Well, I never expected such POSITIVE reviews. Thank you for such appreciation, but I shall accept any and ALL constructive criticism (excluding those who just criticize for fun). Now, on with the story!

"So, what do we do?" Laxus asked his grandfather. Him, as well as the Thunder Legion were gathered around Natsu's bed. Happy, Erza, Mira, and the other women were in the room also. So far, they were the only people that knew of Natsu's current condition. Laxus was notified as soon as they returned from a mission.

"Do we tell the guild, or keep it between us?" Laxus continued. Even though he never showed, he was genuinely concerned about the afflicted dragonslayer. "Will he even wake up?"

"Is he in some kind of coma?" Cana asked. Natsu had been asleep for 2 days, without showing any signs of waking up, and that concerned a few guild members.

"No," Mira answered, "But the whole situation took too much out of him. That kind of experience would drain more energy than 72 hours of intense, nonstop training. All he needs are a few days more of rest, before he's back on his feet."

"So, what can we do now?" Makarov asked.

"Well, since it's clear that there's a demon inside of Natsu, we'll have to be more careful around him Until this situation has passed, Natsu's normally reckless behavior will have to be calmed down." Mira said, "For one, the guild brawls that he gets into, as entertaining as they may be, will have to be brought down to an ABSOLUTE minimum. Aggression could cause the entity to flare up. We won't be able to watch him all the time, especially while he's on jobs. That's why I've made this."

Mira pulled out a black string necklace, holding a black and white yin-yang pendent.

"It's a special device that I've fashioned. What it does, it that it will detect any rise or spike in demon energy, and will send a shock through Natsu's body. The shock won't feel painful, but it will certainly subdue the spirit." Mira informed.

"Why don't you simply do that thing you did before," Kinana asked, "That thing that you did that expelled it."

"Unfortunately," Mira said, "I can only expel the spirit from his body. It's clear that it's not going to leave, and I don't know how to stop it from reentering his body, or even if it's possible. And I can't fight it in its current mist-like state."

"I think it's best to inform Fairy Tail," Evergreen spoke catching the attention of the whole room. "Everyone should know what their dealing with, and know not to get him started. If a guild mate accidentally stirs the demon within, it would be pretty bad. Not to mention, it could terrify other guild members if they find out the hard way of Natsu's condition."

The room hummed in consideration. What Evergreen said was very valid, and it didn't take long until most in the room agreed. Juvia, however, was more concerned with Natsu, and instead paid more attention to him than the whole conversation. She was shocked to find that she really hadn't thought anything about Gray for 2 days. Was Natsu somehow claiming her heart with even knowing it, or was it just her being worried as a guild mate?

"I agree," Makarov said, "Until Natsu's inner demon is taken care of, the boy will have to change his ways. Not only for his safety, but the safety of the others."

"So, did the demon communicate with you or anything?" Freed inquired.

"It did," Erza answered, "It said that it would not leave until he had claimed his prize, that being Natsu."

"What was the most troubling, was why it said it would do so," Juvia added, "It said something about turning Natsu into a demon, so it could take him to its master. I worry that he might be turn while he's not under our supervision."

"Well, for now, all we can do is trust this device I've made," Mira said, holding it out. "He will be alright. He's a very strong person."

Well, there shouldn't be a reason for me not to trust her and that thing she has. Natsu will be ok, I know he will. Juvia reasoned in her mind. However, it was hard for her to reason with the terrible sinking pit she felt in her stomach.

~1 day later~

Natsu had finally waken up from his slumber. He remembered everything up until the horrible pain in his head. What scared him even more was when he find out about his dilemma. At the same time, the guild was informed. Natsu was at the meeting, and so was Lucy. Natsu couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye. He wasn't angry, or depressed, just empty. Whenever Natsu looked at her in the past, he always had this feeling of love. She seemed to have this glowing aura all the time, even whenever she was clearly pissed. She was an angel. Now, her glow was gone. He only saw her now as a normal woman. It wasn't the fact that he stopped loving her, or despised her, he knew that he would never have a chance with her.

She was gone from him.

After the meeting was held, everyone went on about their business. Natsu wanted to talk to Lucy again, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "Might as well take a job," He said to himself. He strolled over to the Request Board, where Max happened to be.

"Yo," Natsu said, as they both stood at the board.

"Sup," Max said, "Just trying to find a job that'll suit me."

"You find any good ones I can tackle," Natsu asked.

"I think you'll like this one," Max said, pulling a paper of the board. "I considered it, but it's way out of my caliber."

Natsu read over it, and was immediately enticed by it. Natsu hadn't had any action for a week. He was eager for a fight. "Hey, wanna take this this one with me?" He offered.

Max, seemingly startled all of a sudden, stepped back with a nervous laugh. "Nah, I don't think you want me! All I'll do is drag you down, make you worry about me!"

"What are you talking about?" Natsu questioned, "You won't drag me down. You're practically as strong as I am. Remember that sparring match we had a bit ago? You kept up."

Max's face paled, and he seemed to be in a slight panic. "Oh wait, I just remember! I got something to do right now! Gotta go!" And with that, Max took off full speed towards the doors.

'Whew! That was a close one! Not really trying to be on a job alone with a demon!' Max though with a sigh of relief as he opened the guild doors and slipped out.

'That was weird.' Natsu thought, clearly oblivious to the true nature of Max's flight. 'Guess I'll ask someone else.'

Natsu scanned around the guild, and saw Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Happy, and Carla sitting at a table, sharing a laugh. 'It's not like talking to Lucy will kill me or anything! We can still be friends. I'll ask her about the job.'

Taking a deep breath, Natsu forced his feet to move in that direction. It seemed that time slowed as he made his way to the table. Finally, after what felt like a year, Natsu stood over their table.

"Natsu!" Happy cheered happily, flying into his owner's chest. "I'm so glad you're ok!"

"Natsu!" Wendy said, cheerfully, "How are you feeling!"

"I feel great! Thanks for the concern," Natsu smiled, patting her head. "I also found a job that we can do!"

Lucy picked up the paper and scanned over it, before screaming, "ARE YOU CRAZY?"

"Ow," Natsu said, the loud scream assaulting his ears.

"I'm NOT taking any jobs that have ANYTHING to do with giant monsters!" She said.

Erza took the paper and read it. "Doesn't seem too hard to do. I'm sure we can tackle it and be home before dark."

"Plus, look at the reward!" Natsu grinned. Anything number with 5 zeros or more was irresistible. "With that money, you won't have to worry about rent for at LEAST another 8 months!"

"And just imagine how many yummy fishies he could buy with that money!" Happy drooled.

"You'll never change, will you?" Carla playfully frowned at Happy.

"Well," Lucy sighed, "I guess it won't hurt."

~2 hours later~

Natsu, Lucy, Erza, and Wendy stood off against the giant monster. It was a 90ft tall Cyclops, holding a spear. It was surprisingly very fast, considering how bulky it was. Usually, Natsu fought to impress Lucy. However, he realized that he was less motivated to fight. Without motivation, fighting seemed to come much harder. His movements were more sloppy and slower, and his attacks were more uncoordinated. That was the reason Natsu had a long bloody scar on his right arm.

Erza was in her Lightning Empress Armor, and Lucy had Loke by her side. Wendy had air swirling around her arms, ready to attack or defend. Natsu was the only one off track. Everyone was fighting fine, but Natsu didn't feel that old exhilaration he always loved. In a way, Natsu didn't feel strong anymore.

The giant beast raised its spear, preparing to unleash another attack. Natsu snapped himself out of his trance. He stared straight up into the giant's single eye. An idea popped in his head. There was a certain spell he had been practicing. 'Looks like I'll get to test-run it.'

The beast slammed its giant spear down towards the ground. Erza, Lucy and Wendy jumped away to avoid it. Natsu, however, stayed right there. The spear hit the ground, splitting open and creating a large explosion of dust and rock. Natsu bolted up the monster's arm with intense speed. Just as the Cyclops attempted to swat him off, Natsu leapt up into the air towards his face.

"Fire Dragon Grip Strike!" Natsu's hand lit ablaze and blasted fire right into the monster's single eye. The beast let out a ear-piercing shriek. Now blind, it dropped its spear and its arms flailed around. Its arm was coming straight for Natsu. He was getting ready to dodge, when all of a sudden, the piercing headache assaulted him once more. The beast's arm slammed into Natsu, sending him flying.

"Natsu!" Erza called out. Happy and Carla took off to rescue him. Erza took a spear and hurled it towards the monster's head. The spear immediately shot through his head, cutting off the monster's cries.

"Let's go," Erza commanded, taking off after Natsu. Lucy, Loke, and Wendy followed behind. The crashing sound of the Cyclops's body hitting the ground sounded behind them. Up ahead, they heard what sounded like a sickening crunch.

The trees opened out to a clearing in the forest, where Natsu's body lay. Apparently, his body the ground was the crunch sound they heard.

Happy sat by Natsu's head, tears falling from his eyes. "I-I couldn't catch him in time..." Natsu's shoulder was dislocated for the joint.

They all gasped as Natsu's eyes had rolled back in his head, blood trickling from them. Natsu was violently convulsing on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Natsu's groans of pain were reduced to sickening sounds of choking.

"Please, help him..." Happy pleaded hugging Natsu's arm.

All Lucy, Loke, and Wendy was stand and watch helplessly.

Natsu's sounds of pain morphed into a sound more unearthly, some inhumanly sound. A demonic sound.

Demonic energy filled the air, and Erza knew that the demon was attempting to take him over. Wendy crept back in fear. She had never seen Natsu like this, and it was an image she NEVER wanted to see again.

Erza leapt forward, loosened Natsu's scarf, and pulled out the necklace still wrapped around his neck. "Come on, work! Stop the demon from taking him! WORK NOW!"

As if on cue, the pendent glowed a bright magenta color. The magic traced up the black string. Suddenly, Natsu's back ached off the ground, and his body stiffened. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, Natsu's back fell to the ground. His convulsing was gone and his breathing was once again stable. His body relaxed, and the demonic power vanished. Erza immediately took him and cradled him.

Natsu's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself in Erza's arms.

"Uh, why are you holding me?" Natsu asked, clearly having no idea what had just occurred. He sat up, only to realize the pain in his left shoulder.

He then noticed the frightened looks in everyone's faces, except for Erza, who stared down at him with relief. Even Loke had a startled face, seeing as how he'd never witnessed anything like this as long as he existed.

"W-what happened," Natsu questioned confusedly. He tried to stand up, his legs wobbly. When he stood at his full height, everyone's breathed seemed to hitch. "The 'thing' didn't happen again, did it?"

"It did," Erza answered, standing up behind him. "You're really lucky that you have that necklace."

Natsu decided to take care of the throbbing pain in his shoulder. He grabbed his arm, and with a swift but firm movement, shoved it back into place. He let out a hiss of pain, before he could fully function it again. The bleeding scar would have to be bandaged.

Natsu was uncomfortable by the dead silence, so he wanted to quell. "Is the job done? Is the beast dead?"

Erza slowly nodded. Natsu grinned his normal toothy grin, trying to lighten up the mood "Well, it's done then!"

Natsu glanced over at Lucy, to see that Wendy hid behind her. Lucy seemed to have this protective look in her eyes, as if she was standing between a girl and a monster.

Monster.

The word repeated over and over in his head. 'Is that what I really am? Is this thing inside of me, making me a monster?'

Without saying anything else, Natsu put on a grin as best as he could, and began to stroll towards the way they came from. Using his smell, he was able to track where the dead beast was. Everyone followed behind him, but kept their distance, except for Erza. She seemed to be the only one that wasn't intimidated... for now.

~At Fairy Tail~

Juvia couldn't get the feeling out of her head that something happened to Natsu. For that matter, she couldn't UNDERSTAND why the feeling was so strong. Gray was certainly her beloved, but the dragonslayer, she worried about like crazy. She somehow felt compelled to protect him, even though she didn't like him.

Did she? That was a question that she could no longer answer in her heart.

"Oi," Gray said, standing over her. "Your face is pale."

"Oh, it is?" Juvia asked, feeling her own cheeks. Gray immediately noticed that her cheeks weren't red as roses, the way they usually were whenever he was around her. That's how he knew something was off. He sat down across from her and stared straight into her eyes.

"You ok?" He asked, "You haven't been the same for a few days. What happened to you?"

"N-nothing! I'm completely fine, just need a bit of rest, that's all," she lied.

The guild doors opened, and Team Natsu walked in. It didn't take long for Juvia to see that Natsu looked a mess. Gray stared around the guild, trying to confirm his inference.

Fear.

Gray could see the fear in everybody's faces as Natsu walked past. He took note of the slightest muscle tense of guild mates as Natsu walked past.

"Gray? What is it?" Juvia asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Gray said, clenching his teeth and grinding his teeth. "Can't you sense it? The change in the atmosphere as soon as he walked in?"

"W-what are you trying to say?" Juvia questioned.

"What I'm saying is that everyone doesn't think of Natsu the same way anymore," Gray answered, "The guild's staring to fear HIM. They're already starting to see him a dangerous person."

"W-what? That can't be true!" Juvia exclaimed, "Our guild can't be like that! I thought Fairy Tail was a strong and caring place, filled with strong and caring people! That's why I joined!"

Gray was surely pissed. Sure, Natsu was a hothead and got on a lot of people's nerves, but he DIDN'T deserve this. Natsu didn't deserve to be treated like an OUTSIDER, because of a condition that even HE couldn't control. It wasn't fair! He didn't how Natsu felt, but he always saw him as his best and closest friend. He was NOT going let him be treated like this!

"What's going to happen?" Juvia asked fearfully.

"Give it some time," Gray answered quietly, hiding his rage, "Soon, everybody's gonna see and treat him like an outsider."

~On another continent~

"I can already see it," the voice whispered to herself in the darkness of her castle. "His so called 'friends' are beginning to fear him. My plan is working." She let out a small chuckle.

"Don't worry, Dragneel," she said, "Even if the world ceases to love you, I'll never stop loving you, my love..."