Matter of Succession


III


Walking on Landmines


Natsu Dragneel

August 18th, X784

The ache that wracked his body was thankfully rather dull, but the stiffness of his joints was unbearable as Natsu finally regained consciousness. It took a moment for the world to come into focus but after it did, the young Dragon Slayer really wished it hadn't as a sudden pounding started in his skull. The effort was unbelievable but eventually he was able to lift one arm and throw his forearm over his face. All the sudden colours of the waking world were torture to his bleary eyes.

Groaning, he flung his arm off of his face after a moment and tried to sit up in bed. It was strange, Natsu thought as the world teetered in and out of focus, his head spinning, waking up in Magnolia Hospital. There were so many foreign smells and sights to behold but he supposed the guild hall was in worse shape than he realised if he'd woken up here of all places. Bringing one hand up, Natsu palmed face in an attempt to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes.

He could remember almost nothing of the past few days aside from muttered words he caught when drifting in and out of consciousness. The last thing he really remembered was fighting the Phantom Lord bastard, Gajeel.

He'd lost.

If there was one thing Natsu hated more than anything it was losing. What's more he'd lost the one time he'd needed to win more than anything. The hand that lay at his side quickly tightened into a fist. Gajeel hadn't beaten him in a fair fight – not after Natsu had needed to fight his way through two of the Element Four just to thrown down with the Iron Dragon Slayer who hadn't lifted a figure prior to facing down the Fairy Tail wizard.

Next time they clashed Natsu would bury the metal faced bastard. Melt him down to scrap melt if that's what it took. Gajeel would pay. Nobody hurt Fairy Tail and got away with it.

In his dazed and frustrated state, it took him a moment to realise something was stirring near the end of the hospital bed. Dropping his hand just in time, all Natsu caught sight of was a blur of blue and white fur flying in his direction, crashing into his chest with a joyous sob of relief.

"Natsu, you're finally awake!" Happy announced between his sobs, face buried in his partner's neck, soaking the bandages there. "You've been out of it for days. You had me worried, you total jerk!"

"Hey, buddy," Natsu said with a slight croak in his voice, his throat incredibly dry all of a sudden. He took a moment to scratch Happy behind the ears, doing his best to be comforting, assuring the Exceed he was going to be okay. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, you did!" Happy scolded him as he pulled away from Natsu, turning away as he folded his tiny arms over his chest. Oh, great, the amount of fish-based bribery he would need to do to dig himself out of this one would certainly leave his personal funds hungry.

"You gave us all a scare, Natsu." Another voice said softly, cutting into the conversation before Natsu could try and coax Happy into looking at him again. Looking up, both Dragon Slayer and Exceed saw that standing besides Natsu's beside chair, breakfast tray in hand was none other than Levy McGarden. Although she was dressed simple in an airy yellow sundress and her smile was wide and hazel eyes bright with joy she still bore the marks of Gajeel's vicious attack. Natsu was thankful to see though that worst of it at this point seemed to be some bruises, and minor starches with bandages wrapped around her wrists.

"Levy!" Happy cried, sprouting wings as he flew into the air to greet the female member of Shadow Gear. Levy just smiled, lifting the tray she had brought and Natsu could hear the clatter of culturally and smell the enticing aroma of bacon.

"I figured if all else had failed then maybe the smell of food would finally wake Natsu up," her laugh was light and Natsu found himself rubbing the back of his head, feeling a little foolish. Had he really been out of it for that long? Levy didn't let him think for long though as she placed the tray across his lap, plopping down into the seat next to his bed, the morning's paper in hand. "I know you could reheat it, but you might want to eat before it all goes cold."

"Thanks," Natsu said softly, closing his eyes for a moment before inhaling the toast and bacon with eggs and beans in mere seconds. He had several days of eating to catch up on after all.

"Well, at least it seems like your appetite came out all the fighting undamaged." Levy joked, unrolling the paper before casting a quick glance at the morning's headline. When he didn't respond, she looked up again a moment later, Natsu just sat there, brow furrowed frustration again as he glared at the crumbs on his plate.

"I lost to him, Levy," Natsu hissed out, fists shaking at his sides, tray rattling on his lap. He'd been so close. He'd gone through Totomaru and had even tussled with Aria until Gajeel had arrived and stopped the fight, saying he had grown bored of waiting for Natsu and that Aria needed to go find another opponent. Natsu had given everything he had left to the fight Gajeel, but in the end it wasn't enough, not after using a surprising amount of magic to take down Totomaru and then having Aria repeatedly drain him of more and more magic – enough to prevent him from using Lightning Fire Dragon mode. Hell, Natsu was more than confident he could've kicked Gajeel's ass with just his own fire magic if he'd just had some flames to eat.

In the end none of his excuses mattered though as he'd failed to protect the guild.

Levy didn't seem to see it that way; "Hey, where still here aren't we?" her smile was reassuring and her words gentle as she put one of her hands over his shaking fists. It honestly did little to dampen his rage but he could still appreciate the effort, so Natsu took a deep breath and did his best to calm himself. "You'll bounce back, Natsu. It's what you do. Next time you'll win, I know it."

It was strange, Natsu thought, to have Levy comfort him like that. When Natsu had first joined the guild his reading and writing skills hadn't exactly been, well… existent if he was truthful. Erza had tried to teach him how to properly read and write yet her teaching methods had been both forceful and questionable at best. After a disastrous first lesson Makarov had taken the young boy aside and sat him down with Levy. The situation had been explained and Levy had been more than eager at the chance to teach him, hoping to spread her love of literature.

Whilst Natsu had not taken as a keen interest in the written word as Levy had hoped when they started, he'd still learned a lot from her. Even after their lessons had finished they'd stayed close. Maybe they had never been as close as he and Lisanna had been but Natsu had always counted Levy amongst the closest friends he had in Fairy Tail and enjoyed her company and the stories she would tell him and Happy when they were bored.

Until he had started training under Laxus.

Of course no one knew what they were doing, but Levy seemed to disapprove of the amount of time he was suddenly spending with the master's grandson. The first time the pair of them had argued over it Levy admitted she feared Laxus would prove to be a bad influence over him. They'd argued about Laxus several times after that but both of them had been too stubborn to see the other's point-of-view and whilst they had remained friends they had certainly become estranged. No longer did they hang out or swap stories of their latest misadventures and conversation seemed forced and often ended with long silences before they barely even acknowledge one another in passing except when they were with others.

"Yeah, I guess," Natsu nodded after a long moment of silence, realising both Happy and Levy were staring at him with worried expression. He really needed to stop spacing out before they started worrying about his long term health. The again he was pretty sure, knowing the Exceed, Happy had already made a joke or two about brain damage. "Sorry, guess I spaced out again."

"Don't worry about it," Levy said with a grin, straightening the morning paper again and Natsu caught the words Siebte Übel Rampage Continues. The actual hell was a Siebte Übel? Shaking his head, Natsu decided he didn't care about what was going on in the outside world, and instead settled for asking: "What'd I missed the last few days anyways? "

"Lucy left!" Happy cried out, throwing his hands up into the air as he began rattling off how the blonde had snuck away in the middle of the night, hoping no one would see her.

"Wait what?" Natsu demanded, taken aback but the sudden declaration. Looking to Levy, Natsu found himself completely at a loss for what to say. Did Lucy feel guilty over the whole Phantom Lord attack? Gajeel had explained the whole thing to Natsu and he honestly hadn't cared. Though she was new to the guild Lucy was still their friend and if she didn't want to leave then Fairy Tail wouldn't let Phantom take her.

"She's coming back, Happy." Levy said pointedly, giving Natsu a look of reassurance. Good, he thought, after their adventures this past month Natsu would've been saddened deeply to see Lucy leave. "I caught her leaving last night, she told Happy and I that after everything that'd happened with Phantom Lord she needed to speak with her father. She was a little vague on the details but she promised she'd back in time for the funeral."

"Wait, what funeral?" Natsu demanded, taken aback. Eyes whipping back and forth between Levy and Happy he tried to find an explanation. Funeral? That was news to him. Whilst the blue furred Exceed just broke down into tears Levy threw her hands up to cover her mouth, eyes wide with panic as though she had said something she shouldn't.

Frustration was starting to eat away at him again as Levy became silent, her eyes flying towards the front page of the paper – looking anywhere but at him.

"I, well, you see," Levy stammered out, wringing her hands together as she seemed to pull herself inward. It was something she did, Natsu remembered, when she was nervous or scared, Levy would often try and use her size to her advantage and shrink even smaller in hopes of disappearing. Still she did not look at him though.

Growling in frustration, looking to Happy for a moment to see him a hysterical mess, Natsu threw back the covers of the bed so he could sit up and face Levy. Thankfully the chair was close enough that he could reach over and grab Levy by the shoulders without standing up. His legs felt like the worlds strangest jelly and he didn't know if he could honestly stand.

"Levy." Natsu said forcefully as he tried his best to get the other wizard to look up at him. Levy meet his gaze just for a moment, eyes glistening with silent tears before she looked down in shame. Great, he'd made her cry, now he felt like a jerk. But he was a jerk who need a straight answer. "Levy."

"Erza wanted to be the one to tell you," the Solid Script wizard said softly, "she knew you wouldn't take it well and wanted to be here to calm you down." A thousand different possibilities seemed to hit him in that moment, his mind reeling over who the hell Levy was talking about. Erza needed to calm him down? Who the hell had died?

Well, it wasn't Happy seeing as the Exceed was still bawling his eyes at the end of the bed. Good, he thought, he didn't know what he'd do if he was to ever lost Happy but if not him then who? Erza was seemingly fine so she was out. Gray? No, the ice princess was way to suborn to die to Phantom Lord. Laxus? No, Levy wouldn't be anywhere near this upset over Laxus – because in her words Laxus was a 'giant dick'.

So who the hell had died?

Growing more and more impatient Natsu found himself at the end of his rope; "Levy!" She'd jumped at his demand, his voice probably a little louder than needed but Natsu didn't care. He needed a straight answer damn it. "Who's funeral? Who died?"

"Oh, Natsu," Levy choked as she finally looked up at him, tears now falling freely. Taking a shuddering breath, she brought one hand up to rub at her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's Master Makarov. He's dead, Natsu."


Even with shaking legs carrying him, Natsu somehow found the strength to burst out of front door of Magnolia hospital like a man possessed, deaf to Levy and Happy's screams for him to stop.

This was all some sort of twisted joke – it had to be.

Gramps probably thought he was real hysterical: he was always joking about how the guild was going to be the death of him. That's what this had to be, Natsu reasoned as he staggered down the street in the direction of the rebuilding guild: Gramps was just messing with him in some shitty attempt at a joke. Well this shit sure as hell wasn't funny. Natsu was far from being in the mood for jokes after the beating Gajeel had given him as what little patience he usually had was now non-existent. The old man must be out of his mind if he seriously thought he'd ever fall for such a crappy joke. He was Makarov Dreyar for crying out loud – the man had survived just about everything under the sun and was still complaining about how he'd be running Fairy Tail until the end of time.

Well Natsu was going to give the old geezer a piece of his mind for this one.

Or at least he was until a pair of tiny arms threw them around his waist and he found himself staggering to a halt. Looking over his shoulder Natsu could see Levy was holding him back, her face buried the fabric of his baggy white tee around his lower back, muffling her sobs.

"Let me go," Natsu said weakly as he found himself unable to pull away from the young woman. Normally Natsu would have no trouble overpowering Levy, hell, he could bench press weights heavier than the blue haired bookworm with little effort but then and there all of his strength had left him as the reality of the guild was barely visible in the distance.

"No." Levy replied into his back, voice muffled. Natsu growled, giving dirty looks towards the people passing by before he turn to snap back at the small bookworm.

"Let me go, Levy!" Natsu shouted hoarsely, turning away as he tried to press on with Levy still clutching tightly to his waist. Levy clung on tightly however, allowing the Dragon Slayer to pull her a few steps forward before she dug her heels into the street as best she could. Natsu rounded on her over his shoulder, ignoring the whispers of the gathering crowd: "This joke ain't funny and I'm sure as hell going to give Gramps a piece of my mind for this one."

"Do you think I'd joked about something like this!?" Natsu was a little taken aback at how hysterical Levy sounded as he managed to pull himself free of her. Half turning, the rosette found the girl's face was tear stricken and her eyes red and puffy, lower lip quivering in a way that seemed to break what resolve to stand Natsu had left but he refused to let his knees betray him.

"Natsu, please," entire body shaking, Natsu looked down to see Happy looking up at him, fur damp from crying so much and snot dripping from his nose unashamedly.

"B-but it's Gramps." Natsu snapped but all anger and force had left his voice and he sounded so small and pathetic even to his own ears at that moment. "Gramps can't die. He just can't. Can he?" the last one was the Dragon Slayer pleading with them, or maybe himself because if Natsu was honest he'd known from the start that what Levy had told him was true.

Levy didn't seem to have words of comfort to offer him, instead she just threw herself against him and hugged him around the waist. She was right, of course, Natsu admitted to himself as he stared aimlessly at spot over the top of Levy's unruly blue locks, she wasn't the kind of girl who would ever lie about something like Makarov dying let along joke about it. She was too sweet and honest for that. He just didn't want to believe that his greatest hero was gone.

Was that so wrong of him?

No.

Whilst Igneel would always be his father, dragon or not - and although he was gone, he was out there somewhere - but Makarov had been so much that just a father figure to the young Dragon Slayer. Makarov was the man who had given him a home, and a family and everything else he could possible want in life. The old man had been so generous and warm-hearted, taking him in when many others probably would've just left him on the streets to rot. Natsu had seen much adversity in the years he'd been with Fairy Tail, but the old man had always guided him through it as if Natsu were his own flesh and blood. As he did for everyone in the guild.

The idea of the old man not being there anymore was just straight up wrong.

"H-how?" The middle of the street was hardly the proper place to have this conversation but Natsu found himself not caring. All he wanted at this point was the honest truth.

Pulling away slightly, Levy wiped away her tears with the back of her hand before taking a shuddering breath as she did her best to collect herself. Fisting the fabric of his tee, Levy looked up at him with those wide hazel eyes, Natsu found that he could only listen dumbfounded, completely enraptured.

"Even though his magic was drained he came to the battle so he could protect the guild," Levy explained and Natsu nodded along weakly, "Master Makarov used a spell called Fairy Law. It defeated what remained of Phantom Lord in a single blow but the strain the spell put on his body caused his heart to give out not long after."

Levy let her gaze drop when she finished her explanation whilst Natsu just found himself staring dumbly into space again. Stupid old man, he thought with a slight hiss as the corners of his eyes began to burn, Aria had drained all his magic: he should have known better than to rush into battle. There was irony there, he knew, but he was too pissed to care.

"Damn it. Damn it!" Natsu roared as his knees finally went and he slumped against Levy. The girl squeaked in utter shock, her own knees giving out as she lacked the strength to hold up Natsu's weight. "Fucking damn it! Stupid old geezer!" Natsu screamed into Levy's hair, but she made no move to try and separate herself from him. She just scoped up Happy and the three of them just cried together in the middle of the street, oblivious to the crowd.

"What on Earthland is going on here!?" Although he couldn't see her, Natsu would always recognise the tone of Erza's 'tell-me-what-hell-is-going-on-before-I-hurt-you' voice.

Looking up just in time, Natsu saw the crowd begin to disperse as Erza, walking with one crutch and an arm in one sling came hobbling towards them with Laxus of all people on her heels. "Natsu! Levy?" Erza began, sounding slightly pissed that the young Dragon Slayer had dared to get out of bed without being cleared by her to do so, but seemed suddenly taken aback by the sight of the other wizard. "I- what?"

It took her a moment, but understanding suddenly dawned on Erza's face when Levy sniffed, squeaking out: "I'm sorry Erza, it just slipped out."

"Oh," Laxus looked down to the redhead, sounding smug, "excellent job on keeping him calm, Titania. No, seriously, well done." Erza could only mouth like a stunned gold fish before hanging her head. Shaking his head and doing his best to hide his smugness a little now, Laxus walked over to Natsu before looking down at him. "Idiot." he said, looking down at him with a look of disapproval. Natsu knew the comment was to do with a lot more than simply getting out of bed when he should be resting.

"Come on, Natsu," Erza said softly as she barged her way past Laxus, who just shot her another smirk, "we should get you back to the hospital and into a bed."

"No," Natsu shook his head, being relegated to a bed was possibly the worst thing Erza could do to him. No, he needed to be around the rest of the guild and distract himself he'd probably end up burning down the hospital. "Please, I – I just want to go to the guild and be with everyone else."

"Okay," Erza nodded, surprisingly agreeing with no argument whatsoever. Smiling weakly as she helped him up best she could and after a moment of standing on shaky legs Natsu set off in the direction of the guild on his own, realising for the first time since he'd joined, Makarov wouldn't be there to greet him upon his arrival: the age of Makarov Dreyar was officially over.


A/N: A quick couple of things to clarify: firstly, Levy being the one to actually teach Natsu how to read and write is a personal headcanon because I think that it'd be a fun friendship to explore, hence its inclusion. Secondly, this chapter sort of confirms that whilst she will pop up from time to time (sorry people that didn't want her, she is an important part of the guild), Lucy's role will be very minor for the most part given her current position in the guild doesn't lend much to the story and her canon arcs that occur during this time period are relatively unaffected by what's going on elsewhere. Lastly, I'm sure someone is already typing up how Natsu, with training from Laxus, not stomping Gajeel is crap but I did try to frame it in a way that seemed reasonable. Erza did not rejoin the fight after tanking Jupiter in this story like in canon so Natsu's fight with Aria lasted much longer and he lost a lot more magic to Airspace as a result. I just need to pull Natsu down and ground him a little more and reel in the clutch ass power ups. That said, I'll catch you all with the next one in two weeks, later people!