Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's surrounding universe. All characters, plots, themes, and ideas belong to Hiro Mashima, the creator.
A/N: "Speech" - "Thought" - "Spells" - Normal Emphasis - "Thought Emphasis"
Hey guys, so I've recently decided to undergo a few projects. Two crossovers in addition to the increasingly popular Era of the Sixth. This is strictly for Fairy Tail and an ideal opportunity to showcase my ability to write something on the other end of the dark and gruesome spectrum. Lighter, lovelier, and far more romantic. But I beg you do not flee, do not despair! For no Fairy Tail story is complete without the darkness for the light to shine through. That being said, the main concept here is to give an entirely different twist on matters. What I mean is, I've read a lot of great Fairy Tail fanfiction stories, particularly featuring Natsu and Lucy as a couple (I'm a sucker for it. Sorry.) That is what this story will also be, a featurette on Natsu and Lucy as a couple.
I must, however, warn you all as to what lies ahead. All the stories that I have read, great though they are, I find disappointed as Lucy is continuously being placed in harm's way or is the target of everything, leading to her being the "damsel in distress" for the ever powerful Natsu to come to the rescue. While I do enjoy these, I can't help but find these tales retelling the same main idea.
That said, you all now possess an idea of what the concept of this story is, but make no mistake. You have no idea of what is yet to come.
"Even if I can't see you….no matter how far away you may be….I will always be watching you."
-Makarov
Episode 1: Begin Anew
Season 1: Tears of Fire
Series: The Burning Stars
***July 14th X791, Approx. 359 km Southwest of Magnolia - 11:26 AM***
The half robe billowed behind a young man as he walked through a forest. Travelling with him were his companions, his closest friends. Natsu had managed to convince them to walk back to Magnolia following the Grand Magic Games. Natsu's winning speech was how it should be considered a vacation as they trekked home at a steady pace. Natsu, though, was not enjoying this vacation in the slightest. He could have been awarded for his performance in fooling his friends, or he, at least, believed he was. A blonde-haired celestial wizard, though, noticed there was something off about him. Natsu still laughed and smiled, but she could see that every time she looked into his eyes, the light that usually sparkled within them when he was truly happy, had been diminished. Lucy had never desired to know what was going through her partner's mind more than in this moment.
Natsu, for all his dragon slayer senses and abilities, failed to notice the worry that he was creating within his friends. Natsu himself was worried, for a myriad of reasons. Whether or not he would change into a dragon, how hungry he felt, and oh yes. Should Natsu lose any of his closest friends, would he end up like the Rogue from the future? This sobering thought plagued his mind more than the other two, for his understanding had been that changing into a dragon was not definitive, yet it still creeped him out. For once Natsu was less concerned about satiating his immense appetite, because the fear of losing his closest friends, Happy and Lucy, and turning into someone sinister who would willingly attack and destroy his friends truly haunted him. He failed to notice the looks that his six friends shared, so caught up was he in his horrors.
Lucy, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Erza and Gray knew something was off, but Erza insisted that they let Natsu open up to them, resulting in the celestial wizard of the group to glance at the wayward dragon slayer. She turned her attention back to the rest, her mind settled.
"I say when we get back to Magnolia we each try talking to Natsu, get him to open up." she whispered, knowing that it was futile because of their pink-haired friend.
"No Lucy, we have to let him come to us, otherwise we risk driving him away." came the whisper of Erza. "He needs time to get a handle on it. Whatever it is."
Lucy gave a huff, knowing Erza's mind was settled, she turned her attention to Gray and Wendy, her eyes begging them to agree.
"I dunno Erza, I kinda have to agree with Lucy on this one. Whatever's bugging that hothead seems like something he won't willingly share." muttered the ice mage, deliberately referring to Natsu as a hothead hoping to get a rise from him, but to no avail. He just kept marching forward, eyes focused on the earth just ahead of his feet. The wheels of his mind spinning and whirring as he thought and dwelled on terrifying fears. Wendy nodded her head in agreement as did Carla, and so Lucy turned her attention back to Erza, trying to hide a smirk as Lucy knew she had clearly won this round, until Happy chipped in, sorrow filling his normally boisterous tone.
"He didn't want to eat last night….or take me fishing…." came the mumble of the blue Exceed. This served to widen the eyes of the group, proving just how serious this was. It was then with a sigh that Erza nodded, but looked to the rest of them, instructions on how this would be handled flying from her lips.
"Very well, but not until we get back to Magnolia. We have three more days so maybe he will open up to us by that time."
Lucy's concern showed in the question she had in response to these details. "And if he doesn't?"
"Then we will have to coax him into opening to us, and of all of us I believe either Gray, Lucy, or Happy will be the ones who he'll open up to first."
Wendy couldn't help but feel disappointed as Erza spoke these words. Make no mistake, she was not overcome with any form of jealousy over Lucy, Gray, or Happy. Wendy did, however, wish that Natsu would be as liable to open to her as he would any of those present. Erza, noticing the downcast look that had crossed Wendy's features spoke once again, this time with cheering up the young dragon slayer.
"All of us should be prepared though, in case he chooses to open up to any of us. Right Wendy?"
Wendy's gaze snapped up to look at the smiling face of Erza, and she couldn't help but smile and nod in agreement, causing smiles to break out on the faces of those present, with the exception of Natsu of course.
Natsu wasn't sure what to do about his dilemma, whether or not he should stay with Fairy Tail and fight to protect them, or leave to keep them safe from what he could become. Natsu, who was typically decisive and sure-hearted, did not know what to do, and that thought terrified him more than any form of evil that he had faced to that day.
***Meanwhile - 936 km Southeast of Crocus on the shores of Fiore - Ancient Graveyard Ruins***
Two men stood in what appeared to be a sort of mausoleum within the ruins. These men were not ordinary men, but were two wizards. The wizard to the right of the mausoleum wore charcoal gray sweat pants tucked into black combat boots. He wore a black jacket that zipped up to the bottom of his sternum, revealing a white shirt beneath said jacket. Over top of all of this the man had donned a black cloak that he had allowed to reveal his clothing as he simply had it wrapped about his shoulders. His eyes were of a strange magenta color that stood in stark contrast to his pale skin and black hair. Donning this magenta eyed man's left hand was a black glove. The man on his left wore black athletic shorts that reached just below his knees with simple black sandals upon his feet, similar to those of Natsu's. This man wore a muscle shirt that was also black, matching his shorts. Unlike his counterpart, he possessed eyes that were of a rich chocolate brown, stretching into his black hair that were in the form of dreadlocks that reached to the middle of his shoulder blades. This man's eyes seemed to match the complexion of his skin, dark as chocolate. About his shoulders too was a black cloak, while his right hand donned a white glove, similar to that of his magenta-eyed partner.
Before them appeared to be ancient glyphs etched upon the doors to said mausoleum. The man with the darker complexion stared at these glyphs for quite sometime, his eyes glazing over as he allowed his thoughts to drift off to his wayward son who had recently departed from their guild on the premise of some ridiculous notion that what he and his partner, who too was staring at the glyphs, albeit in wonder, were committing heinous crimes for the sake of power. What this dark skinned man had failed to convince his son of was that they needed to acquire this power so that they could rival the power of Zeref and Acnologia. All because of the boy's mother, whom he was so desperate to save. Yet his son insisted that his mother had resigned herself to her fate, having been told by many medical professionals, both wizards and ordinaries, that there was no way of saving her, no matter how much power they obtained. Yet this man continued on his quest to obtain all the power that he could so that his adored wife could be saved. Neither he, nor his partner, knew what these glyphs meant, nor could they translate them but they could guess at certain depictions, but refrained from these guesses being conclusive. They would need the help of Tool to be able to accurately depict and understand the meaning of these glyphs as well as what they believed to lie inside this mausoleum, something that had originally been believed to have been a mystic location in and of itself, let alone the power that be contained within the object that had been believed to have been sealed deep within the mausoleum before them.
The man's pale partner had thoughts that were similar only in terms of the desire for power, yet the use of that power was what greatly differed. The magenta eyed man had every intention of betraying his counterpart in order to claim this power for his own. It was a topic that had been discussed when the darker individual had approached him at first. He explained why he needed the power and the reason for which he had desired this power. The darker individual had explained that the power itself was too great for one person so the two of them would have to share it and use their combined power to save his wife. The magenta eyed individual agreed right away upon hearing the promise of power, but with the full intention of taking it for himself. Unfortunately, they would have to return to their guild in order to get Tool and bring him to this complex so that he could decipher the glyphs for them so that they could discern how to obtain the power and what they needed to be able to do so.
He turned to his darker friend, who turned to him in the same moment.
The darker man's deep voice ushered from his mouth as he spoke, "We need to go get Tool, I do not possess the ability to translate these glyphs."
The magenta eyed man nodded. His voice slightly higher than his partner's, but still quite deep. "Yes, but we also can't afford to leave this unguarded either. Will you stay and guard it, Espen, while I go and retrieve Tool?"
A curt nod was all he needed before a purple magic circle appeared beneath his magenta eyed friend and appeared to absorb him as he vanished. Espen merely shook his head, his black dreadlocks bouncing, as he turned back to the glyphs, hoping that Tool would arrive shortly.
Time was short, and Espen did not know how much longer his wife would be able to last.
***Northwestern Coast of Fiore - July 16th***
He walked along the coast, for what may perhaps have been the millionth time in his long life. He had been hovering on the eastern side of the country trying to watch Natsu and decide when he could strike, but finally decided that Natsu wasn't quite there and decided that sitting and watching would make him impatient so he travelled west, under the idea of "a watched pot never boils." With that thought in mind he decided to wander once again, with the hopes that his brother would be able to surprise him when he returned and thus be capable of doing that which he had been in search of for hundreds of years. Something he had desired since he first used dark magic and had been placed under this curse. That which he had been in pursuit of and desired was what drove him to the creation of his demons, creatures he himself created so that he could achieve his goal, death.
He had desired that death even more passionately considering what had happened to the girl he had grown to care for. The girl he had repeatedly warned of the dangers of being close to him but she stubbornly told him, in no uncertain terms, that nobody deserved a life of solitude. Her simple caring had touched his heart that had only known despair for the past few centuries. In the time he had spent with her he had grown to love her and looked forward to returning to the newly created Fairy Tail from his journeys. It was one of those return journeys where he discovered the horrible fate that had befallen her, and once again his heart was plunged into despair. His conscience was even more guilt ridden knowing that he had taught her the magic that made such a feat possible, and it was because of that guilt that he desired death to even greater lengths.
For better or worse, he chose Natsu to be able to stop him. The choice made sense since he created Natsu with that fact in mind. To that end, he believed that only Natsu, and his E.N.D. power, would be capable of bringing him down. Zeref could only hope that was the case, lest he suffer to live for all eternity.
***July 17th, Approx. 2 km Southwest of Magnolia, 12:36 PM***
She was frustrated, beyond frustrated in fact. Three days and the only difference in Natsu was that he was beginning to pull away from the rest of them. Lucy was never one to take out her anger easily unless provoked by the previously mentioned dragon slayer. In this case, though, she was about ready to give the man a piece of her mind. They had been trekking endlessly these past few kilometers and Natsu had not yet said a word as they approached their hometown. The worry that had been gripping Lucy's heart had not subsided since departing from Crocus and, in fact, had spiked to new levels whenever she laid eyes on the pink-haired dragonslayer. She knew Natsu was stubborn and believed him to be clueless in matters of the heart so she was debating internally how to get him to open up.
"Maybe I can just come out and say it?"
"And then what? Watch him laugh and try assure you?"
"Then I'll corner him and give him an earful."
"In the mood he's in? He'd be liable to punch you instead of surrender to you. Remember how you were after mom died? Or when you ran away the first time and got dragged back to the mansion?"
Lucy scowled, realizing that no matter how matter she argued with herself she got nowhere, but the last point that she had internally brought up was as much of a realization as it was a legitimate question. Was Natsu truly hurting inside? And if so why? Was it something that happened in Crocus?
Her thoughts, though, were interrupted as Fairy Tail's strongest team entered the city of Magnolia, a sight that always caused joy to rush through the group and for the most part the city did exactly that, with the exception of Natsu.
He had been straggling behind for some time and, despite the beliefs of his comrades, was aware the furtive glances and the attempts to get him to spill on each of them what it was that had been bothering him. While he had been truly touched by the display, he could not help but become irritated and desperately craved for them to just leave him in peace. A part of him, though, knew he should open up to them, tell them everything as soon as he began doubting himself. Haunted memories though flooded his mind though, from failing to protect Lisanna and Happy when he as nothing but a child to the day Igneel had abandoned him, the feeling of self-doubt weighed on his consciousness far heavier than anything he had ever experienced in his life. There, of course, had been other instances where he had been flooded with self-doubt, during missions and fights, but seeing the future Lucy die before his eyes had now heavily weighed upon him more so than anything before. Natsu Dragneel did not fear many things, but losing Lucy terrified him. Even more terrifying than losing her, would be losing her when he could have saved her.
It was that single realization in his mind that caused him to run, fleeing Lucy, Happy and the rest of his closest friends, sprinting in the direction of the forests near his home. A place where he had spent hours in prior years burning trees following the, then believed, death of Lisanna. But in his flight from his team, Natsu attracted the attention of his comrades, and they each shared a look of concern before Lucy led the charge after him, followed closely by the others. Natsu crashed through the shoulders of individuals who happened to be standing at the edge of his charging path, bruising them in the process. It was unfortunate for the individuals who stood directly in the path of Natsu as he barreled them over, tears threatening to burst from his eyes.
Lucy and the rest of Fairy Tail's strongest team struggled to keep up, shouting apologies to all those who had unfortunately been forced to feel the anguish of the troubled dragonslayer. Natsu grew frustrated with the crowded street and so he leaped to the nearest building, and gripped the windowsill with both of his hands. From there, he braced his feet on the wall and kicked off while he used his upper body strength to pull himself up, using the flames of his dragonslayer magic to catapult himself to the roof of the building. The wall he had been on cracked charred, leaving a black stain on the pearly walls, a sign of the darkness that had clearly flooded the young man's mind. Unfortunately, during the chase, Wendy had tripped into Lucy causing her to tumble into Erza and Gray as they rolled to a stop on the pavement. Carla had stopped to ensure the safety of Wendy, but Happy had refused to be halted and quickened his flight after his friend.
Natsu sprinted to the eastern edge of the building and leaped, flying to the next building and continued this pattern until he spotted the seclusion he felt he needed. He then planted his left foot, cutting from east to northeast and planting his right foot on the drip edge of the roof and, with the aid of his burning flames, launched himself at the secluded woods. If any citizen were to look to the skies in the north, they would believe they were witnessing a burning comet if they were not familiar with the local fire wizard.
Natsu laid out within his personal fireball, eyes clamped shut tight, trying to prevent any tears from falling down his face. He sailed deep with in the woods, crashing through trees on his descent before he skimmed the surface of the earth, smashing through roots and any uplifted earth, leaving a broken and scorched trail behind him. His momentum finally lost to the laws of physics as he had tumbled and rolled to a halt at the base of a tall maple tree. Dizzy from his anger fueled crash, he picked himself up slowly, his mind racing with any and all potential scenarios of failure. With each one playing itself out in his mind's eye, his fists clenched tighter and tighter, his body tensing more and more, his magic springing to life around his body and pooling around his fists. Tears threatened to spill as he grimaced and grit his teeth, but the finally fell when Zeref struck her down, only to anger him to the point that he would lash out and, ideally to Zeref, kill the immortal wizard.
The tears fell and, Natsu being as stubborn as he was, decided to destroy anything within arm's length as a way of beating them into submission. He lashed out to his left with his right fist, crippling a young tree, he spun back to his right, a heated roundhouse kick with his left foot dismantling some fractured and broken earth that had been raised from his previous bouts of rage. He swung his right foot out and up, uprooting a nearby ash tree and, as he allowed his momentum to carry him through a flip he focused his eyes on the ground, willing his flames to increase in strength around his left fist as he descended. A straight punch from said fist caused the earth to splinter and break apart, more of it being raised before he spun 180 degrees and lashed out with a right cross, breaking through a wall of earth. His eyes allowing waves of tears to fall, betraying his anger and showing what this outburst truly was, pain.
With each strike he shouted and cried out, screamed and wailed as he tormented the forest, destroying everything around the oversized maple tree before it had dared to stand in his way. He led the way with his right fist, encased in flames, placing a splintered dent into the tree but otherwise not falling to the abuse. This only served to anger the dragonslayer further, and with a roar his left fist shot and connected with the tree, deepening the previously made dent but not felling the tree. With a scream he brought his right knee up, then shot the right foot out, once again placing a splintered dent in the tree but it did not fall. A left roundhouse kick struck the side of the tree and put a gash into it but again stood tall. Natsu leapt at it with a barrage of punches, doing everything he could to bring it down, cries and screams rang out across the forest, beckoning to his friends who were racing to the forest that Happy had witnessed Natsu sail into. Natsu's wails were his pleas for help, and he subconsciously prayed they would be answered.
***Meanwhile - In Scourge Village - 492 km Northwest of Ancient Graveyard Ruins - 1:17 PM ***
The village was bare and seemingly devoid of life to any who passed by it. This was not true, though, for unbeknownst to those who passed by the village there were magical runes meticulously placed around the village to create an illusion to all those who passed by. Even more interesting was that no individual was capable of entering the village for the glyphs prevented any individual from entering without fear of pain. Those who dared to enter would instantly disintegrate upon coming into contact with the glyph made barrier. For that reason, they had named the place the Scourge Village and cautioned any to avoid it. For the same reason that none could enter the village, none of the villagers were capable of leaving, for the caster of the runes had placed very specific runes on his comrades. Only those who had been branded with said runes were capable of coming and going from the village.
One such individual approached the Scourge village, his magenta eyes glowing within the hood created shadow, his cloak pulled snugly about him. His black combat boots kicking up dust as he marched to the edge of the barrier. He stopped about a couple of meters away from the barrier, and it was once he reached that distance that he removed the black glove that adorned his left hand. He then rotated his arm and hand so that the back of his hand faced the barrier, a majestic hammer with the head of it angled towards the rest of his body while a sword was placed behind it angled away from him. This was the symbol of his guild, the symbol that he shared with Tool, Espen, and five others.
The symbol glowed before the barrier parted approximately three to four meters. The magenta eyed man stepped through the opening, flashing his guild mark at the barrier, causing it to close behind him. He then put the black glove back onto his hand before walking towards his guild hall. All about him men and children stared at him, scorn radiating through their glares. Behind those glares, though, was also fear, fear of being hurt, murdered, or forced to witness a family member murdered or tortured for their transgressions. Typically, the magenta eyed man would have done just that, but he was in too good of a mood considering what he and Espen had discovered a few days ago. He knew that he should torture and ruin these poor souls since Espen never allowed him to when the man was present, but Espen was at the ruins and the magenta eyed man knew he couldn't dawdle for long if so that he could obtain the rumored power sealed within. So the man hurried to the Thunder Titan guild hall.
He approached the guild, though for the sake of accuracy the guild was, in truth, a fort as opposed to being any form of a building. He strode right up to the gates and stopped, staring at the gates and walls of the fort. He shifted his weight onto his left foot and, pushing off of it, leaped to the top of the gates where he kicked off the ledge with his right foot, launching himself into the courtyard of the fort. He landed with a crash, the ground splintering around him as he landed. He then strode into the barracks where the "headquarters" for the guild itself was. He strode through to the barracks, pushing the doors open as he walked in, the sight before him was of men and women sitting at tables and the bar, drinking, eating, talking and laughing. His eyes journeyed to the second level, to see people leaning on the railing relaxing and laughing and talking. He strode to the bar and as he did, men and women parted before him, those who knew of him nodded to him in greeting, while those who considered him to be a friend smiled and gave a slight wave of their hand. The magenta eyed man could not help it when he saw them and smiled in return. His eyes though were not focused on those who smiled at him, instead he was scanning the crowd for Tool, giving a slight growl when he was unable to. He turned and sat at the bar on one of the stools, deciding that Tool was not present. He typically would have checked the basement but he knew that Tool had moved her workshop to the second floor and that if she weren't among the crowd she was busy with a project, and he knew enough from personal experience to never disturb her. He had no desire to receive a wrench to his most precious region between his legs.
That belief did not last long as the stool had placed himself upon launched itself into the air towards the ceiling, earning a brief gasp of shock from the magenta eyed sitter. As he approached the ceiling he was prepared to either destroy his seat, or blow a hole through the ceiling of the barracks. It never came though, as his ride abruptly turned, flying over the railing of the second floor, weaving between support beams, men and women throwing themselves to the floor to avoid being trucked by the man riding a flying, rocket powered barstool. His stool rounded a corner, flying straight at a familiar steel door. His mind quickly registered the door and his eyes narrowed, typically he would avoid but assumed the door would open.
A loud bang resounded throughout the guild as he crashed into the steel door, the bar stool giving a small explosion and covering the man in smoke as he remained imprinted on the steel door. The door then slammed open, pushing outward, forcing the man into the wall behind the door.
Through the open door, a diminutive woman walked out, standing at about four feet tall, a welding mask covering her face and a flaring welding torch in her fireproof gloved hands.
"Who the fuck is knocking on my door?! How many times do I need to tell you not to bother me when I'm fucking busy?! And where the hell is Jordan?! Espen had the balls to interrupt me with that stupid communication lacrima to let me know that Jordan was on his way!"
A loud slam shook the walls as Jordan kicked the door shut, and then removed himself from the wall, coming face to face with the woman in the welding mask as she spun about.
"You dumb bitch! Why the hell didn't you open the damn door?!"
"Why the fuck didn't you get off stupid?! Did you expect the damn door to open just for you?!"
The magenta eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Hell yeah! If you can get that fucking stool to keep from leaving the planet you can get the door to open when I get close!"
"Consider that punishment for stealing my underwear last week you fucking pervert!"
"Steal your - you dumb slut! You left it in my room after you slept with me!"
"Slept with you?! You bastard! You practically used a lust potion on me!"
"That's backwards you stupid broad! You slipped me the fucking potion!"
At this point they were nose to mask, Jordan's magenta eyes glowing brightly. The two were silent for about a minute, and although there was a welder's mask separating the two faces, it could be said that the two were staring at each other for quite some time. It was a battle of wills if you would, until finally, Jordan's face broke out into a grin, his hood having been from his head and settling on the back of his shoulders during his roller-coaster ride on a damned barstool. The smaller woman raised the welder's mask, a similar grin crossing her features. It wasn't long before the two grins burst into laughter, neither of them able to contain it any longer as they laughed. After an approximate minute or so of laughter, the two finally began to calm down, their chests heaving for air. Jordan wiped the tears from his eyes, his smile quickly fading from his face as he straightened himself up and his cloak, his features turning serious as he turned his gaze to the woman who had removed the welder's mask. She was not an unattractive woman, her green hair cut short, reaching to just above the base of her neck, with yellow eyes fitting her plump but diminutive figure.
Noticing the look on Jordan's face she became somewhat concerned, and asked the dangerous question.
"What is it Jordan?"
He looked at her, his eyes showing business as did his posture and demeanor.
"I need you to come with me to Espen, in the mountain range southeast of here are some form of ruins. We believe the power that Espen and I have been seeking lies there, but there are glyphs present and we cannot decipher them for they are a language we do not understand. You use both rune and machina magic, therefore, we require your aid."
She sighed and gave a brief nod.
"Alright, let me pack a bag and we can-"
"I'm afraid we do not have time for that. We leave immediately. I will suggest that Espen summon the Lahar back here should we discover something invaluable pertaining to our search. He knew no doubt would like to know in order to keep those pests away from the area."
With that, Jordan strode right past Tool, reaching up and pulling his hood over his head, shrouding his features. Tool sighed and sprinted into her workshop, silver magic circles appearing around her hands as metal flew throughout the shop and out she stepped, covered in a metallic suit of armor, the steel door closing behind her. Despite the armor, she moved silently through the barracks, follow Jordan at a brisk pace on their way back to Espen. The thoughts that ran through Tool's mind were endless, and she was far more than eager to witness this discovery, hoping that there might be some form of an answer to saving….
A quick shake of the head removed such thoughts as she mentally berated herself for allowing such optimism to enter her mind. She had long since crushed hope, yet, ironically, still searched for answers to the conundrum she found her life situation to be in. It was this twisted and hypocritic mindset that she so enjoyed removing hope from any wizard she had to battle. A sickening smile formed on her face beneath the steel helmet. She knew of Espen's and Jordan's desires in regards to that which they believe to have found. She was going to enjoy crushing their hopes when the time came.
***Meanwhile - Outskirts of Magnolia 237 m from Natsu's Solitude***
They had only been a couple hundred meters away from the edge of the forest when they heard the beginning of his onslaught. Fear gripped the hearts of Erza, Wendy, and Carla, fear that Natsu was battling some unknown assailant. Gray and Happy knew better though, for they witnessed these lapses of Natsu's mental state on brief occasions before but could tell from the sound of it, this was by far the worst he had ever been. Lucy was beside herself though, she knew Natsu wasn't fighting anyone, but she also knew from her own tantrums in the past, he was in pain. He was fighting his own self. The only thing Lucy could not understand was why. Why Natsu was torturing himself and the rest of them in such a manner made her want to join him in the outcries but she had steeled herself to be strong for his sake. With that the friends hastened towards the source of the cries and roars, stumbling and tripping through roots, branches, and stones. Their hearts crying out to their comrade, whom's cries grew in both volume and desperation.
Erza and Gray had finally had enough, and so, two quick spells later saw Erza slashing and cutting through forests while Gray's ice uprooted trees. All for the sake of creating an easy path to reach Natsu faster. Their pace hastened, sprinting as fast as they could through trees and shrubs. They could see the flames of Natsu's rage as they burst into the clearing, just in time to witness Natsu slam a roundhouse kick with his right leg, slamming into a massive tree with a splintering crack and sending the tree toppling to the ground, crashing several meters in front of the group that burst onto the scene. The group watched in horror as there stood Natsu, tears freely running down his face, his hands, elbows, knees, and feet were bruised and battered as his right foot touched down and, not acknowledging their presence, he sank to his knees, weeping as he did so. His hands came up covering his face as he leaned into them. The only hands he had allowed himself to lean into when Igneel left, when Lisanna left, and now….
Lucy, it all came back to Lucy. Natsu couldn't understand why he felt this way about the celestial spirit mage. Igneel had never really taught Natsu about romantic love, seeing that Natsu was a bit too young to understand. There was the time when they had sex ed, Natsu had been red in the face for weeks and had been unable to train properly as a result. Now though, just the thought of Lucy made Natsu go insane, his heart thundered like the trains that he so despised. Lucy had been everything to him since they met in Hargeon, and Natsu had sworn to always protect her and keep her happy. Yeah he knew he got on her nerves or irritated her, but what Lucy didn't know was that Natsu craved that attention. Believe it or not, when it came to the attractive blonde teenager, Natsu felt immensely insecure. He knew annoying her wouldn't help his insecurities but he was scared. Scared that if we wasn't around her all the time, or pestering her that she would leave him. Leave him just like Igneel, like Lisanna. Sure Lisanna had come back but too much time had passed for Natsu to be able to look at her like that, not to mention they were kids during that whole marriage business. Lisanna had taught him about that aspect of love, but Natsu knew nothing of romance, nor did he knew how it felt to be in love with someone.
The thundering of his heart only occurred for him in the heat of battle, so was that the issue? He had just raged through the forest so perhaps it wasn't just because he thought of Lucy. Still, he always thought of Lucy, anytime he finished a battle or walked into the guild. His eyes sought Lucy, he hunted for Lucy. When missions became tough his first thought was always of protecting Lucy, keeping her safe, making sure she was okay. In no way shape or form did Natsu consider her to be weak. That thought never once crossed his mind, he knew that Lucy was more than capable of beating just about anyone. That knowledge never belayed his concerns or worries though. So he wept, he wept at his insecurities, he wept at his own weakness. He wept at his fears, his biggest fear. That he would let Lucy down, that he would fail to protect her, that he would lose her.
It was these weeping cries that tore at the hearts of his friends, Lucy in particular. Wendy cried openly as did Happy, with Carla trying to console them both, Erza watched, her mouth curved into a frown while Gray simply stared at the earth beneath his feat. Lucy's eyes filled with her own tears at the state of her beloved dragonslayer. She knew her feelings for him, she loved him deeply and that love for him was what guided her footsteps towards the crying pink-haired teen. Natsu, for all of his dragonslayer senses, failed to notice her approach, so wracked by despair was he. She dropped to her knees beside him, fully facing him, and stretched her arms out, wrapping her right arm around his waist and her left hand, catching the left side of Natsu's head and guided it to her shoulder. Natsu barely registered the touch, but leaned on her shoulder regardless, soaking the vest jacket she wore as he cried.
She did something she remembered her mother doing when she cried. Lucy ran her left hand through the surprisingly soft pink spikes of the teenage dragonslayer, hoping to ease his heart even if only a little. She slowly began to sway from her left to right, rocking the young man as he poured his soul to her, all of his pain and sorrow. She held him, refusing to let go, refusing to leave him to his pain and sorrow. Their friends watched the gentle and touching moment, none daring to move at first, even Happy remained still. Slowly but surely the pained cries died down, giving way to slow deep breaths, the pain, the tears, and the outburst of his rage led to him falling into a sleep. If Lucy noticed, she refused to let on as she continued to rock the troubled teen, still playing with his pink spikes.
Gray and Erza gave a small smile at the show of affection, as did Carla and Wendy. Happy, though, watched on in concern. Not from any form of jealousy or insecurity but pure concern. He had seen Natsu act in a similar fashion, but not to this extreme. Happy was scared to say the least, scared of being lashed out, afraid of being left alone, afraid of no longer being one of Natsu's closest friends. He quickly dismissed these thoughts as he allowed his Aera magic to activate and he flew over to the couple, landing on Lucy's free shoulder. Lucy turned and looked at him, her face full of determination.
"Happy, can you carry him back to my apartment? We're gonna report to the master and we'll all meet up. Keep an eye on him ok? We promise we won't be long."
The blue exceed gave a small nod before Erza interrupted. "No, Lucy. You, Wendy and Carla go with them. Gray go collect Natsu's things and I'll get Wendy's. We'll meet up after we inform the master."
Lucy couldn't help the small smile on her face as she thanked them. Happy grabbed Natsu by the collar of his robe. Lucy relinquished her hold of him, allowing Happy to lift the dragonslayer into the air. She then climbed to her own feet, waving to Gray and Erza as they walked to the guild hall. The rest departed for Lucy's apartment.
***With Erza and Gray - 79 m from Fairy Tail***
"Are you sure it's a good idea, all of us crowding Lucy's apartment like that? Maybe we should just leave Natsu with her and Happy and the rest of us butt out."
Erza nodded slowly. "Trust me Gray we will, but for now let's see if we can all keep an eye on him. Maybe we can get Lucy to tell him."
Gray blew a sigh both of relief and disbelief.
"You really think she'll open up just like that to him? I mean yeah they both have it for each other but still…."
Erza smiled. "I suppose you should set an example and tell Juvia how you feel."
Gray's eyes widened comically at the offhanded remark. "This isn't about Juvia and I, this is about that stupid flamethrower and Lucy! Besides, why don't you set the example and tell Jellal!"
A full blush crossed Erza's features. "I don't know what you're talking about! Jellal and I were friends a long time ago and besides, even if I did love him I have no way of telling him."
Gray smirked, feeling victory at hand. "So you love him huh?"
Erza's eyes widened, realizing her mistake. So she reacted the only way she could. She brought her fist down on the crown of Gray's head, causing his knees to buckle.
"Ow! Dammit Erza!"
The scarlet-haired woman paid no mind as she continued her march towards the guild, leaving Gray to scramble after her.
They were unaware of the figure observing them from the rooftops.
"Those two, they're friends of the dragonslayer. They will have to be dealt with swiftly once they have arrived from Pergrande."
***Meanwhile - With Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Wendy, and Carla - 38 m from Lucy's Apartment***
It was a quiet journey for the small group, with the exception of the busy streets they crossed. The silence that was present over the group was one that was generated out of respect for Natsu's slumber, but also one where Lucy spent in reflection and ponderment over the troubled dragonslayer. She knew he had cried out her name during his rage in the forest, but was he troubled by her future death that much, was he scared? What was it that had set him off. Watching him from the corner of her eye, his face set grimly as if he was steeling himself for another deadly fight made her wonder what was it that had him so upset. She had never seen him this way, and it scared her. Not out of fear of him losing control and hurting her, but of him losing himself and hurting himself. Her face took on a look of determination, determined not let him lose himself, determined to help him, keep him safe from his own pain. He may have gone to great lengths to save her in the past from enemies, and she may never be able to save him in that way. She was okay with that, but she knew that she could save him pain, the pain of crushed feelings and emotions.
Wendy was watching Natsu as well, also wondering what was wrong, but for a different reason. If he was sick it was something she had never seen, but she was determined her dragonslayer magic would be able to heal him and save him. Smiling a little as she watched Lucy stare at the sleeping pink-haired teen. She was concerned for one of her closest friends, Natsu was reckless, but she guessed that was why her membership to the team was so important, she could heal all of them when they all did reckless things. If she was honest with herself then she would admit that she too was quite reckless. Allowing her to smile, and not for the first time, at the beauty of her Fairy Tail family.
They were unaware that they were being watched, high above, by a figure crouched in the shadows.
"The pink haired man and the blue haired girl, both are dragonslayers. The others are inconsequential. We will have to strike. Not a single one of the three Fairy Tail dragonslayers appear to be of much threat. Nor do the two from Sabretooth. If only those other two would hurry up and get here from Pergrande. We could have struck by now if they hadn't gone to Pergrande. Damn them. But oh well, me and my counterpart can observe for now. Then we will be well prepared at their return."
A twisted smile of white teeth appeared in the shadows, eager to end the reign of the dragonslayers, and permanently extinguish the last ties to dragons.
Sorry about the brisk pace to start, I've noticed that I have this trend of starting these stories off swiftly and then slowing down quickly afterwards. Something to improve upon I suppose. I hope you have enjoyed this beginning to a new series, and hope that you are looking forward to the next chapter (God knows when I'll get that up). My priorities in terms of stories and chapters are as follows with this release: New chapter for World of Fire (standard 15-20 pages like this one), The Era of the Sixth, and then back to this, The Burning Stars. Please leave a review or PM me with any questions or suggestions or ideas. I make no promises that I will implement the ideas or suggestions but I will do my best to answer any questions and will definitively acknowledge that you have taken the time to speak with me. Thank you all for reading and until next time, this is The 85th Naruto saying see ya!
Next Time: Deciphering the Heart
