News
Past
The sun shines brightly over the mountains. On a certain piece of land, Igneel and Zeref can be seen.
"You think this place is safe, from Acnologia?" Igneel asked him.
"Yes, trust me..he won't come here" Zeref responds on the edge.
The two are on a piece of land, high up in the mountains.
"How do you know, exactly?" Igneel ask looking spectacle at Zeref.
"Me and him go a long way back…" Zeref said gazing at the view he is seeing.
"Hmm, so you know Acnologia on a personal level.." Igneel said, looking at the same direction as Zeref.
"You can say..we we're close" Zeref replies with a small frown. "But things has changed...and he must be stop by any means"
Zeref turns to Igneel and looks at him with a straight face.
"I have a plan to stop him and it centers around Natsu" Zeref said turning his head to baby Natsu who is sleeping in the basket, next to a tree.
"Hmm, his scent.." Igneel said, lowering his head to Natsu and sniffs. "He doesn't smell like any ordinary human"
A small smile appears on Zeref. He looks up at Igneel.
"You don't know anything of what my brother is capable of.."
Present
It's morning and the guild is lively as ever. The guild doors open and Lucy is seen walking through them.
She walks toward the bar for her daily smoothie, banana and strawberry deluxe.
"The usual Mira" Lucy tells Mira with her arms on the bar table.
"Here you go Lucy" Mira said with a smile, giving her the smoothie.
Lucy starts drinking it out of the straw and smiles. She can feel the taste linger in her tongue. She stops and looks at Mira.
"So how's your morning?" Lucy asked her.
"Pretty good and yours?" Mira asked.
"Same old same old...Landlord yells at me, worry about my bills, looking at my novel I haven't written in weeks, having Natsu enter my house through the window….wait" Lucy said, with her eyes looking up. "Natsu didn't do that today"
She place her finger on her chin and tries to remember if Natsu came to her house this morning. Usually he does unannounced, bothering her to give him breakfast or dragging her out for a mission. However this time, there was no scream of a Lucy kick or anything. Thinking about it, Lucy can say that this morning is a peaceful one.
"If you're wondering where Natsu is..he's over there in the corner of the guild" Mira tells her, pointing her finger at Natsu sitting at a table.
"Why is he all the way back there?" Lucy asked, looking at him.
"Who knows, he just came in this morning and walked straight there….it was odd since, he isn't the type to wake up this early...well when I do" Mira said, placing her head in her palm.
"What time do you wake up usually?" Lucy asked her, raising one eyebrow.
"6:00am" she answers her.
"6:00am!...I'm still asleep at that time!" Lucy said in shock.
"Hehe" Mira giggles by her reaction.
"So wait, Natsu came before you at that time?" Lucy asked her.
"Yes" She replies.
"Wow..something must be wrong" Lucy said, walking towards Natsu.
Lucy is minutes away from Natsu and notices bags under his eyes. "Didn't he have enough sleep" she thought and reaches his table.
"Natsu?" She calls him.
"..whmm" he responds weakly, not looking at her eyes.
"What's wrong with you?" She asked why he is behaving this way.
"..the scent" Natsu mutters under his breath.
"Scent?" She said tilting her head.
"..that scent.." Natsu said with his eyes widen and slowly turn his head to Lucy. "I can't remember...what that scent was"
Lucy feels frighten a bit from Natsu expression looking like a zombie who wants brains. She gulps and breathes out slowly. She calms down and analysis Natsu.
"Natsu, did you sleep last night?" She asked hoping to solve why he looks half dead.
"No..The scent kept me up all night" Natsu answers her, banging his forehead against the table. "I couldn't stop thinking about it or stop smelling it"
"Wow...isn't it the same scent from yesterday, when you sniffed that dragon statue?" She asked raising her eyebrow.
"Yes.." He mutters, with his chin on the table.
"Uh..why not smell something else like flowers, that will help you get rid of the scent…" Lucy states placing her hand on her hip.
"No!" Natsu said rising from his seat with his eye twitch. "You don't understand...this scent in my noise might lead me to Igneel!"
"How are you sure?" Lucy asked.
"Because!..." Natsu said but couldn't finish his sentence.
"See, your not..this scent will lead you to a wild goose chase for all you know...and beside the scent could be the material rotting from the statue" Lucy exclaims, crossing her arms.
Natsu doesn't respond and his hair covers his eyes. He starts walking away from Lucy and heads straight for the guild doors but stops in front of them. He turns back to Lucy.
"I'LL PROVE THAT THIS SCENT WILL LEAD ME TO HIM!" Natsu yells across the guild and leaves.
The guild became silent and all eyes are on Lucy who feels embarrassed. She turns around from everyone, trying to hide her red face.
"Damn you Natsu" she mutters to herself.
"What's wrong with him?" Erza asked Lucy from behind startling her.
"Ah!.." Lucy said turning around with her heart beating fast. "Erza you scared me!"
"sorry about that, but what happened between you and Natsu?" She asked.
"Tried to help him and he ignores me" Lucy answers her with a pissed off look.
"Like the usual then" Erza states.
"I guess" Lucy replies with a sigh. "Oh, what happened to you yesterday?"
"Yesterday?" Erza said confused.
"Ya..you weren't acting yourself" Lucy states remembering how sad Erza was yesterday.
"Oh…" Erza said understanding what she means. "I was just visiting...an old friend"
Lucy can see Erza expression change to yesterday. She panics a little and decide to change the subject.
"Sooo, Erza is there any new mission for us?" Lucy asked with a smile.
"Oh..I haven't checked today" Erza answers.
"oh I see.." Lucy said trying to think of another topic. "Oh!...my rent money!"
Lucy put her head down thinking about the money she still owes to the landlord. Now she's sad but hears Erza chuckle in the background.
"Poor Lucy…" Erza said with a warm smile. "Why not we go find a job so you can pay off your landlord"
"Really!..." Lucy said, hugging her from happiness. "Why thank you Erza!"
"Wow, Instead of making her happy..she made me happy" Lucy thought while hugging Erza's armour and starts to feel the pain against her chest by how hard she hugged her.
"Erza, Lucy…Master is asking for you two" Mira tells them behind the counter.
"Oh, what for?" Lucy asked curious on why Master Makarov wants them.
"Let's not keep him waiting, it must be important" Erza said in a serious tone, walking to his office.
"Right" Lucy said following her.
~~~
Erza opens the door to Makarov's room and sees him sitting behind his desk.
"You ask for us Master?" Erza said to him.
"Yes.." He replies with his hands together, on his desk. "But let me ask you something, have you seen the newspaper, today?"
"No, not yet...why?" Erza asked curious.
"Take a look.." He slides the newspaper under his hands, in front of the desk.
Erza picks it open and eyes widen after reading the front page along with Lucy who reads it over her shoulder. The heading of the page says, 'DRAGONS EXIST!'.
"This can't be?" Erza said in shock. "I thought they were extinct"
"Hmm they aren't...actually even before reading this...there is still one dragon left in this world" Makarov states with a dark expression.
"What do you mean by that…" Lucy said, stepping closer. "You know of a dragon existing here and you haven't told Natsu or the other dragon slayers"
"Slow down there Lucy.." Erza said sensing Lucy getting angry. "He must have a reason why he didn't tell them...right master?"
He doesn't reply right away but closes his eyes slowly, trying to think of what he will say next. He opens them and looks straight into their eyes.
"There is a dragon in this world still alive...but, he isn't the type you should be friendly with, he's a destroyer who kills for no reason...both humans...and dragons" He tells them in a serious tone.
"That's awful" Lucy said shivering a bit. "How can a dragon kill his own kind"
"Because….he's a monster" said an unfamiliar voice.
Erza and Lucy is shocked by the voice and turns their heads to where it came from. In the left side of the room, there's a chair with its back facing everyone. It slowly turns, revealing the person behind the chair.
"Hi, I'm Sapphire" she said waving with a smile. "And I'm the one who hired Team Natsu"
Sapphire has dark violet hair, in a pony tail. She's wearing a light purple vest with a white undershirt underneath and dark blue jeans. Her eye's are dark brown.
"So you hired us? Why?" Lucy asked curious about the new girl.
"I'm a news reporter and the one who made it to the front page" she replies looking at the newspaper.
Erza rereads the newspaper and notices Sapphire's name.
"So you were the one that wrote this, does that mean you've seen the dragons" Erza asked her.
"...Nope, but I've witness the attack" Sapphire said, rising from her seat. "It was a terrible sight to see and hear"
She hugs herself. She begins to remember the feelings from the night of the attack. Her smile turns into a small frown.
"...so many screams and not just the adults, even children" Sapphire said staring at the ground. "..I might not have been close to see it completely but I'm glad i didn't….I was in the neighboring village and even from there I could hear them and the roars of the dragons"
"Thats awful, I'm not sure how I would react in that situation" Lucy said to her, trying to imagine what she has gone through.
"I'm sorry you have gone through that" Erza states placing her hand on Sapphire's shoulder.
Sapphire feels Erza's hand and wipes a tear in the corner of her eye, away. She breathes in and out.
"Don't be because if i haven't experience that...I wouldn't have asked you all here…" Sapphire said, looking at Erza and Lucy. "Well half of team Natsu"
"Why did you ask us here anyway?" Lucy asked.
"After the dragon attack, I've been doing some research on the dragons.." Sapphire states.
"Wait you know the identities of the dragons?" Erza ask surprised.
"I may have an idea on one of them but first...we need to go on our mission now" Sapphire said looking straight at Erza and Lucy with her hand on her hips.
"Which you haven't told us about yet?" Lucy replies to her.
"...you two will be my guards" Sapphire said walking past Lucy and Erza. "I'm only one person that doesn't know magic...so...I ask the powerful guild for help"
Sapphire leans against the wall next to the exit, crossing her arms. A slight smirk appears on her face.
"So are you two in?" Sapphire asked them.
"...You're a very interesting person, Sapphire" Erza said smiling. "I accept the job"
Erza gives her hand to Sapphire who looks at it. She smiles and takes her hand. The two shakes while staring at each other's eyes.
"That's wonderful and what about you" Sapphire said looking at Lucy.
"Well if Erza agrees, I'm in too" Lucy said with a grin.
"Well shall we" Sapphire said motioning her hands to the door.
"Yes...Master, see you when we get back and tell Natsu and Gray that me and Lucy left for a mission" Erza said to Makarov then leaves
Lucy follows her out. Sapphire watches them leave and turns her vision to Makarov whose head is faced to the door. She slowly walks out and grabs the door behind her, slowly closing it with one eye looking through the crack.
"Thanks alot…" She whispers with her eyes sparkling.
~~~
A bag drop on the floor. Natsu begins to pack his things for his trip in frustration. He's picks things randomly while looking half dead from the lack of sleep.
"Grr..Lucy knows nothing…" Natsu said to himself. "I'll prove her wrong.."
"Natsu what are you doing?" Happy asked him flying in through the open door.
"Oh...Hi, Happy" Natsu said turning to him slowly.
"Why are you packing….Are we going on a trip!?" Happy said with excitement.
"...not we happy" Natsu said with a small frown. "Just me...you will have to stay behind little buddy"
"But whyyy…" Happy said in a sad tone. "D-don't you like me a-anymore"
"Don't be silly bud" Natsu said rubbing his head. "I just need to do this myself"
"..sniff..does Lucy know?" Happy ask with watery eyes.
"...In a way...ya but Happy I don't want you to tell anyone I'm going on this trip" Natsu said with a small smirk. "There's no reason for them to worry about me.
"B-but…" Happy said stuttering.
"Happy.." Natsu said in a serious tone. "Promise me and when I come back I'll give you a lifetime supply of fish"
"a-ye Natsu…sniff...I promise" Happy replies.
"Good, now stay with Wendy and Carla while I'm gone.." Natsu said lifting his bag up. "And if anyone ask, tell them I'm training"
"Ok but you better promise to come back soon" Happy said pointing a finger at him.
"I promise.." Natsu said walking to the door. "Also keep an eye on Lucy"
Natsu walks out the door leaving Happy standing alone in their house.
"Aye!" Happy said solutting.
~~~
Natsu is outside and starts walking the opposite way from Magnolia, with his bag on. He sniffs the air and can still smell that scent from the dragon statue, that is still on his night table. He debated whether to bring it or not but rather leave it. He has enough to carry. However there is a problem he has now.
"WHERE DO I GO!" Natsu yells up to the air.
He can smell the scent but it hardly gives him a trail to follow. It's irritating but he needs to find somewhere to go. Then one place came to mind that made him smile. He starts walking to a direction making him go deeper into the woods.
The place he has in mind is a special place for him. He can never forget such a place. He can remember it clearly but it's hard to get to which is why he rarely goes. However, there are times when he does. Only a few times and always alone. Its his relaxing place where he can cool off and think.
A gust of wind passes him causing his scarf to sway while he walks to the place he imagines which always makes him smile but also brings him sadness