Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail
Warning: Spoilers for Tartaros Arc and the Alvarez Empire arc are contained within this story.
The battle was nearly over, all of the demons defeated as Natsu gazed up at the sky, watching Igneel fly off into battle against Acnologia. He had one last job to take care of, and that was securing the book of END, however, two people were getting in the way. At first, Gray had been saying stupid things about destroying the book his father wanted, and now, Zeref was taking it back.
Natsu felt so weak after the battle with Mard Geer, and now, he was facing an even greater danger. Still, he was not going to break his promise to Igneel. He would get that book back, no matter what it took. When Zeref destroyed his own creation though, it sent a shock through everyone standing before him. "You…you created that demon." Gray stated in shock, while Zeref looked unconcerned.
"Yes, but I didn't need it anymore." he stated, making Natsu glare at him. Even his own creations were nothing but pawns to him, their lives tools to be thrown away. "I wanted to finish my fight against you today." he added, leaving Natsu staring at him with confusion. They hadn't exactly started fighting yet, this guy simply ran away every time he tried to fight. "However, Acnologia got in our way." he continued. "Will he end history once again? Or will a miracle happen? I am not sure." he stated.
Natsu was beginning to feel dread and anger at his words, gazing up as his father battled against the massive black dragon. Zeref couldn't be implying that…Igneel would lose, could he? "What are you saying?" he demanded, watching as Zeref seemed to grow more focused, gazing harshly over at Natsu.
"If you can survive this desperate situation, I will give you more despair." he promised, turning to leave them alone. Natsu heard Gray vaguely comment about the loss of the book of END, but Natsu had other things on his mind. That man was pure evil, he had to be stopped no matter the cost. He would destroy Zeref one day, just like his father was going to destroy Acnologia now.
"Zeref." Natsu stated, his word a promise to fight one day against the black wizard. With the man now gone, his gaze turned to the sky, where Igneel was still clashing against Acnologia.
Igneel was strong, but something was wrong. Natsu could see that much already, especially when Acnologia managed to pin Igneel down to the ground. He rushed towards his father to help, only to suddenly hear his voice. His father was explaining why they had waited within the bodies of the dragon slayers for this moment, but Natsu was moving forward anyway. "The second reason is because I was waiting for the chance to defeat Acnologia…the negative legacy we left." Igneel was saying, but Natsu already could hear the goodbye in his voice. He was not going to accept this, not when he could still help.
"You can tell me about that later! Wait for me, Igneel, I'm coming to help you!" he shouted, while Igneel began to beg for him to stay away. He was not going to hear it, though, Igneel was his father and he was not ready to lose him again. "If we join forces, we'll be invincible!" Natsu insisted, still charging forward.
He watched as his father struggled for freedom, finally managing to shove Acnologia off and free himself. Igneel took to the sky, using his jaw to grab Acnologia's leg and take the limb with him. It tore free from the black dragon's body, and the sky was filled with the black dragon's roar of agony. Igneel gazed down triumphantly over his attack, moving in to strike once more as Acnologia got back up, his wings still functioning enough to fly off again. This time, the black dragon was on the run from Igneel, and Natsu grinned, proud of his father for what he was doing.
Natsu stood back, unable to keep up with the speed of flying dragons. Still, he smiled, knowing his father couldn't lose, not even now. Igneel chased after Acnologia in the skies and Natsu waited for him to return, staring into the sky with Gray watching silently behind him. Before long, Natsu could see the figure of a dragon returning, one that was quite familiar to Natsu in both appearance and scent. He cheered as he saw Igneel land in front of him, grinning happily as he walked up to him. "Heya, Dad. I told you you'd be able to tell me about that stuff later." Natsu insisted, while Igneel chuckled, amused with his son's comment.
"Natsu, you've really grown up. I've been watching over you this entire time. I must warn you, though, Acnologia is not gone yet. We still have yet to complete our mission, he is faster than I anticipated." Igneel stated, while Natsu grinned, still ready to fight another day.
"We can handle him, together. With the two of us together, nothing can stop us, Dad." Natsu insisted, while Igneel sat down by his side.
"The others are explaining what happened to your friends, so I suppose I should do the same. My soul was bound to your body with a spell, long ago, in an attempt to protect ourselves from Acnologia's rage. We are the only dragons left alive to stop him, and we will do everything in our power to do so. We may be here for now, Natsu, but I cannot guarantee that we will all survive this upcoming battle." Igneel told him.
Natsu would not believe that, not when he already knew just how strong his father was. "No way, that's not how things work at Fairy Tail. Come on, I've gotta introduce you to my friends and show you everything that's changed." Natsu insisted, getting up to run off towards the rest of his guild members.
Natsu hurried over to the remains of the guild hall, seeing his friends gathered there and staring at the ruins with sad looks on their faces. They had lost much in this battle, but they would continue to fight on, it was what Fairy Tail always did. Still, that did not stop his surprise when he walked by the Master, hearing his comment about how this marked the end of an era. Natsu never quite understood why he was so serious about it right now, but the others were pretty upset about the loss of the guild hall. "Come on, guys, we can build it back just like we did before!" Natsu insisted, while the others did not seem to be in the mood to do so.
"Natsu, now is not the time. Let your friends grieve for a moment, and recover from this battle." Igneel advised, while Natsu nodded, seeing the other dragons flying through the sky as well. It was going to take a bit of time to get used to having them back, but Natsu was excited to see them anyway.
Natsu wandered off for a bit, trying to find any of his friends. He saw Gajeel, sleeping in the middle of town with Levy by his side, trying to wake him up. Wendy was hanging out with Lucy, and he really didn't feel like interrupting. Erza was brooding by the river, and he did not dare to face her and make her angry right now. That left him with Gray as his only option…and he really didn't feel like searching for that stripper just because he was bored. Instead, Natsu turned around towards Igneel, a grin on his face. "I know, I'll give ya a tour of the town! Magnolia is great, you're gonna love it here." he stated. No one was around to comment on the ridiculousness of his words, of the very idea of a dragon trying to live on the streets of the city. However, Igneel was still there to be amused by his imagination, and his ability to see the possibility in anything happening.
Natsu showed Igneel all of his favorite places in the city, his own home where he lived with Happy, and Lucy's apartment. "Natsu, what are you doing?" Igneel asked as Natsu climbed into Lucy's room, turning back towards his father with a frown.
"I'm gonna wait for Luce, is something wrong?" he asked, while Igneel stared over at him.
"I thought I taught you better manners that this. Won't your friend be upset with you breaking into her home?" he asked.
Natsu grinned, thinking about all the times he had done it before. Sure, she got mad at first, but Lucy always calmed down quickly. "Nah, it'll be fine. Happy and I do this all the time." he insisted, but seeing Igneel's disapproving stare made him sigh, changing his mind. "Fine, we'll do something else then. Let's head back to the guild, maybe someone is calm now and interested in meeting you." Natsu stated.
Igneel nodded, this time letting Natsu climb onto his back so they could fly back to the guild. Natsu smiled on his father's back, happy to experience this once more. He didn't get to fly with Igneel often, but the few times he had done so were the best memories he had of his childhood. The feeling of the wind in his hair, with Igneel's scales underneath him, it was amazing and freeing. Having the chance to do so again made him smile brightly the whole way back to the guild.
Natsu arrived, seeing only Makarov and Mest on the ground as he jumped off of Acnologia. Something strange was going on, it looked like a pretty serious conversation. Either way, it wasn't going to stop Natsu from joining in. He was getting restless and he had to pick a fight with someone, even if it was Mest. "Hey, Mest, get over here and—" he began, only to catch Makarov's final comment.
"Fairy Tail will now disband." he stated, freezing Natsu in place, his plan of starting a fight ended with those few words.
"You can't be serious…your getting rid of the guild? You can't just do that, find another Master if you want to retire!" Natsu insisted, glaring at Makarov who glanced up at Natsu, looking tired.
"Natsu, I didn't realize you were here. I suppose it was inevitable that you heard anyway. Fairy Tail is no more, it is time to go on your own path. You have your father back, I am sure you have things you'd like to do with him." Makarov insisted, while Natsu shook his head, not accepting this so easily.
"No way, I'm doing those things with my family and my friends. Fairy Tail is my home, even if Igneel is back. That's never going to change, and I'm not about to let you throw the guild away because of a little damage to the building!" he insisted, charging forward to punch the old man. He was so angry now, angry with the master for thinking that his was a good idea. He was going to show Makarov that Fairy Tail would never die quite so easily.
Makarov used his own magic to slam his fist down on Natsu, stopping his attack before it even really had a chance to begin. "This decision has been made, Natsu, you cannot fight against it. Fairy Tail is no more, the paperwork has already been filed. I am sorry, but I do have my reasons for ending this guild, maybe one day, you'll understand." Makarov insisted, walking off into the distance.
"Wait, get back here old man! I'm not finished with you yet!" Natsu called out, chasing after Makarov. Mest simply shook his head at Natsu, looking calm as he followed the master.
"Leave him be, Natsu. This is his final wish, we should let him have some peace after all of this fighting." he stated, making Natsu stop, simply staring after the master with sadness in his gaze.
"Fine, he can leave if he wants, but I'm not giving up. I'm going to rebuild the guild, and together, we're gonna take down Acnologia and Zeref." he insisted, glancing back at his father.
Igneel smiled, seeming to be proud of his son as he gazed after the fading figure of the guild master. Perhaps disbanding the guild was a wise decision, but none of them would know until much later the reasons behind Makarov's actions. Fairy Tail had a secret, one which none of the members were aware of. This secret had to be guarded at all costs, even if it meant the destruction of the guild itself.
I had a request for me to write more in the Fairy Tail world, so I've created my second non-crossover story ever! Hopefully, I won't lose my inspiration for this one. Unlike last time, I have written down my plan for this stories progress, so that should help me get to a conclusion! Thank you for the challenge dragonkissfairywink, I hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think.