I have been wanting to write a story about Natsu becoming E.N.D and I have seen amazing art on Tumblr to help me think of how he would look. Also the recent chapters have helped me immensely to construct the story and I hope you enjoy the chapter and story. :)
Lucy P.O.V
It's starting again, the same nightmare over and over again. When I close my eyes, I see a starry night with a new moon and a gentle breeze rustling the trees. I'm on the ground holding my arm trying to suppress a gash I got from stopping Natsu. Gray and Erza are nowhere to be found, but Happy is with me. Natsu is on the ground cradling his face in his hands from immense amount of pain he feels internally. He has two black wings with red tips fresh with blood.
Happy looks around to see if Zeref is nearby so he can run towards Natsu, which is interrupted by Natsu glaring at him with anger and confusion. His eyes are black with red pupils. The bandages on his arm are tattered and his hands are morphing into a creature's claw.
"Stay where you are, Cat!" Natsu barks and Happy obeys
"Natsu.." Happy mumbles sadly
"Natsu, please try to think really hard and remember who we are." I demanded but it is futile as he just gets up slowly from the ground and looks at my hand.
"That mark on your hand is the same one I have, what does it mean?" Natsu ask angrily
I get up slowly from the ground, but I feel a small tug on my boot, its Happy. His eyes are getting watery and even though he pokes fun at me, I can see he is worried about my wellbeing. I give him a reassuring smile and walk forward.
"The mark is from Fairy Tail, it's a guild and it's where you belong, Natsu." I say calmly as reach him. His hands are full of black scales and his nails have become long talons. I looks into his eyes and he is trying to remember, but like Master says, it might be futile.
"Do you love this guild?" Natsu ask
"I love it more than anything." I answer. I see his demeanor change from being aggressive to concern. I reach out to grab his hand, but he pulls back.
"If you love this guild then let me die!" Natsu screams as he starts to dash through the forest.
"Natsu!" I scream as I wake up from the nightmare. I look outside to see that the morning sun is rising slowly. There is no point in me falling back to sleep, so I get up and get dressed to go to the guild. I go to the bathroom to take a shower to help me wake up then go to brush my teeth.
I put my hair in low pigtails then put on a white shirt that has blue markings with a blue skirt and long black boots. I eat a small breakfast then head out. It has been about a year since Fairy Tail finally opened and I'm happy that everyone is together again. As I reach Fairy Tail, I see Mirajane and Lisanna opening the door to the guild. Even with all this chaos with END and Zeref, Mirajane and Lisanna always bear a smile.
"Good morning, Lucy." Mirajane and Lisanna say in unison
"Good morning, Mira and Lisanna." I reply back. Mira is wearing her trademark pink dress while Lisanna wears shorts with a white shirt.
"Why so early, Lucy?" Mira ask as she opens the door.
"Wanted to get an early start." I say smiling.
We enter the guild and it still has that 'welcome home' feeling lingering. It brings me happy memories as I sit on the barstool. I sense someone next to me and it is Lisanna. She has that same cheerful attitude like Mira which is refreshing in the morning.
"Are you okay, Lucy? You seem a bit tired." Lisanna questions. I guess my lack of sleep is noticeable.
"I'm fine, just been having a few bad nightmares, no big deal." I reassure
"Do these nightmares have the same pattern because maybe there's a meaning behind them?" Lisanna ask and I nod.
"Do you want to talk about it? Maybe we can find a cause." Lisanna says happily. Her helpful attitude is one of her best traits and I can see why Natsu likes her.
"Basically Natsu is like a demon and he doesn't know who I am or anyone." I confess and it's such a relief to get it out of my chest.
"Well, Natsu can be mischievous like a demon, but they say that seeing a demon could mean you are experiencing some fear in your life." Lisanna states
"I'm not scared of anything, but maybe E.N.D could be behind this since we are nowhere finding it." I answer
"Then I think we found the cause. Do you feel a bit better now?" Lisanna ask and I give her a smile.
"Yeah, thank you." I say. I more movement inside the guild and it seems that some of the members are entering now. Gray and Juvia enter the guild together and Juvia is smitten as usual. Soon Erza enters the guild and greets Gray then Juvia.
It's nice to see everyone laughing and talking like the good old days, I turn to the request board and I see Natsu and Happy looking for a job. I didn't hear them enter which is unusual since Natsu is one of the loudest members here. Natsu picks a flyer from the board and then turns towards my direction.
"Lucy, I found the perfect job for us and the others!" Natsu exclaims
"Yeah, it's perfect and you can pay your rent." Happy adds excitedly
"Really? What's the job?" I ask
"Basically we're patrolling in Oshibana Town because the day shift knights are out with a cold. The reward can be split up evenly among the five of us." Natsu explains as he hands me the flyer.
"So we're going to be there until the night shift knights come?" I ask
"Yup, it's an easy job." Happy says
"What's an easy job?" Gray ask as he walks towards us. For once he has his same white shirt one with black pants, which is great to see him fully clothed.
"Patrolling Oshibana until the night shift knights come." I explain and Gray nods
"Sounds good, let's go tell, Erza." Gray says as Juvia appears behind him
"You're going on a job already?" Juvia ask with a sad look in her eyes.
"Yeah, but it won't be long." Gray says as he places his hand behind his head.
"Fine, but maybe when you get back we can go for a night walk." Juvia says shyly
"Yeah, we can try." Gray says and I get up from my seat to nudge him.
"Actually, we will go for the walk when I get back, okay?" Gray corrects and Juvia smiles wide.
"I'll wait for you, Gray." Juvia says as she walks away.
"Now was that so hard?" I tease
"You liiiiiike her, Gray." Happy teases
"Can we please go tell Erza?" Gray demands as he starts to blush
"Tell me what?" Erza ask
"We got a job and we should head out." Gray replies and Erza nods
"We'll only be there during the day until the night shift knights come." I repeat and she nods
"Well, let's start heading out." Erza says and we follow suit.
Regular Story Line: Oshibana Town
The group arrives to the town, but Natsu is still suffering from motion sickness and Lucy starts to lift his arm to wrap it around her neck. The group head to the location written on the flyer. It took them no more than 7 minutes to find the place and that's when Natsu starts to act like himself again.
The building just has a black bold sign that says Station above a wooden double door. The building has a white stone wall with two medium size windows, it is about two story tall.
"You're almost undefeatable and battled powerful enemies, yet you loss to a train?!" Lucy exclaims as he gets off me.
"Well everyone has a weakness and that's Natsu, well that and thinking." Happy says
"I thought you were on my side!" Natsu shouts
"Well, I am but I can't lie." Happy says and Natsu sighs. An average size man opens the door and smiles at the group. He is medium built man with light brown hair, he looks similar to Gildarts but not as intimidating.
"I knew I heard voices. You must be the Fairy Tail guild." The man says happily
"Yes, we came here to help you with a job." Erza says with a smile
"Yes, all you have to do is patrol this town until the night shift knights come thn you will get your reward. If you see any criminals, catch them and bring them here for us to handle." The man explains
"Fine by me, Happy and I will patrol this way." Natsu declare
"Aye, Sir!" Happy exclaims as they both start walking away.
"Do you have a name?" Erza ask
"Richard and yours?" Richard ask
"I'm Erza, this is Gray, Lucy, the pink haired boy is name Natsu and the cat is Happy." Erza says
"Nice to meet you all and I apologize for leaving, but I need to finish some paperwork." Richards sighs
"We'll be going as well." Erza says and goes on her own. Gray and Lucy look at each other and shrug; they both go their separate ways.