Fairies at Twilight
Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail
Summary: During a brief reprieve from the war with the Alvarez Empire, Natsu is asked to do the impossible. Or is he?
Fairies at Twilight (Rated T)
Zeref had suddenly vanished, informing everyone on both sides that now was the time for reflection, a time to decide whether they would continue with this war or back down. He would give them one day. "Tend to your wounded," he'd said. "Mourn your losses," he'd said. "Say your goodbyes," he'd said.
Exhaustion. Devastation. Hopelessness. Those were the words circulating through the minds of the survivors of the war as they gathered together near a forest in some part of the newly reconstructed Fiore.
Sting observed the cries of anguish for those lost and the tears of joy for those able to reunite. In the midst of everything, their morale was at an absolute low. How would they ever win this war if all seemed impossible? They needed inspiration. They needed hope. They needed a fire to burn within them.
The white dragon-slayer jolted. Fire! That was it! He needed to find Natsu. "Rogue!" Sting cried, grabbing his friend's arm. "It's time to reunite our dragon family."
Rogue seemed confused by this until recognition flickered in his eyes. "Are we having dragon family time?" he asked as he tilted his head to the side in the afternoon sunlight.
"Yes," replied Sting as he dragged Rogue along in the direction he could smell the other dragon-slayers. "But this time, it's gonna be with everybody!"
"So what did Zeref want, First Master?" questioned Makarov. He was confused by the fact that Mavis was still with them and not in the hands of Zeref.
Mavis shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. One minute he was there, staring at me and the next, he seemed to change his mind about something. He said his part to everyone telepathically and then he just disappeared. I'm not sure of his intentions."
"He must be up to something," said Erza.
"Of course he's up to something, he's the Black Wizard," spat Gray.
"I wonder what he's up to, though," replied Lucy.
Wendy hugged Charle and frowned. "Have you seen anything, Charle?"
The white Exceed shook her head. "I've had no visions since this war began."
"Maybe you need to eat more fish," suggested Happy.
"This little break is pretty strange," commented Gajeel. "Right, shrimp?" Levy nodded as she continued clutching Gajeel's side; she wasn't letting go any time soon.
"He's being…" started Natsu before trailing off. "Never mind."
"He's being what?" questioned Mavis curiously. She would have received a response had it not been for the sudden interruption.
"Found you, Natsu-nii!"
"Oompf!" Natsu let out a groan after Sting practically tackled him to the ground. Rogue approached in a more leisurely and civilized fashion. "Okay. You found me. Now get off. You're heavy."
Sting laughed and got up. He grabbed Natsu's hand and helped him up. "It's good to see you again, Natsu-nii." The white dragon-slayer hugged Natsu tightly.
"You, too," replied Natsu, returning the embrace. "I'm glad you and Rogue are okay."
"Of course we are! Us dragons have to stick together!" said Sting, finally ending the hug. "And I have an idea that just might boost morale. But we need our dragon family to do it."
"Dragon family?" Lucy questioned, glancing at Natsu.
"Sting means us dragon-slayers," Gajeel answered. "We're all that's left of the dragons."
"So we consider ourselves a little dragon family," added Natsu.
Wendy smiled. "Occasionally, we also have family outings together."
Charle frowned. "When has this happened? I don't remember participating in such things."
"No Exceeds allowed," said Rogue, staring down at the ground. He hated not being able to take Frosch.
"Really?" said Gray, eyeing Natsu strangely. "You five have family get-togethers? And do what exactly? It doesn't seem like something you would do."
"Hey! We keep our dragon traditions alive, that's what!" snapped Natsu.
"And," cut in Sting before Gray and Natsu could get into a fight, "it's those very traditions I want to talk about."
"Hm?" responded Natsu.
"I think we should share some of our traditions this evening to boost morale," continued Sting. "We can gather everyone together and tell stories like we always do."
"Stories?" Mavis's eyes lit up. "What kinds of stories?"
"All kinds. Very old stories. Like ones with the stars, dragons, and fairies," said Wendy.
"Fairies?!" Mavis's eyes sparkled in anticipation.
Gajeel grunted in approval of Sting's idea. "Sounds good. I like Salamander's stories." Everyone stared at Gajeel. Even Levy stopped her clutching to stare at him incredulously. "What? I can't like stories?"
"I…I don't think that's why people are staring at you like that," replied Lucy. "I think it's the fact that you said Natsu tells stories."
"He does," said Gajeel as the others continued to stare. "They're really good stories! And that's saying something coming from me!"
Lucy glanced at Natsu. "I'm having a hard time believing that. No offense."
"Honestly, I can't picture flamebrain here getting past the words, 'Once upon a time,'" laughed Gray. "Ow! What was that for?!"
Wendy huffed while Gray rubbed his sore side, which had been elbowed by the sky dragon-slayer. "Don't insult Natsu-nii. He really does tell the best stories." The other slayers nodded in agreement.
Mavis leapt at Natsu and grabbed his arms, jumping up and down. "Will you tell us a story, please? Especially if it has fairies in it?"
Natsu swallowed thickly. Those stories were meant for his dragon family, but if it meant that they could stir hope once more into their loved ones, he had no other choice. "Sure. We just need to get ready. Can you guys gather everyone together?"
"Very well, Natsu," said Erza, who'd been quiet this whole time. After she'd gotten over the initial shock of Natsu being able to tell stories, she wasn't about to waste any time. "We'll do just that."
"What the hell is he doing?" asked Gray as he watched Natsu, who was sitting cross-legged in the grass with his eyes closed.
"Meditating," answered Gajeel as he put the finishing touches on the iron wall he'd created for the story-telling event.
"Meditating?"
Wendy nodded. "When Natsu tells a story, he utilizes all of our dragon-slaying magic. It's only temporary, but it's part of dragon tradition. The oldest is the story-teller, and therefore temporarily uses the magic of other dragons—in this case, slayers—to tell the stories of our traditions and beliefs. He needs to meditate in order to become connected with our magic."
Well, that was another side to Natsu he didn't know. "Okay. And the iron wall?"
"You can't tell a good story without it, gihi," replied Gajeel.
Sting put his hands on his hips and nodded in approval. "Looks good. Are we just about set?"
Erza and Rogue approached him. "Everyone's gathered together. I think we're ready," answered Erza.
"I can't wait," boomed a voice from behind them.
Lucy, who had been closest to the voice, screamed and spun around. "C-Celestial Spirit King?! What are you doing here?"
"We heard Natsu was going to tell a story," announced Loke, noticing the shocked look on Lucy's face. "Don't worry. We're all here using our own magic."
"All here?" Lucy echoed. She then noticed that all of the celestial spirits had decided to mix and mingle in the crowd. "Why?"
The Celestial Spirit King sat down heavily, making himself comfortable. "Dragon stories are the oldest ever to be told. It's been quite some time since I've heard one."
Lucy sighed. "This better be a damn good story," she grumbled. Who knew what kind of trouble some of her spirits would cause.
"I think he's ready," said the Celestial Spirit King. "His magic has stabilized."
"I'll get him," replied Sting as he made his way over to the fire dragon-slayer. He knelt in front of him and pressed his forehead against the other's gently. "You ready?"
"I think so," replied Natsu softly.
"Did you settle on a story?" Sting felt Natsu nod against him. "Which one?"
Natsu took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Fairies at Twilight."
Sting leaned back, surprised. "We're not supposed to tell that one," he whispered. "You're not supposed to tell that one. You can't use that magic. You're not supposed to!"
"I know," replied Natsu as he opened his eyes. "But considering our circumstances, I think it'll be worth it."
"Natsu."
"I've made up my mind," Natsu stressed.
"Okay. Just…okay." Sting stood up and Natsu followed suit. "Gajeel has the wall set up. I guess we'll start shortly."
Natsu nodded and headed in that direction, while Sting went toward the other slayers and some Fairy Tail members.
Rogue noticed that Sting looked worried. "What's wrong?"
"Natsu's telling Fairies at Twilight."
"Huh? But we're not supposed to tell that story," said Wendy.
"Why not?" asked Gray. "What's it about, anyway?"
"Hm," started the Celestial Spirit King, "to think he'd tell that one. Things must be quite dire."
"You know the story?" asked Lucy, her interest piqued.
The Celestial Spirit King nodded. "Knowing Natsu, he'll be fine. You slayers worry too much."
The others watched as Natsu sat in front of Gajeel's iron wall. Sting and Rogue sat to his left, while Wendy and Gajeel sand to his right. Everyone else gathered behind them.
"Keep your eyes on the iron wall," instructed Natsu. "I'll be using all of our magic to not only tell you the story, but show it. This is Fairies at Twilight."
Natsu's Story
A long time ago, when the Earth was still quite young, there was a balance between the Light and the Dark. Each sector had their own people; the Luminarians resided in the Light, while the Atrumians dwelled in the Dark. They lived in peace for a time, their unspoken treaty being that as long as neither stepped foot into the other's territory, that peace would reign. But alas, that peace would not last.
One day, a young Atrumian boy decided he would go to the edge of the Dark. He had never seen the Light before, and he grew curious. All he had ever seen was darkness. So he ventured toward the end of the Atrumian territory. The closer he got, the lighter the Dark became until he reached the edge of the darkness.
Blinded by the sudden wall of Light before him, he squinted to his left and to his right. Finding that the Light travelled for as far as he could see both ways, he took a few steps back so that the Light would not be so bright.
But in his eagerness to see into the Luminarian territory, he fell and cried out. His yell was met by another voice, a young Luminarian girl. 'Who's there?' she asked. The boy remained silent as he looked into the Light, his eyes gradually adjusting to its brightness. Although when he could finally see, the breath left his body as he took in the sight before him.
There stood the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her hair shimmered and her body seemed to glow. For the Atrumian boy, this was love at first sight. Getting to his feet, he approached the edge of the Dark, but dared not go past it. 'Hello?' he called out.
The girl appeared stunned, but she narrowed her eyes at the Dark. 'So someone is there,' she said, 'but I cannot see you.'
'But I can see you,' the boy replied. 'What is your name, fair one?'
The girl blushed. 'I am called Fairy. And you?'
'They call me Demon.' And so began their tryst. They would meet each other where the Light met the Dark every day, and their bond grew stronger and stronger until they both knew they had fallen deeply in love.
This went on for some time until the Luminarian girl, now a young woman, approached the edge of the Light and said, 'I want to see your face. I want to see the one who has captured my heart. The darkness keeps you from me, but I truly wish to see the man I love.'
'I would like that, but it is forbidden that our paths should even cross.'
'But why?'
'I do not know, my dear Fairy, but I do wish that I could be with you,' said Demon, tormented by the fact he could not touch his true love.
'No one has to know,' whispered Fairy as she stepped closer to the edge. 'No one comes here, no one would know. Step into the Light and let me see you.'
Demon stared at her for a moment, thinking. He didn't believe anything would go wrong if he stepped into the Light, so he did as Fairy wished and crossed the line that had once divided them.
Fairy smiled, her face glowing as she took in Demon's stunning appearance. 'You're beautiful,' she sighed.
'As are you,' he replied. He tentatively reached out to her, touching her for the first time, not noticing the shadow that trailed behind him.
Emotions quickly consumed them like fire, and before long, Fairy was with child. The Luminarian people grew troubled by this since they had never seen her with any man. And as the child within her womb grew, so did the curiosity of her people.
As she neared the end of her pregnancy, she decided it would be best if she stayed where the Light met the Dark. Demon did the same. They would remain together until their child was born.
What they were unaware of, however, was that Fairy had been followed. Discovering that Fairy and Demon had broken the unspoken treaty, the spectator ran off to reveal the bitter news.
'Demon!' Fairy cried out in pain. 'The baby's coming!' Demon emerged from the Dark to be by Fairy's side.
As he stood by her, Fairy finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy. He seemed to shimmer like gold in the Light, so they named him Celestial.
But soon, Fairy cried out in pain again. 'There's another baby!' she yelped in surprise, and she began to push.
Demon wrapped Celestial in a white cloth and set him down so he could deliver their second child. This baby was also a boy, and seemed to bring darkness to the Light, so they named him Dragon.
Just as he was wrapping the second-born in another cloth, they heard angry shouts coming toward them.
Demon, though consumed by fear, held Dragon to his chest protectively despite the fact he was frozen to his spot.
Fairy sat up painfully and took Celestial in her arms. 'Run, Demon! Run! Take Dragon with you and run!'
'But—'
'Please!' Fairy pleaded. 'I love you and our children, but you and Dragon cannot remain in the Light safely now. They will see the both of you shrouded in darkness and they will kill you! Please run!'
Demon stood with Dragon in his arms. 'I will come back for you. Both you and Celestial. I promise!' he proclaimed and then he ran into the Dark, his shadow disappearing with him.
However, the Luminarians knew what had taken place, so they took Fairy and her son Celestial and locked them in a tower in the sky. But it did not end there.
A battle soon raged between the Atrumians and Luminarians. Light entered the Dark, Dark entered the Light, and shadows ran through both worlds, feeding off the emotions of both sides until it grew stronger and stronger. Before long, the shadows had developed a mind of their own, quickly consuming the humans in their path, turning them into the true monsters they were inside.
By this time, Celestial and Dragon were full grown, and they each tried to console their single parents for the loss of the other.
But when the pain of that loss suddenly grew to be too much, Fairy leaned out of the tower in the sky she'd been banished to and fell into the shadows. Instead of plummeting to her death, she transformed into thousands of little balls of light—fairies. Flying back up to the tower, they perched themselves atop it and seemed to wait for something.
Demon had also been consumed by the shadows, and in his rage from being separated from his love for so long, he transformed into thousands of demons. Racing to the edge of the Dark, they just stood there, waiting.
Celestial and Dragon, stunned that their parents would give into the shadows, ran to where the Light met the Dark, anxiously trying to outrun the shadows that chased them. They did not want to succumb to them like their parents had.
The faster they ran, the quicker the shadows moved. Soon they had both respectively reached the edge, and before they crossed, the fairies and demons let out a dreadful cry, halting them in their tracks. This gave the shadows the chance they needed to consume them.
They reached Celestial first, swirling about him, transforming him into the stars in the sky.
Dragon, however, jumped toward the Light and reached for his brother now scattered about the air above, but the shadows grabbed him, pulling him back. And still he fought, even as the shadows consumed him. His own form started to scatter into hundreds of creatures—dragons.
But he was still determined to reach the light. Lunging for it once more, wings sprouted from the backs of the dragons, but the shadows made another effort to stop him. Chains shot out from the shadows, ensnaring the furious dragons as they dragged them back into the shadows. They would never reach the stars.
Sensing that the dragons were in danger, the demons, the stars, and the fairies came to their rescue, but the shadows soon captured them as well. But with trying to contain such powerful creatures, the shadows became exhausted, and melted away into their own realm, hiding all the creatures they had created from plain side.
The humans left behind found themselves in a world merged with the Light and the Dark, but many of their loved ones were gone. Determined to find a way to access their loved ones once more, the humans consulted the remaining elder and seer. It was then he spoke of a prophecy.
'Whosoever should bear the mark of the ones once lost will find their souls bound to the ones inhabiting the shadows. Should those spirits choose to walk the Earth again, the ones bound to them must traverse through the shadows and remain.'
But before he could finish his prophecy, his heart suddenly gave out and he passed away. No explanation could be found for his abrupt death.
The people were confused by this prophecy and the elder's untimely demise, so they decided to take matters into their own hands in order to conquer the shadows and release the ones taken from them.
End Natsu's Story
The images of Fairies of Twlight left the iron wall and faded just as the evening sun. Natsu raised his head and looked at the stars; however, he did notice the silence behind him.
"That…was a beautiful story," whispered Lucy in awe. "But heartbreaking."
"A great story," boomed the Celestial Spirit King.
Natsu stood from him place on the ground and turned to face his audience, the other dragon-slayers following suit. He watched curiously as Mavis approached him.
"Is that story true?" she asked the fire dragon-slayer.
"Do you believe it's true?" he responded.
"I want to believe it."
Natsu smiled and turned his gaze back to the sky. "Do fairies have tails? Do they even exist? Like them, Fairy Tail is an eternal mystery. A never ending adventure," he said, echoing words Master Makarov once told him. "But what it was no longer an eternal mystery?"
"What do you mean?" asked Mavis.
Natsu stared at her and smile. "Would you like to see a fairy?"
Mavis's eyes lit up. "A real fairy?"
"Natsu, " started Sting.
The fire dragon-slayer nodded, ignoring the white dragon-slayer's plea.
"You're joking, right?" said Gray.
"I'm not," said Natsu. "But things will change if I show it to you. Your eyes will be opened to a completely different world."
"You'll see things as we see them," said Wendy.
"Hear what we hear," added Rogue.
"Feel what we feel," said Gajeel.
Sting sighed. "Know what we know."
"We are the children of dragons," started Natsu. "Those who were marked and reside between both worlds, the one that we see and the one that is hidden from plain sight. However, to reveal such a world has consequences."
"Are you prepared for such consequences?" asked Rogue.
No one was sure what Rogue meant by consequences, but for the chance to truly see a fairy seemed worth it.
Mavis stepped even closer to Natsu. "I want to see a fairy."
"Things will change," he warned. "Are you sure?"
Mavis nodded firmly. "Yes."
Natsu stepped away from her and walked over to an emptier area of their location. He cupped his hands and held them out in front of him, eyes closed in concentration. Gradually, a tiny spark of light unlike his own fire twinkled to life in his hands. As it began to take form, Mavis gasped.
A tiny, glittery figure with fragile wings fluttered above Natsu's hands. The fire dragon-slayer opened his eyes and smiled at the delicate creature.
The crowd gasped.
"A fairy!"
"Impossible!"
Mavis took several hesitant steps toward Natsu, her expression frozen in awe as she realized something. "Fairies have tails!" she gasped.
The fairy flew from Natsu's hands and hovered in from of Mavis. It twirled around several times before flying up into the sky. It gave a sharp whistle.
Suddenly, more sparkly figures appeared and flew up into the sky, glittering like starlight.
The Celestial Spirit King rose from the ground and looked upward before approaching Natsu. "Thank you, old friend," he said. "I'm glad I could meet my mother once again."
Natsu smiled, sensing when the Celestial Spirit King disappeared.
"I finally got to see a fairy!" Mavis giggled.
"Yeah," said Natsu, his legs giving out from under him. That had taken too much of his magic.
"Natsu-nii!" Sting gasped, rushing to the fire dragon-slayer's side. "I told you not to do this. You opened a door that can't be closed."
Natsu nodded and leaned against Sting. "I know. Darkness is the absence of light. Both exist in our hearts, so there's no reason why both shouldn't exist in our world. We all could use a little light right now."
"Of all the stories, you had to pick the one that released demons and fairies," Sting commented.
"I know, but it was worth it," he replied, taking in the expressions of those around them. Their exhaustion seemed to dissipate, their devastation appeared to have vanished, and their hopelessness was eliminated. Something good had come of this.
End