled at her, leaning closer and speaking in a calming tone.
"Wha- what happened?" The woman asked, seemingly suspicious of the person in front of her.
"You really should not be up yet. Your village has been attacked, you're the first one i found that is alive." Lidia answered, slowly placing the woman on the ground to help her regain some much-needed space.
The woman's eyes grew bigger in fear and shock "what about my husband? and Natsu and Zeref?! Where are they?!" She tried to get up, but Lidia pushed her down again.
"About your husband, I'm sorry but i arrived too late to help him" Lidia pointed towards where the pink haired man laid with an apologetic look in her eyes "and who are Natsu and Zeref?" She asked.
The woman looked at her husband for a moment, closing her eyes to block the tears that were already streaming down her face "Natsu and Zeref are my sons. Zeref is the oldest, about 7 years old. Natsu is 4 years old. Did you see them somewhere?" She asked with hope in her eyes.
Lidia shook her head " I haven't seen them in the village" she said. The woman looked like the wind had just left her sails "but it might be because they're still alive" she tried to be optimistic.
In truth, Lidia knew that the woman didn't have much time left. The fact that she managed to stay alive with her injuries for so long is a mystery by itself, but from her scent she got an hour tops, and that's being extra optimistic. It seems that the woman knew it too, as her head was hung low and her eyes seemed to have a kind of empty defeat look in them.
She laid a hand on her belly, laughing slightly "so in the end I never got to give birth to you huh?" She asked with dark mirth in her voice.
Lidia blinked fast several times "wait, you're with child?" She asked her in shock.
"Yeah," the woman sighed "and i was so excited from the fact that I'm finally having a girl, too" she continued caressing her -now noticed by Lidia- slightly visible baby bump.
The woman then lifted her head and smiled towards her " I don't suppose you use magic now do you?" She asked the surprised Lidia.
"Actually, i am quiet the gifted mage" Lidia admitted, inwardly laughing at herself for such description. A mage wasn't exactly what she was, but on the same time, the woman wasn't wrong in her assumption that Lidia can use magic.
The woman then bit her lower lip, seemingly contemplating on whether she should ask her question or not. After a few minutes, she seemed to have made up her mind, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before opening them again and looking the Brown-haired woman in the eyes "would you be willing to use your magic to transfer my baby from me to you?" She asked her with nervousness.
Lidia blinked once. Then twice, the words sinking in while she felt as if a few hundred little Lidias just started running around in her head, screaming at the top of their lungs.
"Transfer your baby to me? What do you mean by that?" She asked the woman, feeling probably the most lost she had ever felt in her entire life.
" From what I understand, it's a simple Transmitting Magic that moves the object from one place to the other" the woman explained as if it was the most natural thing to ask of a stranger before you die.
" No, i understood that part. What i didn't understand was why would you want me to transfer your baby to me." Lidia couldn't think for the life of her why would this woman want her to transfer her unborn baby to another woman's body.
The woman smiled "look, we both know i don't have more than a few minutes before i die," she said with a surprisingly peaceful face " all i can hope for is that the little girl inside of me will have a chance in life and not just die before she even had a shot at life. It just doesn't seem fair towards her."
"And you decided that the best option you got is asking a complete stranger to grow your baby in their body, then live with them as if the baby was their own?" Lidia was seriously doubting the woman's sanity.
The woman made a "tsk" sound as she shook her head in slight amusement. " While you are a complete stranger to me, i am also a complete stranger to you. Yet somehow, you're still here, and i can see you are actually thinking about it. You could have walked away from the village, yet you came here even at the danger of dragons being around just to see if someone is still alive. You're a good person, and all i want is for my kids to be raised with love, and you seem like the perfect candidate for the job" she smiled at her, and Lidia could see the confidence the woman had in her. The brown-haired woman clenched her teeth and let out a long breath. She could feel the way life were slowly losing their grip on the black-haired woman, and knew she didn't have much time.
Ugh. I am about to do probably the most stupid thing i have ever done in my life "fine" she said. Startling the woman in front of her "I'll transfer the baby to me and raise her" the dying woman looked as if she's about to cry from joy, jumping up from the ground and hugging Lidia tight, thanking her over and over again.
"Okay. Now I'm going to need you to lay down while i use this spell. Don't move if you can please." She informed the woman who was choke-hugging her.
The woman nodded, settling back on the ground and closing her eyes. Only then did Lidia realized how shallow her breath was, and how pained her movements seemed. They were running out of time, so she better get on with the spell. Laying a hand on top of the woman's belly, and the other on her own, she closed her eyes and started whispering the magic words, summoning the magic from the air, the grass, the sky, the river and from herself. Reciting the last words, she said " for from one place you were then, and now you came forth and settled here" creating a golden magic circle around them. Suddenly, light started to emit from the woman's stomach and passing through Lidia's hand, arriving at her stomach that started glowing as well. Slowly, the light from the woman's body began to disappear, while the glow from Lidia was only getting stronger. And then suddenly it stopped, and the glow faded away with a whispering sound. Feeling the baby that was now safely inside of her, Lidia looked down to see the woman panting and sweating, her skin going paler by the minute. Laying a hand on her forehead, she could feel the life of the woman fading away rapidly. The woman then smiled at her with tears in eyes full of pain, yet she seemed more at peace then before.
"Thank… you" she whispered weakly, grabbing Lidia's hand as the tears rolled down her cheeks " but… may i ask one thing from you before you go?" She asked.
Lidia nodded, smiling at her "anything" she assured.
"I want you to name her Merry. Merry Dragneel." The woman said.
Lidia nodded, caressing the woman's tear stained cheek "I promise i will"
The woman smiled and laid her head on the ground once more, closing her eyes and letting out a content sigh as she passed away quietly, as if she just fell asleep.
Lidia stayed on her knees, staring into space and feeling the unborn child within her settle in and start to feed of her magic. Shaking her head, she got up and went to work. With a swift motion of her hand, several rectangular holes appeared in the ground. With another motion of her hand, suddenly the burning and bloody village were gone, and all the bodies of the dead were placed inside the graves she made. Slowly bending down, she picked up the woman and carried her to a grave in the front, carefully placing her near her husband inside and filling the graves with dirt using a pulling motion with her arm. Another snap of her fingers and tombstones of various sizes and shapes were placed on top of the graves. Bending down once more, she sat on her heels in front of the couple's grave and wrote one word on it. After finishing that, she got up and stretched her arms above her head. "Well, it's time we get moving as well, don't you think?" She asked her belly with a smile. She may not be the real mother of the girl, but she will do whatever she can to make her feel loved and comfortable.
Turning her back to the graveyard she created, smoke appeared to come out of her skin while her limbs got bigger and grew golden shiny scales. Her face started to change, her jaw becoming less defined and sharper in its shape, as her face skin grew scales as well. her back sprouted giant wings and a long tail, sharp claws and teeth growing as well. She could feel the baby inside of her turning into a dragon fetus and inwardly sighed. She knew that if she took the baby, the moment she transformed into a dragon the fetus will change as well. Oh well, she thought to herself at least she will grow as a dragon princess, no one will dare lay a hand or claw on her because of her human origin. Lidia grinned to herself after all, nobody wants the wrath of the dragon queen on their tail.
Spreading her wings, she took off into the sky, soaring high above the clouds to avoid being seen. Even as the queen, there are dragons who don't respect her and will do anything to destroy the humans despite her forbidding any kind of violence towards another species. Being a peace-loving dragon have always been something that others looked down on, but she will raise the girl like that, and teach her all the ways of being peaceful and fair towards everybody, as well as how to protect those who she loves the most.
Chuckling quietly to herself, she thought about the name that her now future daughter will have. Merry. Such a happy name, she loved it. Just what her world needed, some happiness in those dark times. Although the girl won't be born for a few more years with the unique biology of the dragons, she couldn't wait to meet her. Her daughter, Merry Dragneel.
Chuckling again, she rolled her eyes. Dragneel she thought in amusement Who in the world has a name like that?
Giltena, X793…
Natsu was having that dream again.
It started as it always does; he was sitting in a chair in front of a wood table and barley reached its surface. On his right sat a beautiful black-haired woman, and on his left sat his ever-so-lovely-to-see older brother, Zeref. To say that Natsu hated Zeref was like saying that Erza thought strawberry shortcakes were just "okay". No, Natsu hated Zeref with every fiber of his being, so big was his hatred for the man, every time he remembered they were related made him want to puke his guts out. The man in front of Natsu moved, putting more cooked meat into his mouth and shaking Natsu out of his thoughts, making him turn to face the other pink-haired guy in the room. Ignoring the fact that Zeref was there with him, smiling at him as everything is just great, the dream did have a silver lining in it: He got to see his parents.
His mother had a beautiful black hair and shining eyes, with a pale skin and a loving smile that never seemed to leave her lips. He could almost hear her voice, imaging it would be soft and sweet, just like Lucy's voice. His father on the other hand, had pink hair and tanned skin just like Natsu and olive-green eyes with the same shape as his. His voice would probably be rougher, like Gildart's voice.
They were sitting comfortably around the table and ate their meal. Zeref talked to their parents, though Natsu couldn't hear what he was saying due to the fact that the dream had no sound. Everything felt normal until suddenly the house started shaking, making all the tools and decorations on the wall to fall down and break into tiny pieces. Natsu couldn't move at all, not for lack of trying though. He struggled to order his body to move, but felt like he was paralyzed and could only watch helpless as his father scooped Zeref into his arms and grabbed Natsu by his white, tiny toga, before running outside with his wife to see what's going on. Looking up at the sky, Natsu noticed about five dragons hovering above the village, causing mayhem and destroying every house they encountered. What bothered Natsu the most was that he couldn't hear anything. No screams of terror, no collapsing buildings and not even the roars of the dragons, which should have been pretty freaking loud if you think about it! Suddenly, he felt a chill running down his spine, willing his head to look up, he immediately cursed himself at doing so when he found himself looking straight into one of the dragon's eyes, as the dragon opened his mouth and a storm of ice spikes in the size of fences came down on his family, one penetrating his father's gut, making him drop Natsu and Zeref and immediately disappearing afterwards. His father fell to ground face first, as the ice spikes missed their mother's critical points with their sharp end but still his her hard enough to make her fall to the ground. Zeref started crying, large tears streaming down his face as he ran to his parents, missing the large spike on its way to kill him. That's when Natsu's body started to move, shoving Zeref's body out of the way and taking the hit himself, dying immediately. Usually that was when Natsu woke up in cold sweat and panting, his mind still revisiting the moment of his death before he was brought back as E.N.D from the book of demons, but not this time.
The first thing Natsu noticed is that the sky is clear. No smoke and no dragons were seen anywhere on the horizon. The second thing he noticed was that he was no longer in his toddler body. He was back at his own, tall, 21-year-old body. He got up, finally having control over his body, and looked around. It still looked like where his village once was, but instead of houses there was just a lot of graves. Walking towards the graves, he saw that they all had smooth tombstones in different shapes and shades of marble. well, all but one that had something written on it. Before he could lean down and see what exactly was written on the stone, his shoulders tensed as he felt another presence near him. Turning around, he saw a young woman sitting near the river, watching him with a soft smile. She had a long, flowing black hair with tips and highlights in pink that reached the small of her back. She wore a white, short-sleeved blouse that revealed her abdomen and shoulders and highlighted her even paler skin. Two black shiny orbs were looking at him from a small and feminine face with interest while the subtle wind made her knee-length white skirt flutter gently. She had no shoes, but two golden thick golden bracelets decorated her ankles as well as her wrists. When she realized he was looking at her, her smile broke into a grin as she lifted her hand a greeting. Something about her bugged Natsu. He had a feeling they met before somewhere, but couldn't remember exactly when. He started to walk towards her but stopped in his tracks as she got up and walked towards him as well, clasping her hands behind her back and chuckling with no sound.
"Who are you?" Natsu's voice sounded hoarse, like he hadn't used it in a while.
The girl only hid her mouth as she giggled, her long hair falling like a waterfall in front of her, hiding her face for a second before she tucked it behind her ear.
She twirled around, and started to the river where she sat before. Just like water, her movements entranced him with their fluid like motions. She made her way to the edge of the river and hesitated for a second before entering. Natsu had a bad feeling about the water, it looked dark and unpleasant, probably cold as well.
"Hey wait!" He called after her, discovering that once again, he wasn't able to move.
Struggling to break free, he tried to twist his body, but was able to move a muscle.
"Come back! Hey, I'm talking to you!" He yelled, but the girl didn't seem to notice at all.
Now deep inside the river, she turned around to look at him. seeing that he wasn't smiling back at her and instead seemed to be struggling, she started to make her way back to the shore to help him, before five chains flew out of the river suddenly, warping themselves around her limbs and neck, making her fall to her knees in the water as the chains dragged her slowly underwater water.
Natsu, now struggling harder than ever, could only watch as the girl was dragged backwards, with her eyes pleading for help as her mouth screamed things that could not be heard.
"Stop! Leave her alone!" He yelled, but felt his consciousness quickly giving out to the mysterious power that held him down in his place. The girl's whole body was underwater now, leaving only her face above the water. She looked at him terrified, her lip quivering and tears in her eyes as her head started to ascend down the river as well.
She looked at him and open her mouth, yelling out a single word before completely disappearing under the now black water "Natsu!"
"NOOO!" Natsu screamed, sitting up in his tent. His heart was racing and he was sweating all over the place.
"Natsu! Are you alright?" Lucy looked at him with worry in her eyes, clearly startled from his sudden shout.
Natsu looked around. He was in his, Gray and Happy's tent, also known as the boy's tent. And yet, Lucy, Erza, Wendy and Carla were there with him, as well as Gray and Happy. They all looked nervous, like they didn't really know what was going on.
He swallowed "wha- what's going on?" He asked, confused as to why everybody were looking at him. He also noticed he was only wearing his boxers, so he made a reminder to not get up as long as Wendy's there.
"You were tossing and turning all over the place, also you were shouting stuff and sweating like hell, so i called Wendy to take a look at you" Gray explained, examining the pink-haired dragon slayer face.
Lucy laid her hand on Natsu's bare shoulder, looking into his eyes "are you alright Natsu? You looked like you were fighting someone. Did you have a nightmare?" She knew it would embarrass him to admit he had a nightmare, but she had to know what's got him acting like this.
Natsu shook his head and ran a hand through his pink disheveled locks. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he looked at his partner's face and gave her a reassuring smile. That nightmare was bad, he'd be the first to admit it, but it wasn't worth getting Lucy all worked up about it. Shifting on his sleeping bag, he stretched and yawned loudly, while his stomach started growling demanding that a sacrifice for her sake is required. Looking up at his team again, he decided to play it dumb. Well, dumber than usual.
"Nah, nothing like that. Just dreaming about fighting someone strong" he lied "anyway, I'm starving. What's for breakfast?" His friends seem to have bought the act, though Lucy did look at him weirdly, and started to make their way out of the tent, to get started on breakfast. Even Happy went to help them, though he claimed that if they all ate raw fish for breakfast it would save everyone lots of trouble. Lucy stayed with him in the tent for a moment, examining his face, before shrugging and getting out as well, probably to lecture Happy about his obsession with fish.
Sighing, Natsu got up and started looking for his clothes. Once he had his favorite one-sleeved trench coat on and his usual white baggy pants, he stepped out of the tent towards were the campfire was. Feeling like his stomach was trying to eat herself, he made his way in a beeline towards the fire, sitting down and immediately starting to munch on it, savoring the delicious flavor of wood-based fire. After evaporating the fire into literally nothing, he got up from his crouching position and sat next to Lucy on a lug in front of the now empty bonfire. Everybody else, already used to seeing Natsu just eat the campfire when he wants, were eating their own meals besides Lucy and Happy, who were arguing about Happy's eating habits.
"I'm just saying that cooking the fish from time to time won't kill you!" Lucy exclaimed in frustration, throwing her hands in the air.
"No! I would never cook fish. It makes it lose all the fishiness! Right Natsu?" Happy looked at him with a make-me-cook-that-fish-and-i-will-end-you look that was one of the only things in the world that actually scared him. And it worked, once again, like a charm.
"C'mon Luce! So he doesn't cook the fish. Big deal. At least he's eating!" Natsu settled his hands behind his head, settling in the blond's lap as he prepared himself for his after-breakfast nap. Lucy huffed in annoyance that Natsu wasn't taking her side and pushed him off her to the ground. Getting up and rubbing his head, the pink-haired dragon slayer wandered what was it with his partner and pushing him off things. Her lap, her bed, in the end he always found himself on the floor with a sore spot on the back of his head.
They finished eating and packed their stuff before hitting the road to the train station. There was still half a day before they would arrive at the town, which for Natsu and Wendy meant half a day of heaven before going on a literal ride from hell. Ever since he was small, Natsu had a really bad motion sickness that just got in the way of everything he wanted to do. Sometimes he found himself wondering; if dragon slayers get motion sickness after unlocking their potential, what about fully-grown dragons? Would they get motion sickness or is it just something that came with the profession for slayers? Natsu was also aware that his friends and guild never really believed he was smart enough to think about questions like that, and they were wrong. Sure, he isn't the brightest. And yes, he had a hard time understanding more detailed things, but he wasn't an idiot in any kind, shape or form. Yeah, he could be dense, but everyone that's close to him knew how sharp he could be when he wanted to. Especially Lucy. She might have called him in the past an idiot, but that was just because he annoyed him by breaking into her apartment. No, she knew better than anyone that he wasn't an idiot, he was just a very, very very very very dense person.
Shaking his head, he let his thoughts wander back to the girl in his dream. She seemed around Lucy's age, meaning she was younger than him by two-three years at best, but her build was reminded him more of Erza. He felt like he was supposed to know her, and it bugged him that he couldn't pinpoint exactly how does he know her. Thinking about his annoying older brother Zeref, Natsu wondered if he has anything to do with it. Of course, asking the Black Mage is out of the option, seeing that he was dead, but maybe the book of E.N.D had some useful clues in it. Thinking back, he remembered that Gray destroyed the book at the end of the war against Alvarez in order to get some closure for his father, so checking the book was out of the question as well. Natsu gritted his teeth. Dammit! It seems his search for answers ended before it even begun. It was just a dream anyway he thought to himself it probably didn't mean anything. That girl probably isn't real, i just made her up. With this conclusion in mind, he decided to end his train of thoughts as his brain was starting to hurt for all the over thinking. He might not be an idiot, but thinking still wasn't his strong suit. Turning his head towards his friends, he decided to join in on their conversation.
"I'm just saying that he could have come say goodbye to you Erza. Who knows when he'll see you again and honestly you two have a lot to talk about" Lucy folded her arms to her chest, fuming.
Erza lifted her hands in to defend herself "he was busy! Even as a free man he still has some unfinished business to take care of!" She looked rather uncomfortable talking to Lucy about this subject, so Natsu decided to swoop in and save the day.
Slinging his arm around the blond's shoulders, he casually entered the argument "who's busy?" He asked nonchalantly, pretending he didn't know who they were talking about.
Lucy sent him a look that said "i know what you're doing and you're lucky i like you", to which he grinned at her and squeezed her shoulder, making her sigh and shaking her head at the antics of her partner. "Fine. I'll leave it alone for now, but don't you think this is over Erza." She looked over to the requip mage, lifting her finger towards her with a threatening tone in her voice. Erza shook her head and silently thanked Natsu and his timing as she hurried ahead towards Gray and Wendy that were walking in front of them.
Now alone, Natsu removed his arm from Lucy's shoulders and stuck them in his pockets as they walked side by side. Glancing at her from the corner of his eyes, he saw her biting and her lower lip with a hesitant look in her eyes. After a few minutes and an uncomfortable silence between them, she finally looked up at him, determination written over her face.
"So," she began, dragging the word on her tongue "are you going to tell me what your nightmare was about?" Damn she was sharp. Although most of his friends already forgot about it, of course Lucy just waited for the both of them to be alone so she can ask him what's going on. Knowing that he couldn't just wave her off and that lying would only make her dig harder, he decided to tell her about his dream, hoping maybe she'll know what it means.
After describing to her the last thing he remembered, he looked at her expectantly. Lucy was smart, she'll probably have an answer to his questions about the girl and what the chains meant. The celestial mage sank deep in thought, her hand supporting her chin as her brows furrowed in concentration.
"Well…" she trailed off "The first part, with the dragons attacking? That seemed to be a memory, or more accurately, your last memory before being brought back as… you know." She sounded hesitant to mention his demon nature, and Natsu inwardly kicked himself. Although she pretended that it didn't matter, he could see that she always avoided talking to him about Zeref being his brother or him being E.N.D, not that he blamed her. He never initiated a talk about those topics in the past himself. Shaking his head from his thoughts, he almost missed what she said " but the other part, the one with the girl and the chains, plus the fact that you couldn't hear anything, is what's really bothering me. From what you said, she seems to know you in some way, and the fact that it's the first time she ever appeared in your dream made me think of a couple of possibilities to what or who she is. But I can't know for sure, so until i get more information there isn't much we can do" she finished, letting her hands fall beside her and looking forward aimlessly.
Nodding, Natsu smiled reassuringly at her. "No worries Luce! It was probably nothing anyway." Lucy didn't seem convinced, but seeing as she had no counter arguments, she decided to drop the topic. In front of them, the others seemed to have stopped and were looking at a small town a few miles in the distance. "We're here!" Lucy called, cheering up. The thought of riding a train made Natsu's gut protest, and he felt his face turn green. "Do we have to ride the train?" He complained; Wendy didn't look better than him "it's a death trap! We might die" he tried to reason with the others. Erza shook her head and lifted an eyebrow at the sight of him "we haven't even arrived at the town you're already in shambles? Oh my." She smiled at him, quiet smugly, as she began to march to the town. Gray looked smug as well, but bent down to pick up a nauseated Wendy and carried her on his back. Happy flew over to Natsu and Lucy, helping the latter pick the dragon slayer up and carrying him to town.
Arriving at the train station, it was already evening, and a few stars were up in the sky. the team boarded the first train to Draseel, the center of Giltena. The moment the train started moving, Natsu and Wendy were dead to the world. He felt Lucy gently pull his head into her lap, caressing his hair in an attempt to sooth him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to fall asleep, hoping it would make the ride a bit shorter and less insufferable. Breathing in Lucy's sweet vanilla scent, he relaxed his muscles and closed his eyes, drifting into a dreamless, unpleasant sleep.
Elsewhere, at the same time…
Looking up at the star-filled sky, the man took a deep breath. Laying on the soft grass in the forest clearing and watching the stars was one of his favorite things to do. Well, besides causing mayhem and destroying stuff. He remembered a time were those things were never on his mind, a time where there was only one thing that he thought of, one thing that made him smile and feel as if he could do anything. But they took that thing from him, the damned mages came and took the only thing that made him sane. His feelings, his soul, his everything, taken away without a bat of an eye from them. And he is going to make them pay, to make them all pay.
Letting out a sigh, he got up. "Damn mages." He bitterly cursed " you just had to ruin star gazing too right? Well, no matter. Cause soon, I'll get rid of you all, then I'll go back and destroy the place that started it all. I'll burn it to the ground and won't leave a single soul alive. That i swear on my- no." He looked up to the night sky, his hand clutching his most precious possession, the necklace, he smiled " i swear on her life. And that's a promise I'm never going to break. Just like she did."
Stretching his arms, smoke began to appear from his skin as his limbs began to grow scales. Wings sprouted out of his back as his face became longer, forming a snout. Now a full dragon, he spread his wings and took off into the sky.
She never broke her promise to me, and I'm not going to break my promise either. This is my way, it's clear to me now.
The world better watch out, Ignia the Fire God Dragon is coming for you.
Aaaand done! What'd you think? It was so fun writing this chapter, and I'm excited to write the next one already!
If you haven't read the "Fairy Tail: The 100 Years Quest" manga or haven't finished the "Fairy Tail" manga yet it's fine, just be warned that this story will contain lots of spoilers for you.
Fair warnings, English is my second language so expect to find some mistakes here and there. Also, the characters I don't know much about yet may be a bit OCC. So just… if you have any suggestions about them leave a comment.
I don't own Fairy Tail or Fairy Tail: The 100 Years Quest. Hiro Mashima does.
Thanks for reading and see you next chapter!
Snowwaffles :)