We'd just defeated Eisenwald, so morale at Fairy Tail was high as ever; I mean, amongst the fighting, we were always a pretty upbeat place to be, but we'd felt particularly so after that. Although after returning, something else made me even happier.
We got to eat!
Seriously, I think that if we hadn't have got back soon, my stomach would've warped into a colossus like Lullaby and torn through everything between me and the nearest restaurant. I think Makarov murmured something about eating Happy, although the old man also arrived back just in time for his appetite to be appeased. That's good for him; otherwise I'd have had to challenge him too!
In fact, it worked out well that Happy didn't get eaten: I got him to sneak up to the second floor to the special jobs to get an S Rated one, that way we could prove that we belong up there, and we could get up there before Gray.
Happy swooped through the open window, his wings clinging to his green backpack as he landed on the floor between me and the armchair that had sat in front of me, against the near wall; his rectangular head came up to about my knee, but his heart, passion and loyalty far outstretched the blue furry confines of his small body. We'd been through everything together since he was born, and he was my partner through thick and thin.
"Did you get the job okay?!" I asked, excited beyond measurement, with just a hint of trepidation; if he'd been caught, we'd have been in serious trouble.
"Aye!" He replied joyously, smiling wider than his rectangular head's normal diameter, his wings disappearing from his back. 'Of course he didn't get caught, this is Happy after all.'
"Although... when I was there, I heard some footsteps, so I grabbed the nearest one and flew out the window."
"No one saw you?"
"Aye!"
"Well, if someone was going up there now they might notice, and then we could be in trouble. We'll have to get Lucy quickly!" I continued, not noticing the footsteps outside the room that echoed quietly below my roaring excitement.
Soon, the white door behind me swung open to reveal Lucy, fuming, as she entered the room.
"What are you guys doing in here?" She yelled swinging a wild fist at me before I could react, and putting me flat on my back. As I stirred and sat up, I looked around at the room we were in. The walls had a light pink wallpaper that was very easy on the eye, but covered in many places by furnishings such as a large wooden desk, bookcase and dresser; we'd waited in Lucy's front room for her to return, but forgot how protective she gets over her house.
Normally she shouts something about trespassing until we leave. I guess having Grey come in here the other day in only his underwear to remind her about me fighting Erza had made her a little more... aggressive.
Fortunately, Happy was on hand to correct the situation. He reached into his backpack, pulling out an improbably large – yet unfolded – piece of thick, fancy paper with elegant writing across it. He turned it round and held it parallel to his small body, reaching from his feet to just below his nose for me and Lucy to see.
There was a large red S in the top left corner, with slight smudging next to it from where Happy had grabbed it in a rush; across the top read Ghoul Abatement, which me and Lucy both murmured aloud as we read it.
"Wait. And S Rated job?!" Lucy shrieked in surprise, shock resonating through her face. "What are you thinking? You'll be in so much trouble!"
"We want you to come with us!" I answered, before Happy lowered the paper below his mouth with a devious smile.
"And if not, you'd be in trouble, seen as the paper is in your house." Happy grinned, as Lucy's face dropped in realisation of the fact Happy could easily hide it out of her reach, but keep it within the detection of Makarov; she glanced across to read the rest of the job description, deciding that she would have to understand the details before deciding whether to turn down her friends or not.
I do not know where else to turn, and thus I turn to the most powerful mages in existence; the Fairy Tail Guild from Fiore in the times of old. I wish for you, whoever may come, to travel to my time, Tokyo in the 21st Century – I've heard such travel may be possible – and decrease the stranglehold of the ghouls on us humans. I want you to help my father, an Investigator, by stopping the one known as "The Eyepatch".
Reward: 10,000,000 Jewels
She mulled it over for a second, pushing her upper lip with the tip of her right index finger as she thought. I read it at the same time, a fire erupting in my stomach in readiness for this adventure.
"Time travel?! Is that even possible with magic?" Lucy asked, concluding her thoughts.
Happy nodded and smiled; even I hadn't realised that, but Happy is well-renowned for his great magical knowledge. I was more interested in this 'Eyepatch' guy.
"What's a ghoul then?" Lucy asked Happy the question that had also consumed my thoughts.
Happy shook his head. It turned out there were some things even he didn't know. It sounded enigmatic and ominous, but it was nothing we couldn't handle as a team: we just defeated Lullaby after all.
"So," I turned to Lucy, "Are you in or-"
"Hmm... is the safe?" Lucy replied cautiously, causing me and Happy to grin in unison.
"Of course not!" We exclaimed together. "But," I concluded, "we have to go soon, otherwise someone'll notice that it's missing."
With that, I pushed myself off the carpet up to my feet, my waistcoat and scarf swaying at the sudden movement, as Happy slid the job papers back into his backpack ready to set off. Lucy remained still for a few moments, before turning to me and Happy with a face that crept along the fine line between determination and rebuking fury. After a few seconds, she cleared her throat.
"Let's do this!"
We had to travel for days by cart – well, it was a few hours, but felt like days – before we reached Murias; as soon as we arrived, Happy dragged me from the cart and convinced Lucy that we should walk the rest of the way. He then grinned at me, making sure I knew I owed him one.
Murias was a small market village not too far west of the Magnolia Town, with one important feature of note to the three of us: an old mage who Happy had heard was a Time Mage, though he had never been part of a Guild; instead, he had used his magic skills to run a circus – transporting small objects or people through time as a party trick – and later in life had used it as a service for people who wished to keep possessions safe by transporting them forward through time to when the person wanted the belongings returned.
We walked through the cobbled streets, the sun high in the sky above us; it lit up the old buildings that had begun to crack and splinter, towering over the small wooden market stalls and carts. There were a variety of different vendors with items ranging from exotic foods to fine clothing: Lucy seemed to be interested in going round the market, but Happy and I reminded her that we had to hurry and fine the Time Mage, or else someone would've noticed the missing job and Makarov would be after us.
We could see a large, purple and orange circus tent in a field in the distance, which reminded me of Makarov's jester hat; Happy seemed to assume that the Time Mage lived here, given his past job and reputation as a reclusive member of the community, who only really interacted with people for business reasons. Still, the reminder of Makarov was enough to make me cautious as we approached.
The breeze had begun to pick up, rustling the Happy-tall grass of the field and causing the tree branches on the far side of the field to beckon us forwards towards the tent. We had begun to approach the tent, so we could see the layout much more clearly; there was a large central column about two storeys high, in a near perfect cylinder shape that converged to a point another half storey tall on top; there was also a rectangular tent in front that acted as a porch, with a slanted top that connected to the main cylinder. To the left of this column was a long, one storey rectangular tent that somewhat resembled an outbuilding or shed-like structure. It had a pointed roof from front to back, with a series of bunting-like knick-knacks hanging on a chain from the far end to the attachment with the central area. However, the extra area on the right was less visible at that point; all that could be seen was what looked like a 1.5 storey replica of the central tent, without the pointed roof. Without any visible roof, to be specific. The front porch was also not reproduced on this cylinder, but instead there was what looked to be an open gap in the front that pointed in our direction.
As we got closer to the mage's home, we could see that this partition of the tent was structured like a circular curtain rail, with the two ends not quite drawn together, creating the opening we had seen previously; as we scanned ahead, we could see that there was a tall, scraggy man sat at a thick oak desk inside; he was wearing long, Byzantium-purple robes with a gold belt around his waist, and a large gold buckle seemingly holding the tatty thing together. He had long silver hair tied in a loose ponytail, with greyish sideburns that connected his hair to his long, unkempt beard, which sat resting on his robe. He appeared to be writing on a scroll of sorts with a feather and ink, but as we got to a few metres away from the gap into the tent, he laid the feather down and turned his head, looking directly into my eye.
"Greetings." He bellowed. "Please, come in. I didn't mean to alarm you." He continued, at a more normal volume this time.
The three of us edged into his tent, Happy leading the way; meanwhile, the man in front of us turned and stood to welcome us, eyeing each of us in turn from underneath his bushy brows. He gestured towards a couple of large wooden chests on the floor for us to sit on, before turning the oak chair from the desk around to face us, and seating himself. I looked around, marvelling at how much was contained in what had looked like a small place; there were large chests the whole way around the edge of the tent, except for the desk and a large wardrobe-like structure that stood to its right. In the centre of the tent was an open space that was roughly circular – where the man was now sat, having placed the chair in the space to be closer to where we'd sat down – and above us we had seen that there was in fact a flat circular roof, as opposed to the pointed ones on the other two partitions.
"I'm Bastian. I haven't seen you around these parts before," he began, not sounding suspicious of new faces, but rather inquisitive with a high pitched, rurally tinged voice.
"I'm Natsu; this is Lucy, and Happy. We're from a little way East of here, over in Magnolia Town." I answered, gesturing to each member of the group, knowing the implicit question in his statement.
"Magnolia? That's where those Fair- um," His initial reaction seemed to be of surprise, which he soon tried to hide. "I've heard it's a nice place. Lots of the market sellers stop by there on their travels, you see." His brows adjusted slightly and he licked his lips a little, causing a minor silent pause within the tent. "So, what business can I help you with today?"
Happy retrieved the job paper from his backpack. "We're mages from Fairy Tail, and this is our job." I explained, pointing to the paper as Happy reached up to pass it to Bastian.
"Happy told us that he'd heard of a Time Mage in Murias, and that it might be you." Lucy added, as Bastian finished reading the paper in his hands and peered over from the top of it, making a slight humming sound to tell us that Happy had been correct.
"In that case, can you send us to... uhm... what does it say again?" I asked, annoyed that I'd forgotten the name of the far-off place we'd be going to.
"To...kyo?" Lucy mumbled, remembering the name due to its odd nature: she'd never heard anything sounding remotely similar before. Bastian looked at us levelly from across the tent.
"My magic will send you to the place this paper was sent from, within two weeks of it being sent." His eyes glinted a little, expressing his pride and excitement at the thought of it.
"Perfect!" I almost shouted, before Bastian gestured for me to sit down. I hadn't even realised that I'd jumped into the air in excitement.
"This will take some time though. I will need about an hour to trace the origin of the paper accurately, and it then takes a little longer to conjure the spell. In the mean time, please make yourself at home."
45 minutes later, the three of us were sat on the wooden stairs of the living area in the main cylinder of Bastian's home; below us was an open-plan area with a bed directly beneath the stairs, and various furnishings including a chest of drawers and wardrobe, while above us was situated a painting area, with a canvas standing on an elegantly carved easel, an artwork partway towards completion of the surrounding areas, with a variety of portraits and landscapes lying around, propped against the pieces of equipment and storage chests.
"Do you think they'd have noticed?" Lucy questioned me and Happy, breaking a silence that had felt like it lasted about 10 or 15 minutes.
"Probably." I mumbled, twirling a spike from my hair between my fingers, still slightly lost in thought.
"Will they come after us?"
"Aye!" Happy answered, more enthusiastically than any of us felt about the prospect.
"Will they know about Bastian?"
"Hmm..." I responded, finally shaking the consuming thoughts, although barely changing the subject of them while returning to the real world. "I don't know about that, but they certainly won't be far behind. Hopefully we'll get going soon."
With that, Bastian entered the tent through the doorway at the base of the stairs.
"I've got the origin point mapped; if you'd like to come back through, we can get you off to Tokyo." The three of us got up and followed eagerly, wanting to leave Fiore as soon as we could in order to set off and complete the job.
As we re-entered the small tent we arrived in, I noticed for the first time that the floor was, in fact, trimmed grass from the field below in this section of the tent, unlike the wooden planks of the main living area. This time, in the central space stood a series of pillars wooden with a rope linking them at the top, with a space a few metres across enclosed; Bastian directed us into there, and explained that the space contained within the rope would be transported through time upon the completion of the spell.
Bastian took a long wooden staff into his hands: it had an intricate purple crystal nestled within the overlapping and intertwining veins of bark that formed a protective cradle. He began a foreign incantation under his breath, barely audible even to me and Happy, who were stood only a few metres from him. A purple vapour began to spew from a pinhole gap in the crystal, rising slowly up in wisps towards the flat ceiling.
Then the tent was drawn back.
Gray stood there, the spikes of his jet black hair swaying lightly in the breeze, along with the slightly baggy blue shirt and black trousers that hid the muscularly toned form of his body. The three of us sharply drew breath, shocked at this entirely probable turn of events that we'd played out in our heads while waiting for Bastian to get ready. However, the tone of his tongue was slightly less expected.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you bastard?" Gray yelled at me, disregarding the possibility that Happy or Lucy had instigated our actions. To be fair to me, it was a joint decision from me and Happy.
"Going on an S Rated job, what the hell do you think?" I replied, angry at his tone, but truly glad it had been him and not the monster-woman Erza. At least in Gray I had someone I could work with on this.
"You idiot! It's not S Rated!" He replied, causing all three of our brains, lungs and hearts to enter an overloaded state. I grabbed the job paper and held it up to Gray, pointing mockingly at the single S in the top left corner, tutting and shaking my head slightly. "Look at the smudging, flame-brain! Someone smudged the second S off when they were holding it."
I looked down at Happy in disbelief, and he swallowed deeply. "It must've been when I grabbed the paper in a rush. That was where I grabbed it..." he trailed off, conveying a sense of unwarranted guilt through his eyes, but I understood it was a mistake.
"Oh well?" I replied, "With you along as well Gray, we'll be able to do this! We'll prove ourselves to the Master this way... I'm getting all fired up!" I cheered, undeterred by the increased difficulty and danger of the job. I could feel the fire lighting in my chest and my eyes. However, this sentiment was not mirrored by Lucy, who looked nervously across at me, and then to Gray; even Happy looked a little fearful at the prospect of completing an SS Rated job without having become S Class Mages, or even being on an S Rated job. Gray sighed a little at the last sentence of my reply.
"Come on. Come back to Fairy Tail. While you still can." Gray continued, putting emphasis on the last part, dragging each word out almost painstakingly. Lucy began to shuffle towards the edge of the enclosure, looking away from me. There was an unmistakable fear in her eyes, with what looked like a tear of guilt on the cusp of dripping onto the soft skin of her cheek. She ducked below the rope, leaving the contained area and sidling towards Gray the exit point of the tent. She looked tellingly at me, her pained expression highlighting the internal torture of going against me on this against her fear of an SS Rated job.
"Oi, Ice Princess!" I called across, intentionally winding up Gray in retaliation for his lack of compliance. He snarled a little, squinting his right brow and raising the matching edge of his lip. "You know the four of us could do it!"
Once again, Gray groaned a little. He began to stride towards the rope enclosure, looking me dead in the eye with almost intimidating determination. "If you come now, the Master will probably let you stay in the guild." He explained frustratedly, as he ducked under the rope, before rising back up to press his forehead against mine, grabbing my arm. "We're going now, squinty eyes." I pushed back in equal measure with my forehead, used to struggling against Gray in this manner from many previous arguments.
"Come here Happy!" Lucy called, and Happy scampered over, before shooting me a look of lament from beside Lucy's feet.
It was only now that I realised that Bastian was still chanting under his breath, although the others hadn't just yet. I pulled back from Gray's forehead, looking to the ceiling. However, the ceiling was no longer visible.
A cloud of purple gas about a metre in depth had accumulated beneath the ceiling from Bastian's staff, perfectly replicating the circumference of the area enclosed by the pillars and ropes. Gray followed my eyes to the ceiling, letting out a gasp of shock; our gazes then turned to the Time Mage, whose staff no longer spewed the purple gas.
The spell was complete.
"No we aren't, droopy eyes!" I called out triumphantly, as the purple vapour fell from the ceiling and shrouded the area within the rope, floor to ceiling, blocking any and all goings on outside the boundary. Puffs of purple cloud all of shapes and sizes filled the entire scope of my vision, making me unable to see Gray anymore, despite the fact he'd been just centimetres from me moments before; I imagined he'd have probably been profusely cursing at this moment, but I couldn't hear it, my ears and mind consumed by the whirring and howling of an intense gust of wind that I could feel wafting my hair and scarf in all directions. The winds battered my exposed skin, even stronger than those of Erigor, spinning the clustered clouds into one, tall stream that propelled itself upwards far higher than the ceiling that had previously contained it. I stood in the eye of the storm with Gray a few metres in front of me, facing the other way, having been spun round by the gales.
I looked up, and could see an unrecognisable, jet black sky at the centre of the tempest's wall, far higher than its reach. Soon, the purple clouds began to dissipate: we had arrived.
My gaze returned to level just in time to see Gray's fist as it hurtled toward my face, but too late to do anything about it. I rocketed a few metres into the air, before crashing into the hard pavement; the concrete beneath me cracked apart as I landed and I ended up a few metres below the surface, able only to see the sky above me. It looked so different from back home: so ominous.
I had no time to relax, as Gray's arm reached into the gap in the floor that I occupied, pulling me to the surface by my scarf and lifting me to my feet, so we stood eye to eye.
"The hell have you done, bastard?" He yelled at me, fists clenched to my neck, gripping my scarf and making it graze against my skin. The fury in his eyes was clear to see, and this was no normal scuffle between us.
"I'm gonna find The Eyepatch and beat him!" I retorted angrily, although less so than Gray. At the same time, I swiped at his hands and sent him back a few paces. "I'll prove myself to the Master!"
"Do you even know what you're dealing with?" He questioned, although there was a different undertone in his voice. Gray remained irate, but there was something else there too.
Concern.
A few moments passed, as I realised the extent of Gray's apprehension; I was reluctant to answer the question, as I'd have to admit that Gray was right and I was wrong. I didn't know what I was dealing with. The Eyepatch, Ghouls, S- and SS-Rated Jobs... I knew nothing of it, but I was blinded by my desire to progress, my need to prove my worth and to compete with Gray.
"How do we go back?" Gray's cold tone sliced my thoughts in two. His tone conveyed no fear or anger – no emotion whatsoever – but was reaching Erza-level of dead serious. I gulped.
"Uh... the guy said something about it wearing off differently each time... so, unless we find a Time Mage, we'll just have to wait and see." I answered, racking my memory for what Bastian had told us.
"Well, we'll need to look for the nearest Guild building then, won't we?" Gray called to me, seeming more like his normal, calmer self. "At least we found a form of travel that doesn't make you sick, you idiot!" He added with a smile.
"Oi, you ice-pervert, you can't go getting all angry with me and make jokes like that, pick one or the other!" I replied in frustration, causing him to snigger a little.
Gray then looked to each side of the road at the giant buildings that surrounded us, then up to the sky above. He'd let his guard down, and I took the opportunity; I threw the most almighty punch I could muster up without magic, aiming it directly at his face.
Gray flew about 20 metres down the street, before fracturing the ground and sending a heap of dust billowing into the air above. I jumped over to the pavement next to the crater, causing the cloud to dissipate around us.
His eyes were open, but a little glazed from the unexpected attack; his limbs were slightly contorted having being sent through the air and then landing awkwardly on the cold, hard ground. His brows arched as he scowled upon seeing me, but his eyes widened in surprise as I grabbed his wrists and pulled him from the floor.
"That was payback for you punching me earlier, we're even now." I explained coolly as I steadied him, looking around to see if anyone was nearby.
"You went a little harder than I did though, flame-brain!" He exclaimed, irritated but without intent to instigate further bickering. I, however, couldn't resist.
"Hey, you called me that earlier! You can't even come up with new insults, ice-princess!"
"You called me that earlier too, you jerk!"
"That doesn't make it any less true, ice minty fresh!" I was beginning to enjoy winding up Gray; it made me feel more at home in this alien world. Gray didn't share my love of this quarrel.
"Give it a rest, you crazy flame spewer! We need to stay focussed!" He yelled, and – given the situation – I decided to go along with it. "As I was about to say, this place seems to be deserted. There's no one in the street and I can't hear anyone nearby." I nodded, having noticed this while helping him up. "Can you smell anyone?"
"My nose is still getting used to this place, it's nothing like home. I still can't pick out individual things, I can't even lock onto you at the moment." I replied, filled with dismay; my nose was usually one of my strongest assets on jobs, but it was rendered useless by the environment we found ourselves in.
The two of us began to focus on the world around us now that we'd settled our disagreement, and we realised the scale of how different this place was compared to back home, or any of the previous jobs we'd been on. In places, the abnormal skies could not be seen due to the overwhelming size of the buildings, which stood as gargantuan pillars holding the blanket of darkness from engulfing the land below us. However, there was still no sign of any people.
"I think it's best we stick together Natsu," Gray suggested, "I know you have faith in our strength, but if we aren't careful, we could die."
I turned to face Gray, seeing in his eyes that he still felt uneasy; I was confident that with both of us together, we'd be okay. I still wasn't looking for a guild though.
I wanted to look for The Eyepatch.
"For once Gray, I think I actually agree with you." I smiled, hiding my true intentions. Gray nodded, before quickly turning and pointing to his left; there was a gap between two of the towers.
"That way, I thought I saw something move!"
The two of us burst into a sprint, my leg muscles exploding to fire me off of the pavement to catch up with Gray, who'd began to run momentarily before me. We passed through the alley and turned right into a street parallel to the one we'd arrived in, though it easily could've been the same street once more: every aspect matched the previous street, from the tall, featureless buildings to the structure of the path underneath our feet.
The only minor difference was that around 20 metres in front of us to our left there was a gap in the buildings, and instead a group of about 30 empty metallic-looking carts configured into a square, like the ones that lined the sides of the street; other than that, this street seemed the same.
However, me and Gray then saw that this street did in fact have something different: something of interest. Walking towards us, still mostly covered by the darkness, was a single person. We could only just hear their footsteps – though partially due to the lack of other noise – as they approached.
The shadows tried to cling onto the foreboding figure with its overwhelming grip as it continued down the street, its shade shrouding the figure in mystery. A slight breeze began to tingle the back of my neck. The sinister figure was mostly cloaked by a black jumpsuit with close-fitting base layers showing from underneath; a curved 'x' pattern protruded across the chest of the shirt in a deeper, darker black, like a target adorned on the chest of the oncoming person.
However, my immediate focus was drawn to the figure's head. Beneath the sweeping mop of pure white hair – striking against the darkness of the atmosphere – was not a face, but a mask. A jet black leather mask, with exposed teeth and one eye covered.
'One eye...' I thought. 'I've found them!'
A few metres in front of us, the figure stopped, before casting a wary eye over me and Gray. After a few seconds, the figure tilted their head slightly to right inquisitively.
"May I pass?" They called across monotonously, the voice of a young, dreary male.
Gray didn't have a chance to react before I yelled in response.
"Eyepatch! I'm gonna beat you!" I shouted, lunging forwards into a sprint, aimed directly at the figure in front; "Karyū no Tekken!" I yelled, the fire beginning to engulf my hand as the Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon approached its target.
But the target had moved. The Eyepatch had jumped over my head, flipped and landed on their feet between me and Gray. I hadn't even seen.
I turned and blinked in surprise at the figure's impressive movement, as he stood there as if nothing had happened; if anything, it was the stance of a child waiting in a queue at school, not a fighter who'd just dodged my Dragon Slayer Magic with ease.
I lunged once more, my right fist still engulfed in flames, but The Eyepatch ducked my swing at the last second, and before I even had a chance to blink, he swung an effortless kick with his right leg, forceful enough to propel me through the air and cause a me-shaped cavity in the wall of the nearest building; I fell from the wall and landed in a heap on the floor, several metres below, causing dust to rise and scatter around me.
I should've realised his strength at that point.
My ears were ringing from the impact with the wall, but I looked up in time to see Gray finishing the moulding magic gestures of his Ice-Make, before an array of Lances shot towards the figure; however, The Eyepatch then produced four purple-red tentacles from his lower back, two of which swiped in front of his body, before slicing back across to destroy the lances in one clean swing.
The Eyepatch then began to sprint towards Gray, the four tentacles arching around his body ready to strike, as if each was an anaconda preparing to bite Gray as he came around, having been taken aback by the easy destruction of his Lances.
Gray began to rapidly motion his hands, creating an Ice Geyser as The Eyepatch approached; giant shards of ice surged from the concrete below The Eyepatch, sending him flying into the air. However, he recovered his composure in mid-air, controlling his descent and landing on his feet. The Eyepatch stood still for a few moments, assessing the current situation and Gray's power.
I saw this as an opportunity, my body having recovered sufficiently to attack: I pushed my hands and legs into the floor to drive myself to my feet, tearing across the pavement in a dash. I jumped as I got within striking distance, calling out for my Dragon Slayer Magic.
"Karyū no Kagizume!"
With that, my feet ignited with blazing fury as I jumped into a flying back kick; my flaming foot connected with his chest as he turned in reaction to the incantation I'd roared.
The flaming kick sent The Eyepatch soaring through the air down the street, landing in a heap of dust; I landed at speed, skidding along the pavement a little and ending up next to Gray.
"What the hell kind of Lost Magic is that?!" I called to Gray, having seen nothing like this in my life.
"I don't know you jerk, why the hell'd you attack him?"
Before I could turn my attention to Gray, The Eyepatch emerged from the dust cloud, walking calmly towards us with the four tentacles arched; however, he was not focussed on us, but looking past us.
A bright light shone from behind us, illuminating much of the street in front of us and The Eyepatch stood around 20 metres away; at this point I could see that the eye on show was no longer any ordinary eye, but was black, with a red centre.
Me and Gray turned in unison to see a line of people in what looked like riot gear, all the way from one side of the street to the other; their grey armoured suits and helmets left only the lower half of their faces exposed, their eyes sheltered by a dark visor, meaning we couldn't tell if their eyes had gone the same way as The Eyepatch's. Me and Gray remained on edge.
Each had a powerful searchlight in their hands, directed from their torso towards us and The Eyepatch, and a rifle of sorts; one of them stood out from the rest, both in terms of positioning and appearance.
He wore the same, uniformed gear, but did not have a protective helmet or visor on his head; in fact the only thing he wore on his head was a small communications clip on his ear. His black hair swayed slightly as he spoke under his breath, gripping a large object tightly in his right hand; it appeared to be great staff of sorts, glowing a reddy-purple colour under the searchlights of his comrades. The man stepped forwards, looking to Gray, and then to me.
"I am Koutarou Amon, CCG Investigator: this area has been evacuated, so please state who you are and what business you have here." He called out simply, addressing me and Gray, before looking beyond us for a moment, towards The Eyepatch.
Gray looked across to me inquisitively. "How's your nose?"
"Uhm... it's adjusting. These new people smell human, although not completely normal: they smell different to The Eyepatch though." I responded, glad that my nose was beginning to get used to this new, alien environment.
"You two don't look like you're from round here." Amon continued, remaining calm in his tone as he barked down the street. "If you don't answer, we'll have to assume you are Ghouls! Who are you, and where are you from?"
"We're Natsu and Gray; Fairy Tail Mages! And we're here to defeat The Eyepatch!" I yelled back at Amon with unrelenting pride. He smirked a little.
"Mages? Do not try to trick me!" Frustration began to creep into Amon's tone at the obstacle between him and The Eyepatch.
"We're not trying to trick nobody!" I roared back, offended that he would question our status as mages: soon to be S-Class Mages once we'd got back to fighting The Eyepatch.
Amon signalled to a couple of the armour-clad people behind him, before turning his attention back to us. "These three will escort the two of you to the nearby CCG base; you should be safe from Ghouls there until this is over, and we can deal with you then. This place isn't safe for you." He explained with a hint of compassion that was largely overridden by fierce determination. Gray looked on in consideration. To hell with that!
"No! We're here to fight The Eyepatch here, and that's what we're gonna do! Anyway, we got here first!" I barked back, fire rising in my stomach.
"Alright men, due to their lack of compliance... we have to assume they're facilitating the Ghouls at the very least." Amon called to his comrades, before sprinting towards me and Gray.
Amon lifted the staff above his head, gripping it in both hands and revealing from the darkness that it had a thicker club covering much of the top half. The club and staff glimmered great silver, with reddy-purple sections glowing as he got nearer to the two of us.
"Gray, you take this guy, I'll get rid of the others over there!" I quickly suggested to Gray, to which he nodded. I began to sprint across the concrete towards the oncoming Amon, before bursting into the air well over his head, leaving him to Gray.
I landed, hearing Gray's magic begin to take hold with several Lances soaring and crashing behind me. My clothes and scarf continued to sway after the sudden movement, but I was steadying myself to fight the mass of troops ahead of me. I inhaled until my cheeks felt like bursting, stretched into an elliptical cannon, preparing to fire my Dragon Slayer Magic's power. I raised my hands towards my mouth to resemble a trumpet player, seeing that the troops had drawn their guns ready.
"Karyū no Hōkō!" I screamed, spewing a stream of intense flames across the line of troops, knocking all through the air and to the ground, some distance away.
I turned to face the others, seeing Gray and Amon fighting it out; Gray was using Ice Swords against Amon's club, and the two seemed fairly evenly matched. In the background, I could see The Eyepatch watching on, assessing the two's battle. As much as I want to take him on, I should help Gray and then we should fight him together.
I judged that to be the correct course of action, racing towards Gray and Amon and calling my power forwards once more. "Karyū no Tekken!"
I swung the Fire Dragon's Iron Fist with burning power towards Amon, just as he shifted to avoid Gray's Sword; my fist connected with Gray's chest, sending him tumbling down the street in a heap. Amon then took the opportunity, swinging his club into my head as I turned to face him, striking me on the chin with a fierce blow, knocking me to the side of the street.
I looked up from the concrete floor to see The Eyepatch and Amon begin to square off, Amon readying his club while his foe began to arch his tentacles. Amon's face was one of shock, having seen our Magic, but he seemed to recognise the ghoul's tentacles. My mind began to race. What is that magic?! Does Amon think he can match up to The Eyepatch with that club, when me and Gray struggled?
The Eyepatch easily defended from Amon's near-crazy attacks, the tentacles each blocking and swatting away the blows Amon attempted one by one, The Eyepatch himself only having to move in reaction to Amon trying to dive to each of his sides to get a clearer shot.
Amon managed to manoeuvre himself between the tentacles' tips and The Eyepatch's body, swinging a wild strike towards the side of his head: time seemed to slow as, in one seamless motion, The Eyepatch through himself backwards, headfirst, before catching himself using the tentacles, propping himself horizontally in the air, the same way wooden legs hold the horizontal panel of a table in place. The Eyepatch's tentacles barely even trembled at this exertion of strength, holding him steadily in place.
Within a fraction of a second of catching himself horizontally, The Eyepatch tucked his legs tight to his midsection, before viciously kicking out with both feet into the chest of the Investigator. This sent the young man flying through the air, arms and legs reaching back towards The Eyepatch, before he collided with one of the taller of the buildings lining the street, tearing down the outermost wall. This preceded an assortment of smashing and shattering, followed by the deafening screech of the building's supports as it began to crack and bow, the walls crashing inwardly to join the floors in collapsing to ground level, on top of the Investigator.
In the distance, Gray began to approach The Eyepatch, who turned to acknowledge his presence. I scrambled to my feet, though my muscles disputed this course of action, writhing in niggling pain from the battles so far. I tried to reason with my body, pushing myself onwards. I've only sustained a punch from Gray, the kick from The Eyepatch and the club from Amon... why do I feel so drained already?
I could feel the anxiety in Gray's steps as he approached The Eyepatch, from the clenching of his fists and the droplet of sweat sliding down his temple. Is that for himself, me, or for the others in case they follow us here? If we can't defeat this guy and Lucy tries to follow us, she could be in real danger!
We have to beat this guy!
My muscles thrusted me forwards, jaded but ready to fight for my friends; for the honour of Fairy Tail.
Gray launched a group of Ice Lances at The Eyepatch but once again he was able to destroy them with ease; Gray then began to run towards the dark figure, casting an Ice Sword in his right hand. The Eyepatch jumped over his first probing jab, providing a possible opportunity for me to attack; I threw myself into the air, yelling out to call forth my Dragon Slayer Magic.
"Karyū no Enchū!" With that, my elbow streamed fire, propelling me towards The Eyepatch as he hung momentarily in the air, launching a punch as powerful as I could muster towards his cheek as he turned in reaction to my roar.
I connected, finally able to be successful in attacking him again, sending him rolling down the street in a similar fashion to accidentally striking Gray earlier on. However, as he rolled down the street, he recovered composure and pushed himself back to his feet, skidding slightly against the pavement to stop himself.
Gray and I stood shoulder to shoulder watching The Eyepatch as he stood up straight once more and began to walk calmly towards us, barely showing any damage from my attack. We looked to each other, both understanding that we would need to work together and time our attacks in order to defeat this guy.
I began to run towards the oncoming figure as Gray formed his Ice Cannon, firing a hugely strong cannonball of ice past my shoulder and directly towards The Eyepatch; I could feel the chill as it hurtled past me. The Eyepatch – as expected – dodged by jumping over the attack, but well within range of me being able to launch a secondary attack. I jumped in unison with The Eyepatch, roaring a spell I so often used in combat situations.
"Karyū no Hōkō!"
I could feel the flames burning in my body and rising up for me to fire at The Eyepatch, waiting for the perfect moment when I was right up close to him, meaning he wouldn't be able to dodge; however, there was no attack for him to dodge.
As I got close to him, he must've thought the same as me, as he swung his two right tentacles at my left side, just below the shoulder, and sent me flying into one of the metal carts, crushing it. Gray created an Ice Hammer to subdue The Eyepatch as he ran over to check on me.
As soon as I was up again, Gray set about running towards The Eyepatch; I completed the attack I had attempted moments before, firing a burst of flames towards The Eyepatch, who dodged with ease: however, rather than jumping, he shifted to the side, thus remaining on the ground with more control than floating in mid-air.
Gray had already created his Ice Battle Axe, beginning to engage The Eyepatch with it; however, even from a distance I could see this was not going to work. I had to stand there and watch, as there was no time for me to catch up, nor could I due to my tiredness.
The Eyepatch jumped over Gray's Ice Battle Axe, flipping over his head and landing directly behind him. Gray turned to face him, launching a punch, but he easily dodged to the right and swung a tentacle at Gray's vulnerable left leg.
With a sickening squelch, Gray lost his leg from the knee down.
Gray howled in pain, dropping to his hands and knee and I immediately rushed over to him; The Eyepatch backed off slightly as I approached, fighting a few riot gear soldiers like those we'd seen earlier on.
"Gray! You okay?" I yelled as I got nearer.
"Of course not, you dolt!" He replied angrily, before casting an Ice Leg to replace that which he lost. I started getting real mad at The Eyepatch; as much as me and Gray fought and fought throughout our lives, from being tiny kids trying to prove ourselves to earlier this day, getting into pointless scraps, we were comrades. We were two Fairy Tail mages on a job together, and this guy would not defeat us. And, above all else, we were friends.
'You will notnotnot defeat us, you will see the true power of a Fairy Tail Wizard! I WILL DEFEAT YOU EYEPATCH!' My brain, my body, my very being felt like it was about to tear itself to pieces, imploding into a shooting star, crashing into oblivion. My eyes ignited in blazing fury, my entire body discharging violent flames of rage, my mind exploding a hundred times each and every second. I tried to scream out at this painful burst of extreme power as it tore me apart, but rather than a howl of agony, I released the almighty roar of a dragon. I was all fired up. The power of Igneel will give me strength to defeat this guy.
My gaze left a startled Gray, settling on The Eyepatch, stood a few metres away from me; he matched my stare, stunned by my blazing body and deafening roar. I lunged, flaming fist aimed at his face, but he ducked his hips to easily avoid it, before throwing himself into the air; his tentacles arched behind his back, tensing and building up immense pressure, before all four thrusted with at me with immense speed. I only just dodged, using the flames on my feet to propel me to the side, before rolling sideways back to my feet; as I did, I could see the tentacles destroy the top layer of the pavement, causing a vast cloud of dust to collect and hang in the air.
"I am sorry about your friend." I heard that same monotonous voice call quietly out, without so much as a heavy breath after our combat. "If you hadn't attacked me, this all could be avoided. Please, allow me to pass."
I didn't gratify him with an audible response other than a grunt as I began to sprint into the cloud, thrashing my fists; I didn't connect with The Eyepatch, but I was able to clear the dust: this allowed me to see that The Eyepatch had in fact jumped back away from the smog to avoid my attacks.
I projected myself into the air with my fiery feet, aiming the strongest punch I could amass towards The Eyepatch, determined to finish this fight, to win for the honour of Fairy Tail; to punch this guy out of pure frustration if nothing else. He wasn't moving quick enough to dodge, and I felt the fire in my stomach burn in hope: if I connected with this, he was going down. And I was going to connect.
The Eyepatch's eyes seemed oddly calm as I dropped my flaming fist towards his face. At the last second, he brought a tentacle in front of his face, swiping in to act as a shield: it blocked my punch. My fist remained in place, fighting a losing battle pushing against the impenetrable tentacle of The Eyepatch.
Suddenly, my chest felt weird.
It wasn't an ache, more of a scratch: the highly agonising pinch that causes your muscles to twinge, recoiling at the stinging pain. As soon as it was there, the power in my arm and fist evaporated, my spiritual and physical fires extinguished in a fraction of a second. And then it was gone; replaced by a numbness that caused the stinging sensation to ripple through my body, down to my finger tips and toes, in the same way that the tide pushes a wave towards the coastline. The numbness took over my body, leaving me with no feeling below my neck.
I looked down towards my chest, but it didn't look all that recognisable. 'My waistcoat and scarf are red? What's tha-' It was one of The Eyepatch's other tentacles. Buried in my ribcage. My waistcoat and my scarf – no – Igneel's scarf were both soaked through with my blood, pouring out from my very heart. 'I'm sorry Igneel, I wasn't strong enough. I guess I'll never see you again after all.'
The Eyepatch then laid me down on the pavement way too gently for someone I'd just attacked, before pulling the tentacle out of my chest; my ribs tried to cling onto the tentacle, pulling me slightly off the pavement and leaving me slumped as I dropped back to the floor. There was a huge cavity in my chest, blood pouring from all sides, over my skin, clothes and the pavement beneath me. I could see Gray running angrily at the figure stood to my side, casting Ice-Make Magic furiously while he tried to sprint, inhibited by his dismembered leg. 'Don't do this Gray, he's too strong even for you!' I yelled internally, unable to vocalise anything. There was something on his face: a tear.
I smiled for a second, appreciating this show of friendship from Gray; I'd always admired his composure, but that was a distant memory as he howled in anger and pain. These were unfitting final sounds from such a great mage, but that was how it was to be, as The Eyepatch shifted forwards to meet Gray before he could complete the complex Ice-Make Magic he'd been casting, swiping a thrashing tentacle across Gray's face.
CRACK.
Gray's legs stopped moving instantaneously, his momentum causing him to fall to his knees – smashing the Ice Leg – and then to skid face-down until he came to a halt a few seconds later. 'I'm so sorry Gray. I shouldn't have brought you here. I'm so, so sorry.' He was close enough that I could see the tear more clearly on his cheek, that in fact it was frozen; as I watched, the ice melted and a tear rolled down my dead friend's cheek.
Having watched that, with a broken body, mind and soul, I slowly close my eyes, drifting at first before being snatched into the world of the dead.