Disclaimer: Fairy Tail does not belong to me!
Summary: Takes place after the Grand Magic Games. Natsu hears rumors of a special book that can tell him where Igneel and the other missing dragons are. But another mysterious guild seems to be after the book as well, and one of the members turns out to be someone from Natsu's past. Thrust down memory lane, will Natsu be able to face the darkness that constantly looms over him?
AN: I know in the manga Fairy Tail is already fighting Tartaros, but I'm using OCs for my own purposes.
Chapter 1: The Dragons' Hope
"I'll always be here, so don't worry."
"Everything will be fine."
"Why...?"
"This is all your fault."
Horrified, he reached out his hand as if to grasp something that was no longer there.
Natsu Dragneel woke up abruptly, hand stretched out before him. Sweat glistened on his skin as he panted heavily, shakily awakening from the nightmare in his head.
On the bed besides him, a mop of blonde hair stirred beneath the blankets. He didn't notice this as he took a few moments to calm his rapid heartbeat. Meanwhile, the figure next to him sat up and yawned. Below them, a small blue cat had stirred as well.
"Morning." Happy announced drowsily, rubbing his eyes. "Morning." Lucy Heartfilia stretched, still half-asleep. A few seconds later, she processed the fact that two outsiders were in her room.
"What the hell are you guys doing in here?!" Lucy demanded, not wide-awake. Happy leisurely stood with an innocent expression. "Sleeping, of course."
"Do that in your own house!" Although Lucy had become somewhat accustomed to the constant intrusions in her room, she still found them irritating, though somewhat comforting(she never admitted it).
"Your room is much comfier." Happy pouted. Lucy scowled. "There's a reason why you guys have your own house, you know!" She whirled around to face Natsu. "And what are you doing in my bed? Can't you just-" She stopped short when she noticed that the fire dragon slayer wasn't listening. He seemed slightly disturbed and hadn't even realized his companions were staring at him.
"N-Natsu?" Lucy blinked. "What's wrong?"
"Huh?" Natsu snapped out of his thoughts. He paused for a second, then grinned. "Sorry. Just had a bad dream."
"Dream?" Happy jumped up curiously. "What about?"
Natsu smirked, a dark glint in his eyes. "Hehehe, you see, Lucy was in a bunny suit, and-"
"Get out!" Lucy roared, sending Natsu flying off her bed with her foot. Natsu cried out as he tumbled to the ground with a thud.
"Geez! Don't have perverted dreams about me in my own room!" Lucy scolded.
Natsu simply laughed as Lucy began making her bed. His smile faltered as his dream still lingered in his mind. He held up his hand, opened with the palm facing him. He curled his fingers inward, then opened them. He repeated the action, thinking back to the hand he had failed to reach in his dream.
"This is all your fault."
Natsu, Happy, and Lucy entered the guild together that same day. Some guild members stopped what they were doing to greet the group, but others were too busy arguing with each other or drinking booze.
"You're here." Erza smiled at them from her seat next to Gray and Juvia. Gray looked up in greeting, while Juvia was too busy drooling over Gray, as per usual. Across from them were Wendy and her Exceed, Carla.
"Sup!" Natsu took a seat next to Wendy along with Lucy. Happy took his place on the table next to Carla.
"I'm guessing Natsu was in your room again today, huh." Gray turned to Lucy, who tiredly sighed. "It feels so weird to say that I'm actually used to it."
"Geez, intruding on a girl's room like that." Gray scowled at Natsu. "What a freak."
"Look who's talking, you stripper!" Natsu retorted, and the two butted heads, while the others sighed as they began their usual bout.
"G-Gray-sama! Your pants!" Juvia squealed, her face bright red. Gray looked down and yelped in surprise to find that his pants were missing. "Whoa! When-?!"
"Who's the pervert now?!" Natsu smirked. Gray took that as a challenge. "You wanna go, slanty eyes?!"
"Bring it on, droopy eyes!"
"There they go again." Carla sighed disapprovingly as Wendy laughed nervously. Lucy rolled her eyes as Erza stood to stop the two from destroying the entire guild.
But, surprisingly, the one who stepped between the two wasn't Erza, but a certain grumpy iron dragon slayer. Natsu cried out as Gajeel Redfox grabbed the end of his precious scarf and yanked him away from his face-off with Gray. He whirled around, pissed. "What the hell, Gajeel?! You wanna go, too?!"
"Shut up, Salamander." Natsu stopped short, noting the seriousness in Gajeel's tone. Gajeel narrowed his crimson eyes. "We need to talk." He glanced at Wendy, who jumped slightly at the sudden focus on her. "You too, brat."
"M-Me?" Wendy pointed to herself hesitantly. Without waiting for an answer, Gajeel let go of Natsu's scarf and headed outside. Natsu and Wendy looked at each other, confused as to why Gajeel was acting so strange.
"I wonder what that's about." Lucy wondered. "Do you two know?"
"N-No." Replied Wendy.
"He won't tell me, either."
The group turned to find Gajeel's Exceed, Pantherlily, approach them. "He said he only needs to talk to you two."
"Maybe he wants a fight?" Natsu wondered. Everyone sweatdropped at this. "Why is violence always the answer for you?" Lucy demanded.
"Well, whatever." Natsu turned to Wendy. "Let's go, Wendy. If he tries to hurt you, I'll beat him up good, so don't worry!"
"Th-Thanks, Natsu-san." Wendy said, though she was well-aware that Gajeel wasn't looking for a fight. The two dragon slayers made their way out the door, their friends watching as they left.
"I wonder what he wants to talk about." Happy questioned. "And he won't even let us listen." Carla huffed, obviously displeased.
"It seemed like something important." Lily said.
"Hmmm…" Lucy watched the two mages leave the building, not aware of just how serious their conversation would be.
"So?" Natsu asked once the three dragon slayers of Fairy Tail were outside the guild, alone. "What is it?"
"Before I tell you this, don't get your hopes up too high." Gajeel warned. Natsu and Wendy became even more curious at this.
"What is it, Gajeel-san?" Asked Wendy.
"I heard something interesting on my last job." Gajeel began. "Up north, there's a special library that may have some book that could help us."
"A book?" Natsu felt his excitement deflate. "How boring."
"Let me finish!" Gajeel snapped. He crossed his arms with a huff. "Anyway, that library has some pretty special books. Lots of them were written by some pretty powerful mages over thousands of years."
"A magical library?" Wendy spoke. Gajeel nodded. "And it even has books on-"
"Dragons?!" Natsu finished the sentence. Gajeel nodded. Natsu and Wendy's eyes both widened at the information, their thoughts wandering towards their scaly foster parents who had disappeared seven years ago.
"Remember, don't get your hopes up!" Gajeel reminded the pink-haired teen.
"But, even if there are books on dragons, they're from long ago, right?" Wendy realized. "How is that going to help us find Grandeeney, Igneel, or Metalicana, who arm missing right now?"
"There's a specific book there." Gajeel continued. "It's called the Aeternum Draco." "Eternal Dragon?" Wendy made sure to keep quiet, thinking that her elder dragon slayer was annoyed for being interrupted so often. "It's rumored to have been written thousands of years ago. Some wizard who was obsessed with dragons cast some spell on it so that it could keep track of all the existing dragons and their activities."
"WHAT?!" Natsu yelled. "If there's a book like that, then I could've found Igneel a long time ago!"
"It's not certain that we know if it exists!" Gajeel shouted, clearly angered. Natsu stepped down, but frowned. "And the library was only found recently by a local archaeologist. He was actually the one I did this job for, and when he discovered I was a dragon slayer, he told me about his findings."
Wendy began to feel doubtful, but Natsu's spirit didn't waver an inch.
"According to him, the author of the book met up with a number of dragons during his lifetime and somehow got them to agree to put them in his entries. Unfortunately, some dragons regretted this, and they killed the wizard. But they didn't have enough power to destroy the book, which was sealed by a very powerful spell, so instead they hid it somewhere they thought no one could find it."
"Dragons couldn't destroy a single book?!" Natsu exclaimed. "The author must have been very powerful." Wendy thought out loud. "Did the archaeologist find the book?" Gajeel shook his head. "He only confirmed the existence of the book from old scrolls and other books, but he never actually found it."
"Then, what are we waiting for?!" Natsu pumped his fist in the air. "Let's go to this library!"
"Hold it!" Gajeel grabbed his scarf yet again, stopping him from running off. "Don't jump to conclusions!"
"But, Gajeel-san, don't you want to find Metalicana?" Wendy spoke softly. She flinched as Gajeel glared at her, then sighed. "This is why I thought I shouldn't tell you guys at this. You jump at ever tiny rumor of dragons, but they're never any use."
Natsu stood with a scowl and adjusted his scarf. "I don't give a shit about that!" He hissed. "I don't care if it's just a small sliver of a chance! If it'll lead me closer to Igneel, then I'll take it!"
"M-Me too!" Wendy piped up, her eyes shining. "I want to meet Grandeeney! And you want to meet Metalicana too, don't you, Gajeel-san?!"
Gajeel faltered under the determined gazes of the two younger dragon wizards.
"Come with us, Gajeel." Natsu announced. "Let's go find out parents."
Natsu and Wendy continued to stare Gajeel, who didn't want to admit out loud that he also longed to meet his own dragon. Natsu took his short grunt as a yes. "All right! Let's go!"
"N-Now?" Wendy looked back at the guild. "What about everyone else?"
"It's not that far away." Gajeel informed them. "I'd rather do this with as little people as possible."
"Hoh? And what about Lily?"
"Geh!" Natsu smirked smugly, knowing that Gajeel wouldn't refuse to leave his dear cat behind.
"It won't be fun without our friends, right?" Natsu smiled down at Wendy, who nodded in agreement. "Right!"
Gajeel groaned, but he decided to give in. Natsu and Wendy high-fived each other and ran off to tell the others the news.
"This is messed up." Gajeel sighed. He remained outside, the wind running through his mane of long dark hair. He glanced up at the sunny blue sky above him with a sigh.
"I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble if you hadn't gone missing, Metalicana, you bastard."
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