Prologue
Fifteen years. Fifteen years since anyone had seen him. Since they'd seen his brighter than sunshine smile. Since they'd heard his unrestrained laughter. Since anyone, anyone at all, had laid eyes on Natsu Dragneel. It wasn't that he was missing; that would an agreeable change of events when one considered the horrible truth. It wasn't that he had been taken, although this was much closer to the truth. It wasn't even that he had run away; why would he with Igneel dead and Achnologia nowhere to be found. No, the horrible truth was, Natsu was in prison, a prison so dark he would never see the sun; so small he had to curl in on himself just to fit inside; so inescapable there was no door, no window, and truly no lock as is was sealed with magic. Reserved for the most terrible offenders the Magic council had only used it in one other case, ironically on another Fire Dragon slayer, some millennia ago when they were much more common; though even then Fire had been a rare element for a Dragon slayer, being unruly and nigh uncontrollable. In fact, when faced with the full potential of a Fire Dragon Slayer, Fiore had almost been destroyed; brought to its knees in a single night.
They called it a Ṭirākaṉ ciṟaiccālai, which translate literally to dragon prison, though most called it the Dragon Sphere. The two halves were inlaid with detailed pictures of the Great War, in which Fiore did battle with the Black Dread, a Dragon Slayer whose true name was washed away by the ages. This Dragon Slayer, the very same that was the cause of so much strife within the kingdom that it almost led to its dissolution, was defeated and imprisoned by the Nine the first paragons of the magical world, and the first wizards to sit on the magic council; after discovering that they were unable to slay him, he was locked away in the first Dragon Sphere which was sealed in the highest point of the Towers of Era. And now it had a companion, an almost identical sphere suspended right next to it…identical, save the steam….and the strange luminescent red liquid dropping from the sphere leaving scorch marks on the floor in their wake; in fact upon further inspection they appeared to be eating into the floor.
Danos, one of the only human guards employed by the magic council, stepped closer to inspect the enclosment. "What the hell is happening to this thing?" He asked himself, feeling the true heat of the liquid for the first time since entering the room. He drew his hand close to inspect the viscous material, finding it to be…well, hot, just as he expected. Why the hell did he have to touch it, that shit hurt. "Should call the Chairman. He'll know what to do." Nodding to himself he moved to hall to alert one of those goddamn toads…freaks. "Hey, Nadal! Summon Chairman Seam, this sphere thing is screwing up."
"Must you be so crude?" The humanoid replied "The Chairman doesn't have time for your nonsense in any case, he's busy with important work for his Majesty. Why are you so unsettled? You should be used to the Ṭirākaṉ moving by now?"
"It isn't moving, it's leaking. And the leaks are starting to eat at the floor. Like bleed right through, you know? So could you move your toad ass and get 'im. Or, fuck, any of the Councilman that can handle this bullshit 'cause I'm guessing its way above my paygrade."
"Everything's above your paygrade," Nadal whispered under his breath as he waddled down the hallway as fast as his misshapen legs would carry him. If what the ruffian said was true…well, best they verify the information before he jumped to conclusions. Still…he shuddered, running now; this could be very bad.
Burning. He was burning, on fire, how odd. Fire had never bothered him before, he'd almost forgotten that sweet tingle of heat; it sat on the surface of his skin, digging itself in like fingernails in that way that flirted with hurting but felt so decadent. He tried to roll his shoulders, to savor that luscious crawl of heat up his back, but found himself rather immobilized. He pondered this while attempting to wiggle his fingertips, perhaps it was a trick of his brain; but no, he couldn't move those either. How long had it been since he'd felt such imprisonment? Not since his days in the sparrow house, long before FairyTail, before Igneel, before he was ever truly alive; it seemed so long ago now he could laugh but for the weeping, the suffering he felt deep inside. What was this? What was happening to him? Erza, Lucy, Happy, Gray, someone please, help me… Silence. Naught but silence greeted him. No one was coming. He was burning, his world being torn asunder, and no one was coming to save him. He was alone. Why? Truly? Who could say? Was it all just a dream? Perhaps, but how cruel, give him a taste of freedom, comradery, companionship only to rip it from him in the form of this waking nightmare.
There was a tickle, a tingling sensation in the back of his mind, tendrils of another beast yearning for its own freedom. We are the Dragon. We cannot be tamed. We cannot be caged. We succumbed once. Never again; break free, spread our wings, and besiege them. It didn't matter who, this was him, clearly, and he was right. He yearned for freedom ever since he was a small boy. He sacrificed his right to call himself free the day he took himself to the Yo-man for the sake of his mother, crippled with the Sweat, his father, a gambler and a fool, his siblings, beaten at the hands of their own masters not long after their father had indentured them to pay off his own debts. They were dead, the city of Artis was dead, and yet he alone would….no that was wrong. He needed out. This place whatever it was it was changing him. So many voices. Too many voices. Please, please release me. Make it end. Pleas, Gods just give me peace. It hurts…so much…so much. The burning, the voices. It's too much. Please, just kill me. Let me die. I'd rather be in the ground than suffer this torment. Please…..
Just then, a light burst through the veil; a crack in walls he never saw. He could move, he was moving. He breathed a sigh of relief as his world was flooded with light. His light, his freedom. His salvation.