Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima and only he owns it.
Nor do I own any names that are related to another game, anime or movie(s) and such.
I do own the idea of this story. Well, partly that is.
Credits for the original concept goes to: Tendencies' Wrath(AKA Kuroyagi)
Lost Cause.
Confidential Records 01: "How it started".
Home World - Planet Earthland.
Era Metropolis, Imperial District.
Dragneel Household, 20:40.
X575 AFC: 1st of February: 1 Year before the Civil War...
"Uh, Dad? What's an Akrid?"
The pink-haired General blinked in surprise as he heard the unexpected question from his four-year old son, Rob Dragneel. Natsu glanced from his newspaper and looked at the scarlet-haired boy, not knowing what to do exactly. He laid down the piece of paper on his table before turning to his son and bent down to his level, his knees supporting his hands.
"Son? Where did you learn of that name?" The rosy-haired man asked with a slight undertone, his face an emotionless mask as he looked intently at his son. Rob merely shrugged, looking with his innocent onyx eyes, which he inherited from him, at his father, making Natsu sigh and scratch his head unknowingly; how come he knew about that name?
Suddenly the boy perked up and ran away from the living room as he darted towards his parent's room, making it look like he realized something important for this conversion, leaving the twenty-eight year old commander to his thoughts.
"How does he now about that? I'm pretty sure I hid it somewhere nobody would look..." The pinkette musings were cut short as Rob ran inside the room again while holding on to a piece of paper, grinning triumphantly as he approached his father. The boy presented the paper to the pinkette.
"I found this while I was in your and mommy's room!" The kid grinned in a cheerful way, seemingly oblivious to his father's complete surprise as the older man looked at the sheet; the paper showed the illustrations of a giant insect with two extremely long curved arms which were supporting his upper body, a long, scaly neck covered in spikes and a lower body supported by two shorter legs while the lower body was covered in yellow-orange crystalline hide, making it look like some kind of liquid was inside the beast.
"Oh boy, Erza is going to kill me when she finds out Rob found these papers..." Natsu panicked as he thought what the woman would do to him when she discovered this. It was a very sensitive topic to Erza, hence why she didn't liked it when it was brought up, making the rose-haired man frown now that he thought about; she still wasn't over it, even after four years, still. Then again, she did lost someone precious to her.
"Dad?"
The pinkette felt a hand tuck at his own, making the older man look down at his kid with nostalgic eyes and mumbling a small 'hm'.
"Is something wrong? Did I do something bad?" The scarlet-haired boy glanced timidly at his father all of a sudden, making the man look at him with amused eyes. While the kid could be a brat and annoying as hell, he was a good-hearted boy and when he noticed that his parents looked at him with silent eyes, he could mostly discern something was off or wrong, like this time.
Natsu shook his head while chuckling before grabbing the boy under his armpits and lifting him up, earning him a yelp of surprise, bringing the boy close to his face.
"No Rob, you did nothing bad. This is just a drawing of a thing daddy saw when he was away while your aunt Meredy watched over you. You are too young to understand what it is, so there is no real harm in you knowing."
The boy pouted at his father, not liking it whenever he was told he was too young for this or too young for that, making the older man chuckle again. He rubbed his nose with Rob's in a sign of fatherly affection as Rob let out a snicker. Natsu then glanced at the clock and his eyes widened at the time. It was already nine o'clock and Rob was still awake.
"Oh snap..."
The boy raised his eyebrow at Natsu curiously, wanting to know why his father started becoming wet a bit all of a sudden as he touched the pinkette's forehead to wipe off some droplets of sweat. He glanced at his hand and then back to Natsu.
"Dad, you're wet..."
The man paid no attention to his kid as he remembered the ominous words of his wife. She emphatically pointed out that the kid should be in bed at eight so Rob could have his proper night's rest and sufficient amount of sleep. She also said she would be around nine back. Which meant anytime soon, Erza could walk inside the house and see Rob still awake. Which meant in its own rightful way that he would be at his wife's mercy. Oh, and Erza doesn't like it when something doesn't go as she wants it.
Women and their demands.
The rose-haired man sighed once more, holding his son with one arm while rubbing the back of his head with his other. His only thought was saving his hide and put the kid in bed before the woman came home and would give him hell for his irresponsibility, as she would put it.
The duo left the living room and Natsu strolled to Rob's room, sliding the door open before closing it again and approaching the kid's bed and tucking him in. The rose-haired man sat on the edge of the bed and took out one of those books Rob liked, went through some pages and sighed tiredly as he scowled.
It was that time of the day again where he would read some out of those children's books and he accidentally grabbed Rob's favorite and his most hated; 'Mushima the Magnificent'
"I can't believe children these days actually like this crap. What's so special and mesmerizing about an old man and his blue cat traveling around the world and spreading this 'everlasting friendship'. To make it worse, this is written by Hades himself! What was that old man thinking!?
The rosy-haired commander grumbled under his breath about how annoying this book was, but not loud enough that Rob could hear it. It would break his little heart if he learned his father considered this book crap.
Giving a side-glance to his son and smiling warmly at the kid, who was staring at him intently and waiting for him to start the 'adventure' like he wanted to call, the man then started to read the book out loud.
"There was once, in a faraway country, a man with great powers and wisdom accompanied by a pink dragon..."
Dragneel Household, 21:32
"Never am I going to read that book again... Never. Again."
Natsu just finished putting Rob to sleep as he carefully closed the door leading to the kid's room. The pinkette scowled in obvious annoyance. How many times did he told himself he wouldn't read that book again and do anything in his power to hide it so Rob could never find again? Many times he told himself that, but he also faltered many times when he saw that excited face of his four-year old brat. How could he do that when it brought Rob so much excitement?
"Exactly. I can't."
Standing in front of his window, the pinkette glanced outside and his eyes darted all across the Capital Metropolis of Earthland. His house, a penthouse worth more than five fortunes and given to him and his family by the government, was located on top of Era's tallest buildings: The famous Tower of Era, a structure reaching into the clouds with an impressive 2442 meters high. The pink-haired man enjoyed the sight, his eyes absorbed how dusk approached as the sun started to disappear under the horizon.
Natsu's eyes then gazed upon the multiple cars that were flying around the city, his orbs having a glint of nostalgia as he remembered the drawing his son showed him. He closed his eyes, completely trying to reminisce what he saw all those years ago.
And what he saw, he regretted.
Deeply.
The obscure image of a gigantic insect completely destroying everything in its wake came to his mind as it leveled buildings and crushed people under its pincer-like legs. Corpses were littered across the ground, rubble was scattered everywhere and destroyed mechs were all but burning or emitting small sparks of dis-functioning. The beast then glanced at him with his big green eyes, almost looking straight into Natsu' soul before letting out an earth-shattering roar, the air the breathed out as blue and cold as the chilling wind where it lived.
The rosy-haired father opened his eyes again, a glint of absolute terror obvious in his eyes before he quickly blinked it away. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and concentrated his thoughts as his gaze fell on the city in front of him again. He smiled humorlessly dryly to himself.
"How is it possible that a four-year old child can find something that is considered confidential." Natsu shook his head, having a slight idea how it was possible. "Guess I'm getting careless. That, or Rob really goes after Erza."
Natsu looked at the clock and his eyebrows rose in surprise because of the time. He turned to his window and gazed outside again.
"Strange, it's already 'quarter to ten' and Erza still hasn't arrived yet. She's always punctual. I wonder..."
The man suddenly heard something connect with the door's lock and he glanced over his shoulder, waiting to see who would enter. He already knew who it would probably be, hence why didn't had to turn around completely, but still.
The door opened and a mob of scarlet entered the house, wearing a long black coat with fur around the collars and the coat reached above her knees with crimson-red trimmings along the zip and the a bright yellow sarcelly-cross with the inscriptions of 'Heart Kreuz' horizontally sewn on the left breast, black low-heeled boots reaching to her knees with the bootlegs unfolded on the sides, showing the leathery inside of the boots. The woman's legs were covered in black tights which were neatly tucked inside her boots.
Erza turned around and carefully closed the door behind her before she caught the sight of Natsu standing in front of the window and looking past his shoulder at her. It was quite for a moment and it seemed like tension started to build up, but eventually Natsu was the first who started to break the silence.
"You're late. It's not like you to be this late." The man said as he noticed how Erza flinched under his tone. The scarlet-head looked at him sheepishly
"W-well..."
Erza was quite again and seemed like she was struggling in finding the right words if the nervous expression on her face could be trusted. Natsu raised his eyebrow in question and approached the woman carefully. He stood a mere meter in front of her and crossed his arms glancing down on the woman who was slightly shorter than him.
"Well...? Well what?"
This continued for a while, Natsu would stare down at his wife while the latter would sport a look of discomfort. It amused Natsu, seeing his stoic wife looking like that. She wasn't one for mistakes and if she made one, she would act as if she was a timid schoolgirl, something that Natsu found extremely amusing.
But what happened next wasn't something Natsu expected.
The scarlet-haired woman placed her hand over her heart and bowed slightly as she placed both her feet together and straightened her legs."I'm sorry to have disappointed you, sir! In the future, I won't be late and you have my word that I will correct my mistakes properly as is expected from a soldier like me! I'm more than willing to be punished for a my lack of responsibility!" The woman saluted, making Natsu sweatdrop heavily at his wife's antics.
That was a little too much.
The commander sighed tiredly as he ruffled his hair. This woman, who he was married to for five years and had a child with, was sometimes as formal with him as when he first wore his badge of office as a General. She acted like this when she didn't know how to handle the situation otherwise. He understood it went they were outside and on duty, but even in private?
Kind of frustrating.
The pinkette sighed for the last time before he reached out for the woman's hand that was placed over her heart. Natsu brought it to her side and started unzipping the woman's coat while he glanced at her with a slightly annoyed expression.
"You know I don't like formalities, especially when it's not needed. Are you doing this deliberately?"
The woman chuckled, her normal self present again she smiled affectionately at the man standing in front of her, who kept frowning in irritation.
"Well, I can't forget my training I had. With it came a lot of discipline. I think you're starting to get soft, Natsu.
When he was done unzipping her coat, Natsu took it off of her and hang it inside the closet while muttering something under his breath that Erza didn't quite catch. She brushed it off quickly and headed towards the kitchen.
"Why were you late anyway?" Natsu asked, making the woman stop in her tracks and glance his direction with a scowl of frustration.
"Lucy... While I love the woman for who she is and she's probably my best friend, she has the tendencies to drag me to places and shops that I don't bother visiting," The woman shook her head in exasperation as she remembered to how many shops they went. "Going to more than twenty key stores is one of them..." Erza growled, and it elicited a laugh from Natsu who now understood why she was late. The red-head growled to the pinkette, making him instantly reduce his laughing into small snickers. With a sigh, the woman made it no mind anymore since it was now over and entered the kitchen.
"You want some coffee too, Natsu?" She shouted while she was preparing some for herself as she looked at the assortment of coffee types the coffee maker had. She ultimately went with latte and tapped the screen that flashed with the name.
"Nah," Natsu shouted back as he sat on the couch while his arms were draped around the furniture. "I'm not really into coffee, give me a glass of water, instead." The pinkette nodded to himself.
The pinkette turned on his TV, browsing through the channels as he tapped away at it, his face changing sometimes from mild interest to boredom to complete boredom and on. He eventually stopped at the Planetary Channel of Earthland and what he heard the TV spout amused the General.
-Looking for a way to end the boredom? Want to prove your worth or just show your idiotic brainy friends how much you changed since the Academy? Join the Confederate Army today! Go to your nearest recruitment post now!-
"I can't believe they still use that line. What got into Gerard, I wonder sometimes."
The rosy-haired man turned off the TV and thought for a moment, facing the table while he supported his arms on his thighs. The drawing of the Akrid Rob showed was still somewhere inside his back pocket and it made him both smile and bothered when he remembered those memories. For several reasons, this memory could be seen as his, and Erza's, biggest turning point of their lives.
"You look tense, Natsu. Is something wrong?" Looking to his side, the pinkette saw Erza approach him with a coffee mug in one hand and a glass of water in the other. She sat down next to him and placed the beverages on the table without taking her eyes off of the man sitting next to her.
Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but the words seemed to failed him and so he closed it again, expressing a thoughtful face. The pinkette sighed for the umpteenth time today and scratched his chin. This was starting to annoy him, he deduced. As a General, people looked up to his encouraging speeches and praised him how he could lift spirits, but with his friends and family, he couldn't find the proper words to explain something as trivial and plain as how to use the coffee maker for example.
Natsu ruffled his hair annoyance again, groaning as why he couldn't tell what was one his mind. The scarlet-head next to him watched him with curious eyes, crossing her arms and glanced intensely.
"Natsu, what is it? What are you making such a fuss about?"
The rosy-haired dropped his head on the woman's lap and sighed deeply before talking. "Rob found something... Something that was supposed to be a secret..."
Getting more curious, she glanced down at the man. "Oh? What did he found out?" The red-head simply asked. Erza's eyes suddenly widened as a cold fear grasped her being, making her look with a frightful expression at Natsu. "Don't tell me he found... you know... those 'outfits'."
Natsu stared at her for a good five minutes with a complete blank look on his face, and it unnerved Erza further. Breaking out in a fit of laughter, the rosy-haired grasped his face with his hand as he envisioned the scene; he would had to explain a lot if that happened, but it would've been worth it because he would always remember Erza's face if he told her what kind of excited expression the boy would probably have if he saw them.
A cheetah was, after all, one of Rob's favorite animals.
And Natsu's for that matter.
Erza's eye started to twitch in annoyance and she soon started to get indignant at being laughed at. The red-head no longer held her patience and delivered a rock-hard punch into Natsu's stomach, effectively silencing his laughs while blowing off some steam in the process. She smirked to herself as she saw the man clutching his stomach in pain.
That's what he gets for making a mockery of her.
Coughing a bit, the pinkette regained his self and smirked reassuringly. "Psh, those outfits are even better hidden than the Emperor's secret obsession with ice creams. Don't worry, Rob didn't find them."
Erza sighed in relief and patted the man's cheek lovingly. "Then what did he found?"
At this, Natsu went silent for moment. Now he had to spill the beans and it made him click his tongue. He finally sighed and started rummaging through his pocket and fished out a piece of folded paper.
"He found one of my old drawings..."
Raising a scarlet-colored eyebrow, she didn't understand why it was something that could bother Natsu. "So he found one of your drawings. So? What's so special about this one?" The red-head took the folded piece and was about to unwrap it, until she felt the pinkette's hand wrap around her own, stopping her action.
"You'll find this pretty special..."
Ignoring the underlying meaning of those words, Erza wrinkled her hand out of the man's clutch and unfolded the piece of paper before glancing at the illustration.
She gasped as she brought a hand to her mouth, shocked at seeing the familiar creature.
"This is..." Erza didn't finish her sentence as she was cut short by Natsu.
"Aye, it's the Chryatis I drew from long ago..."
An eerie silence filled the living room as the two were taking a trip through memory lane. They both relived the horrors of what they went through on that wretched planet where they discovered this... monster.
A planet that was once shrouded with mystery.
A planet that would've better been stayed as a mystery.
Though, humanity's curiosity got the better of them.
And they paid the price for it.
Dearly.
(10 Years Ago)
Home World: Planet Earthland.
Confederate Army HQ.
Gate 1 Main Entrance.
X565: 23rd of March: 10 years before the Civil War.
1st Entry :
-Two months have passed since the Galuna Rebellion. Due to Major Erza Scarlet's, leader of the Knights' Special Forces and Sergeant Natsu Dragneel's efforts, the Confederate troops managed to defeat the Rebel Army of the Balam Alliance.
After agonizing six months of being together, sabotaging enemy supplies and utilizing hit-and-run tactics on the enemy troops to weaken and demoralize them, the two were finally able to return home and the two of them returned as war heroes
After all the formalities and pleasantries, the two bid the other farewell and good luck with their lives, thinking that this would be last time they would encounter the other.
Though, here, their intertwined path didn't stop.
After three months of being permitted to be off duty, Major Scarlet was requested to report herself to General Mavis Vermillion, Head of the CA Special Forces.
From here, the journey of Major Scarlet and Sergeant Dragneel continued...-
A salute.
Another salute.
A bow.
A... whistle?
Erza shook her head and tried focusing her attention back on the end of the hall of Gate Entrance 1 that lead towards the Confederate's Army HQ while ignoring the rest of the soldiers that were passing her by.
Three months, it's been three months since the Galuna Rebellion and people were still praising her as the war-heroine of Earthland. To be honest, she didn't actually mind, rather, she ignored the attention all together that was thrown her way or she would hollowly thank them for complementing her for what she did, and most of the time, the scarlet-haired didn't pay it any thoughts.
What was now important to her was the fact that the Commander-in-Chief of the CA's Special Forces wanted to see here ASAP.
Even though she was off duty.
Walking through the halls of HQ and occasionally saluting passing soldiers Erza started to grow tired of how long the corridors were as she slightly slumped her shoulders. After walking what seemed to be for hours to Erza, the scarlet-haired finally came across the giant doors that lead to the office of the General of the Special Forces. A large seal of two diagonally crossing golden swords with a white shield at the foreground signified the insignia of the Special Forces.
Noticing a small pedestal and a scanner on top of it next to the door, Erza walked towards it before rolling her sleeve up and placing her hand on the pedestal. The scanner instantly reacted to the redhead as a small web of red lines enveloped the woman's hand and started scanning.
"-Initializing... Initializing Complete: Welcome Major Erza Scarlet, the General has been waiting for you. Please enter.-" Nodding at the words before removing her hand of the pedestal Erza stood in front of the door and waited for it open. She didn't had to wait too long as the giant metal doors opened with a small creak, beckoning for the scarlet-haired Major to enter.
Standing in front of the General's desk, Erza stood in her saluting stance as she waited for her superior to address here while she heard the door close behind her. Slowly, the chair the General sat in turned around and a woman in her late twenties with curly long blonde hair and emerald green eyes wearing a gray uniform with four stars sewn on both her shoulders as well as on her right breast smiled honestly at the redhead.
"It's been awhile Erza." The blonde General finally said as she stood up, her glance still on Erza. "You've changed so much since the last time we saw each other."
Lowering her hand Erza's mask turned into a smile of her own as she looked at the General. "Time changes a person, General Mavis."
Folding her arms behind her back Mavis nodded slowly in agreement. "Time indeed changes a person." The golden-haired agreed before woman turned around as her eyes glanced outside her window.
"Erza dear, while I would love to have a good talk between friends, I'm short on time so I'll make this quick." Mavis' expression turned grim as she turned her look to the redhead. "Before I do that, I want to ask you something..."
Nodding, Erza awaited for the blonde to ask her what she wanted to ask.
"Do you believe... in Fairy Tales?"
Not expecting that question Erza slightly cocked her head back in surprise. "I don't get the question General..."
Giggling to herself Mavis looked amused at the redhead. "Of course you don't get the question, nobody does these days..."
Frowning, Erza crossed her arms before her chest in indignation. "What is that supposed to mean...?"
Shaking her head Mavis wondered for a moment before perking up as she glanced again at Erza. "Then let me ask you it differently... Do you believe in life outside our Solar System?"
Glancing towards the ground, the redhead placed her hand underneath her chin as she thought that life outside the Solar System didn't sound that far-fetched in Erza's opinion. If humans existed surely there would be something else that also had intelligent much like themselves. The universe was, after all, an ocean and the Solar System was nothing more than a small droplet in it.
"It doesn't sound impossible if you asked me..."
Smiling at the answer she received Mavis nodded to herself before opening her desk and grabbed some holographic documents. She handed them to the scarlet-haired and nodded firmly at her. "There isn't much I can tell you, The Elder Council would whine about it if I interfered directly so instead I give you these documents. Read them carefully, they're invaluable for your mission."
Accepting the documents, Erza read the cover as it read 'Confidential Records' before looking at the other ones, this one reading 'RATAC'. With a confused look the redhead looked at Mavis as she held the documents of them.
"You know that you're sending me into the dark..." Erza said at the General and the woman nodded solemnly.
"It's because I myself am blank about it too." Mavis replied with a hint of annoyance. Raising her hand and outstretching her finger Mavis glanced with a steeled eyes as she looked at her subordinate. "There is one thing I can tell. Whenever you see members of RATAC, be on your guard."
Erza nodded at Mavis before wandering inside her mind for a moment. The name RATAC was connected with a corporation that focused itself on weapon warfare developments. Founded and led by Elder Councilor Zero Cell, twin brother of Brain Cell, the corporation became quickly one of the most influential and largest companies in the Confederacy.
No real surprise seeing as it was responsible for the Confederate Army's supplies of weapons and whatnot.
With that kind of responsibility came power.
A lot of power.
Seeing that Erza got across the message the blonde took her seat again and intertwined her hands in front of her while placing her elbows on her desk as she faced Erza with a mindful expression. "Your objective is simple... Observe RATAC. If push comes to shove, I want you to report to me immediately. That corporation is being suspicious these days about their manufacture of weaponry and I as the Head of the Special Forces want to know everything that's going on here in our army. RATAC has been denying me that for a long time..."
Nodding in agreement, Erza saluted her superior. "If that is all General then with your permission I'll take my leave then." Waiting for General Mavis to dismiss her, she was rather surprised to suddenly see the blonde shake her head.
"There is one thing before you can take your leave, dear." Mavis smiled at the scarlet-haired. "To ensure both your safety and that if, and I pray not, you're killed in action and I still can receive information, I'm going to assign a partner to you..."
"A... partner?" The redhead repeated slowly and glanced at Mavis expectantly. "And who is going to be that?"
The blonde woman flashed another smile and shrugged nonchalantly. "That decision is up to you."
"Up to me? Didn't you say General that you would assign someone to me?" Erza remarked while Mavis was currently looking through the Military Archives.
"I did say that... but I didn't say I would choose said person, did I?" The woman retorted in a rather teasing tone, confusing Erza even more. Chuckling to herself, Mavis clapped her hands. "Be quick with it, you're gonna be send in less than four days."
Erza took a moment to think as she glanced towards the ground in thought. This mission she was given to was a personal send mission of the General and from what she got it was a very dangerous one meaning she had to bring someone with her that she got experience with during dangerous situations. Numerous people crossed her mind, all of them fine and outstanding soldiers who could probably stand their ground during such situations. However, one of them instantly stuck out like a sore thumb. Someone who she had to survive with for six months behind enemy lines, someone who she entrusted her live with during the entire time they were fighting off rebels on Galuna.
The image of a grinning man with spiky rose-colored hair supporting a .50cal Leo Assault Cannon on his shoulder crossed her eyes.
And a small yet affectionate smile appeared on the redhead's face as she reminded him.
Glancing towards her superior, Erza smirked confidently at Mavis as she saluted her.
"I think I've found my partner for this mission."
...
What am I writing... I'm writing a NatZa fic... of all the pairings I could've chosen, I choose NatZa... Not that I had any saying in it anyway. *chuckles* I'm making it sound like I was forced to write this *laughs*
Okay, I'm gonna be quick with this. A couple of months ago, Kuro(or Wrath, whatever you want to call him) and I had quite a long discussion about this and that. Main point of it was simple... His story 'Lost Cause: Ascender' made me think for a moment and suddenly I started imagining entire story because one line... yes, one line made me go btoom about this story and damn, is this one good.
So, here I am trying my hand in NatZa... Honestly, I couldn't really care, I just want to write this awesome plotline I've created and the fact that it's NatZa is collateral...
I do admit, the last scene was a bit rushed yes... but I had to make it a quick briefing...*Thinks about a good excuse* Ah well, the next chapter will enlighten things more. *nods* Can't tell too much now can I?
Anyway, on to something else... I've read a couple of reviews and I suddenly stumbled on a funny thing... Regarding being 'God-King' of the NatZa Kingdom... come on guys, whut are you doing? This is ridiculous, the amount of reviews doesn't tell you anymore whether your story is good or not. We can hardly call most of the reviews that we receive... reviews anymore... Reviews turned from something healthy to fast food if you catch the metaphor. My brotha told me not to get into it too much so I won't, but still, your NatZa stories(or any story in particular) receiving a lot of reviews doesn't mean it's soon gonna be the most revered one in the Archive. Write NatZa because you want to write it an only because you want that, not with the ulterior motive of also being the most renowned writer of said Archive... Which will always be Kuroyagi and no one else on a side note *laughs* I'm praising the bastard... Tsk.
Anyway, tell me what you think of it, I'm dying for some reviews about this... A 'Nice story bro, keep up the good work' will not suffice *frowns*
Fafnir hissing out.
Oh! Before I forget... I'm putting everything on hiatus... *nods* Except this one and Changed Future. *nods again*
Ciassu!