A/N- (speaks with the voice of HIM from the Powerpuff Girls)

Hellooooo children hehe :) Jk Well hello guys! I have been Very M.I.A from FT Fanfiction, actually I have been very away from any type of Fanfiction, to all the stories I follow and haven't reviewed or read I am deeply sorry (._.) In order to become a good writer, one must stay literate. So I promise I'll get back to it ASAP :)

Anyways, I've had the idea for this story in my head for a long while now. Because of my medical conditions I had delayed the writing, typing and uploading of this fanfic for wayyyy too long. But now I finally finished writing this chapter so ta~da.

~The idea of this story came to me while reading the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and also while I was watching Fairy Tail during the Oracion Seis Arc. So let me tell you if you are not associated with the novel of Things Fall Apart, hopefully my story will be able to surprise you at least a tiny bit. This is not your typical Lisanna comes back-Lucy get's kicked out- She find a dragon- Becomes the dragon Princess who is an Elemental/Shadow/Light Dragon Slayer- Also a Celestial Spirit Slayer-who is out for revenge against Fairy tail- but does end up with Natsu! I mean like really I have seen those kind of stories all over and not only are they sooo Far-fetched, cliched and make the character's way to OOC but they way Overpower them. And no offense if you have a story or have read story like such, cause I actually have seen a few that are pretty good, but COME ON! After a while it becomes so repetitive and boring. So please enjoy my display of weird imagination :)

Disclaimer: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe does not belong to me.

Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima also doesn't belong to me.

Cover Art by Hiro Mashima.

I'm just a girl with a crappy laptop who created this Fanfic, so yeah (^.^)

*Summary: Natsu Dragneel has not only become wealthy, but a strong warrior and well respected person from the Fairy Tail clan. Despite being left alone by his father since a very young age, Natsu has become widely known in all of Fiore. But as time goes by, Natsu finds himself protecting his family and town against something with which magic can not be fixed this time... Change.

AU and kind of OOC.

When Magic Falls Apart

Chapter 1: Igneel's Debt

It was bright early morning. A tiny crumbling hut could be clearly seen barely standing in the far outskirts of the town of Magnolia. The hot blistering sun's heat gave of an illusion of the tiny hut sizzling to anyone who would look at it from far away. Next to the tiny hut was an even smaller tree. The tree's bark could peel right off with just the force from the wind (had there been any to begin with), and its branches were almost leafless and crooked in different angles which gave the tree a sinister and dead look. The couple of leaves that were held in some of the branches were an ugly, moss-green looking color and had some brown around the leaves edges. Overall, the tree would not offer any type of shade. And anyone standing near the tiny hut would have thought it was a stupid and sad decoration.

The exterior of the hut was a dark brown color. The walls had been created using a rough cement material that almost resembled hardened dirt, which consequently gave the house a similar look to a brown rock. As for the hut's rooftop, stack over stack of hay was piled up giving it a look of much disheveled looking hair.

As for the house's interior… anyone could have agreed that it wasn't any better than the outdoor appearance of the entire house. The interior was but a small space and it lacked severe handiwork for it seemed to be caving in from the inside. The Hut had four deformed looking walls (that were probably built by an unprofessional). In the wall to the left of the house, were two-sets of cabinets mounted to the wall and all that seem to be inside were 2 mugs, 3 old plates (that seem as if they could shatter at any moment) and a bottle with some unknown liquid. Under the cabinets was a small space that showed the wall and under that wall was a small counter-top which on its surface laid a bowl filled with clear water and a towel neatly folded right next to it. The bowl was most likely used as a sink to wash up and washing dishes. However, despite this makeshift "kitchen", there was no enclosed bathroom, not even a toilet used for those types of necessities. Instead outside in the back of the hut was a bucket that was used for only those purposes.

The kitchen's wall then curved the hut creating the shape of a circular looking hut, which is next to the right wall in the right side of the house. Placed closely to this wall was a small cot with a single thin blanket. And nailed to this wall was a worn out, frame-less picture. The picture easily gave the image of a tall, muscular, young-looking man with red spiky hair and standing right next to him was an equally young, beautiful looking woman with a much lighter complexion of red hair (that most likely could have been noted as a shade of pink), and this woman had a small bundle wrapped in a small blanket being carried by her feminine arms. But if one was to look closely to this little person covered in said bundle, they would have seen a tuft of hair of peculiar pink color similar to the mother's coming out the blanket.

By the image in the photograph one could have presumed that it was most likely taken outside that very same hut near the old-looking tree, however, in that photo the tree looked young and livid. But the most important detail anyone could take from the overall image would have been the overwhelming happiness emitted from the young pair in the picture. The man wore a huge happy grin while the woman wore a bright, happy smile. However, that was all the decoration provided from that wall as there were no more photographs, painting or even windows to provide any sort of decoration to those grim-looking walls.

The last piece of furniture that occupied the small home was a table. The table was nicely built, but that was all there was to that table, since it had no design or no special carving that would have made said table any more special compared to any another table. With this table also came a chair, however at that very moment it was being used by a certain man.

This man seemed to be in his mid-thirties, he was tall and at time he must have had a strong figure but now those muscles he once had were nothing more than flabby fat under his very tan looking skin. His once reddish spiky hair had now visible signs of gray hairs and it looked uncut, unwashed and uncombed. His face was also any different. His once bright goofy grin was gone in its place now remained a solid frown. He also had some scruff similar to the color of his hair that was slowly becoming a full-grown beard. Now, the once youthful face was full of wrinkles and unhappy.

At that moment the seated man remained so still, that anyone would have thought he was frozen for he would not move and he would not make any sound. His breathing was calm and collected, his inhales and exhales were so silent, that they were almost nonexistent.

In his hands he held an almost empty mug that contained a liquid which (could have been presumed to be water). Time seemed to have frozen, the man as well, however the only sign of life given from this man was the slight movement of his eyes as they went looking back and forth from a spot on the wall adjacent to the entrance of the hut and back to the entrance, which was just a whole wide enough to for a person to easily walk through which was covered with a curtain that was crudely nailed to the wall. But if looking closely, one could see some remaining door hinges giving proof that there once was a door in its place other than just a plain old-curtain.

Slowly the sounds of heavy footsteps could be heard in the tiny hut as they seem to be gradually approaching its way. The seated man finally closed his eyes and took a deep breath, exhaled and took one last look to the certain spot he had been previously been looking at.

Slowly a bulky hand came into view behind the curtain as the hand parted it to the side. The sun's shine blinded the seated man a moment before the lighting went back to being the same as minutes before and by now, another person had just finished stepping inside the hut.

The new man inside was tall, had dark-skin and had a very muscular figure. His most distinctive features were his cleanly shaved bald head and a pair of tiny dark oval-shaped eyebrows. Despite his massive built, it was clear that unlike the seated man, that this male was still in a youthful stage and about his mid-twenties.

"Hello Igneel, I hope I did not interrupt anything you were doing", spoke the standing male with a deep voice.

"Nonsense Jura, what could you possibly interrupt this old fool from doing?" answered the seated man known as Igneel, adding a chuckle to his response.

Jura who still wasn't fully inside the house took one quick look around the place before speaking up.

"May I come in?"

"Of course," Igneel said "I would offer you to take a seat, but as you see I only own one chair", he responded as if he found the chair ordeal amusing.

"Don't worry, I'm okay standing and I only came to have a quick word with you" the tall man said.

Igneel chuckled, "Well then what is it that you have to say friend."

At this Jura straighten his posture and looked ahead as he spoke. "Well, I just came to see if you had heard of the title I intend to take shortly."

But of course, Igneel thought. It was only obvious that Jura were to reach such title only given to strong warriors and powerful wizards. Qualities to which Jura Neekis both had. After all, they didn't call him Iron Rock Jura for nothing. His impressive Earth magic had always been a very good asset to him during battles and his ability and strength to fight off men twice his size were what led the young man to be able to receive the honor of a Wizard Saint.

Battles however, were something Igneel could never come to support. He was never happy went it came to wars. Everyone in the town of Magnolia, even in all the country of Fiore, knew that he was a coward and could not bear the sight of blood. He once may have had been a very skilled fighter and he even inherited a very powerful and rare magic known as Dragon Slayer Magic, since he was a very distant descendant from Dragons. Igneel could have even taken that same title himself, if it hadn't been for some poor choices, a hard past and for a "war" he lost to a long time ago. That however was all in the past.

"Well know, that's great to hear" the red-headed man said as he stood up from his chair and began making his way towards his cabinet section. "I always knew you would get titled as a Wizard Saint, I think we all did", he continued as he brought back to the table 2 mugs and the previously mentioned bottle with an "unknown" liquid.

"And this?" Jura asked with a confused look in his face.

"Just a toast for celebration" the older man said with amusement. He poured a drink on both mugs and went to stand next to Jura. "Now, let's thanks Mavis for giving you such a talented life and for honoring you with the highest magical title." He then handed Jura a mug as he held one himself. The younger man proceeded to take his, and both with a quick "Cheers" began to drink from their mugs.

While Jura continued to drink from his cup, he couldn't stop from pointing out that the ale they were currently drinking was not only a cheap brand but also it would most likely leave a bitter after taste in his mouth. He however managed to gulp the last of his drink and went to set the now empty mug on the table. Typical Igneel, trying to get me drunk before I get to the point, he thought.

Igneel who had already finished his own drink, retook the bottle and refilled his own mug, he was about to refill Jura's when an arm covered in a tight-fitting green armband stopped him.

"I think that's enough for now" Jura said.

Igneel nodded and went back to paying attention to the younger man.

"Today, I came to tell you about my recent accomplishment and I thank you for your felicitations, however as I'm going to start a new chapter of my life, since having such title allows me to have more counsel authority, and I'll even be higher than an ordinary commander in the Magnolia Army, and I'm going to have to be traveling quiet a lot... going from battle to battle since we can't seem to stay out of trouble. And well, despite just being honored, this year has been quiet difficult for me and let's just say that financially I'm doing very poorly. I have about only 200 Jewels in my pocket right now and the rest I saved up from war loot I collected, went to an outfit I bought to at least look presentable for my ceremony in a few days."

It was until now that Jura had stopped speaking that Igneel had finally taken a good look at him. He noticed Jura was currently wearing his casual battle clothing that was dark green and yellow. Jura having been brought up from a poor family had learned to be wise and stay humble despite his family's lack of money. Often seen wearing his war armor, was nothing new to the town's people. "In case something happens I'll be ready to go and attack, who knows what can happen with our history of trouble with other clans" that was his common response he would say when reasoning with people about his choice of clothes. However, everyone knew that the lad just didn't have enough to afford a new pair of clothes, so he would resort to constantly wearing his battle armor (which astoundingly he would keep in a very good condition).

Igneel sighed and continued to speak "So is this about the money I owe you?"

"No, I mean yes. Well, I lent you this money long ago and you know I wouldn't ask you for it unless I truly needed it… But I do. So could please pay me back the 20,000 Jewels I let you borrow?" Jura asked.

However what happened next was something he had totally not expected… Igneel had burst into a laughing fit. He clutched his belly as chuckled, at some point he even stomped his feet in the uneven ground.

Jura just stood there confused and shocked at his bewildered reaction. As Igneel began to calm down he wiped a few stray tears of mirth that he had and took slow deep-breaths to go back to a calming composure.

"Umm… What's so funny?" Jura asked after breaking away from his amazed and speechless state.

Igneel took one more deep-breath before finally answering his friend, "Jura, Jura, Jura…" he said, "Look at that wall" he said pointing at the tiny wall adjacent to the hut's entrance, that was the spot that Jura had previously seen Igneel staring off to, and now that he looked more clearly he could see faint straight lines drawn up by chalk, Tally marks, he thought. He could clearly make out groups of short vertical lines drawn on the wall. There were about ten groups and most groups were composed of four vertical lines and a diagonal line that went right through the four lines.

After Jura finished inspecting the tally marks he went back to looking at Igneel who had gone back to seating in his chair and was staring intently to his hands which he was fiddling with at the moment. "You see, each group there represents a debt to someone, and each tally mark is 10,000 Jewels. You see that group at the top? Well that group actually has ten marks because it's my highest debt. To the owner of those marks I owe thousands and thousands of jewels, and it's only fair that I pay off my highest debt first, if you knew the owner of that debt, you would agree with me that it's the right thing." Igneel folded his broad arms over his chest and starred back at Jura. This time his face had a sadden look. "I shall pay you… but not today. I have to, no, I need to pat my biggest debt first."

Jura, who had said nothing during this, could only think of one thing at the moment: It had been the second time that morning that Igneel had left him amazed and speechless. After quickly composing himself he turned around and slowly proceeded to walk towards the hut's entrance so he could leave the place. But as he did, Igneel's words continued to ring in his head.

"If you knew the owner of that debt, you would agree with me… My biggest debt first"

"You are right, Igneel." Jura said without turning back to face the other man. "You do owe him the most, and he should be the first you pay back. I only ask Mavis that when that day finally comes, that hopefully he does accept anything coming from you." And with those last words Jura finally departed.

Igneel could only stare at the spot Jura had previously been standing on. He closed his eyes and merely whispered:

Natsu.

So... What did you think? Did you think Jura's last message was mean? Are you confused? Did you hated the 1st chapter? Hopefully not :( I promise it'll get better as the story grows and hopefully my writing skill will get better as well. If there are any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free of telling me about them in a Review or PM.

I promise to work hard in Next chapter so it's more in length and so it nicely written.

So until Nxt time.

***BTW I would like to give a quick shout-out to my little sister Tania who helped me by reviewing my first chapter. Despite being just an 11 yr. old she was kind of harsh T-T but she truly did help me a lot , so thnx tawnie 3