Hello everyone and welcome back to A Slayer's Flame!
Now, I know that I may sound like a broken record at this point, but thank you all so much for the support. Seriously... We've almost got 200 followers in only 3 weeks... Just... how? Anyway, thank you's aside I wanted to get this chapter out earlier because I won't be uploading on Sunday because i will be doing something special for one of my other stories but I didn't want to leave you all high and dry so here we go! Now let's go over reviewers questions and stuffs.
Earth Dragon Arnighte: I will be putting them in after the harem has been officially chosen.
Johny Spectre: Yeah, I can kind of see your point with the realistic story stuff but in a magical world, I personally don't really care about all that. I want to see epic fights that involve Dragons and Demons and all that but that is just me so you may have a different taste. As for the Edolas thing, still calling bullshit. Then the whole FanFiction thing, yeah most of it probably is but even if it does work there does not need to be so much of it; it just desensitises you to it over time having too much shoved in your face at once. And yeah, I hate those stories too... I like that we can have these conversations. And thank you for the compliment.
HaremLover: That's already and I'm a dude... I think... No... Yea... I'm a dude. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions but having Natsu pick up those girls as daughters... they won't be that young, only like 3 years younger then they are in cannon (bare in mind a few but that's for later) such as Yukino becoming 15 instead of 18 and stuff like that.
PugTheMagician: I know it sounds crazy to say that but its true: for Fairy Tail standards that is small. Insane shit right there. Anyway, I am hoping that I di not just play off my characters off as just putting them in there because they are hot cause I do like them and think that you could do a lot with them. As for the others... yeah I kind of was but hey, everything needs a little setting up.
Now onto chapter 4!
Snow turned to water below his feet as Natsu just ran.
All he could do was run, all he could do was try and get to the chaos before it all got worse. Around him, the world just faded into one big blur that moved seamlessly with the ever growing plumes of smoke and ash. His nose, as acute as ever, could smell the burning flesh and charred scent of wood from miles off, with the putrid stench getting stronger as he grew near to the town.
About an hour ago, he woke up from his fight induced coma from his battle with the dragons and after pocketing a few scales in his… lack of pockets, he started to make his way back to town. It hurt like Hell, but his Dragon Slayer abilities were doing a good job of sewing his torn threads of skin back together. Like before, he knew that a few would leave scars but that wasn't what mattered right now.
While he was walking, a huge cloud of ash had risen over the landscape as it engulfed the trees and the snow in fire when it approached. Only being saved from the onslaught by a small, hollowed out cave in the snow, he had walked back up to see a decimated landscape; the trees had been burnt to cinders, leaving nought but ashes and smouldering tree bark on the floor, and the snow had completely melted which left a large lake sized puddle of water all around him. After staring in confusion and awe at the display for a few minutes, Natsu turned to the source of the plume…
The town.
And the teen had been running to the town as if his life depended on it ever since.
Ice cracked below his weight and snow just faded into nothingness as he passed but Natsu didn't care so long as he got to the town. Something of this size couldn't just appear out of nothingness, even from a high level monster or beast. No… no this was the work of a mage; a very powerful one at that.
Drawing closer allowed Natsu to take note of the unique colouration of the fire. It was blue, azure if he was to be exact, and it just pulsed with power. The flames danced around the scenery, burning anything it touched until it just vanished before moving on to its next victim like a remorseless killer. And they felt hot, something Natsu had only rarely felt up and until this point. Yes, this was a very powerful mage indeed.
Leaping over a small hill of gathered snow, the pinkette finally found himself standing before the town… Or what was left of it. Azure fire attacked every building and every monument in sight, melting the oak down around the world and crushing through years and years of history. From where he stood, Natsu could see the singed remains of the clothes shop that he had visited to repair his damaged clothes, the scotched husk that once was the bar which reminded him of his home in Magnolia and the ignited shell of armour that sat at the centre of the town that was once a proud statue of the town's history. All of it just… gone.
Then the screams burst through his eardrums with such intensity that they nearly broke his brain. The shouts for helped had begun to blend into the sound of crackling flames and melting steel but they rose above all other noises to Natsu. Pain and anguish were all that he could hear and he was just frozen in space to admire the extent this person had gone through to put all this misfortune on such a small town.
Shaking himself out of his stupor, Natsu began to sprint down to the lit town. The blue of the fire lit up the night sky with vengeance and death as ash clouds haphazardly passed him by. Running down the hill until his feet met the singed stone of the street, he felt the heat that he was previously feeling multiply. With gritted teeth, Natsu surged ahead, pulling back in shock at the charred state of the bodies that he encountered on the way… and he knew all of these people. The butcher lay dead and charred outside his shop with the melted end of a clever still clutched in his lifeless hand while the barmaid was trapped below the fallen remains of the bar's skyline, dead. They were all just dead and burnt and dead and-
"Help!"
Alive!
Wiping his head around to the sound of the pleas, Natsu began to zero in on the voice as he tried to avoid the searing heat and the flickering flames that has engulfed the towns buildings. Eventually, he reached the clothes shop… and trapped beneath the collapsed door was the little girl that he had grown close to over his time here.
"Ah shit!"
The pinkette screamed in horror as he ran up to her crying figure, the flames of the torched shop slowly creeping up to her trapped and exposed leg. Her lithe frame was littered with cuts and her once brown hair was singed and dyed black with soot. Rushing up, she barely gave the Dragon Slayer any notice as the fire started to engulf her whole body. More screams emerged as Natsu threw the door behind him before picking the child up and holding her to his chest. His immunity to fire should fan the-
The heartbeat ran dead.
No beating, no nothing. As he held her, he could slowly feel the fire break down every part of her body, disintergrating her until she become just another pile of ash at Natsu's knees. He... was too late… he was… As tears began to prick at his eyes, that damned blue fire began to swirl around his fallen form, creeping up his arms with tendrils and fire.
"AHH!"
With a scream and shout that he didn't know he could emit, Natsu threw his head to the skies in roar… But the scream was not in anger, it was in pain. Glancing down with guilt in his eyes while the 'body' before him slowly took off into the sky, Natsu bore witness to his skin becoming burnt and scarred, the skin on his arms becoming trapped and twisted due to the fire.
It… burnt him.
Fire actually hurt him…
IT BURNT HIM!
Throwing his hands into his hair, he tugged on the pink strands as he cried in confusion and guilt. Not only had a little girl died today because he wasn't quick enough, as well as whole town but he had been hurt by fire… It invaded his mind and he didn't know which to be more afraid of; the town or the fact that such a mage existed to the point where they could harm a Slayer.
"Oh, you're here."
An eerily cheerful voice reached his ears and Natsu seized his screaming. Turning his head up, Natsu could make out a figure before him. He was wearing a long black cloak that covered his whole body but left his right arm exposed which allowed Natsu to see the horribly scarred and burnt skin that resided there. That burn continued to the man's face and neck, shadowing his emerald orbs and messy white hair. And swirling around his form was the same blue fire that torched the town.
Anger flared in his eyes as he realised that the man before him caused all… All of THIS!
"WHY!? Why did you do this!? Natsu yelled, trying to stand up but the mixture of his burns and the reopened wounds from earlier sent him back sprawling to the ground. The man just simply stared at him with a bored expression before walking over to an unburnt crate that sat near Natsu's position.
"So, Natsu Dragneel huh? Hm, thought you would have been later then this… Well, at least you got to see the work while it was in progress." The dark figured smirked before sitting down on the box. Another bout of rage filled Natsu as he began to try and drag himself on his hurt arms to the man. "Oh, where are my manners. My name is- "
"I don't give a fuck what your damn name is! You killed all these people, why?!" Natsu roared at him as his nerves would not relent their torturous routine. The man, however, just glared at him before continuing.
"As I was saying, my name is Hyperion… Well that's my code name but you don't want to know my real name." The now named Hyperion smiled again before leaning back against the wall situated behind the crate. Chuckling slightly when Natsu tried to crawl towards him again, he began to analyse the Slayer's body. It was cut up, scared and burnt but he was not relenting for a single second.
'Geez, he really Is resilient… Just like he said he was.' Hyperion thought with a smirk.
Standing up from his podium, Hyperion walked over to Natsu and he stood before the pinkette's face, taunting him. Just like he thought, Natsu reached out to grab his ankle and he tried to light his hand aflame with his own orange coloured heat but it just weakly died out in his hand.
"Hm? No magic left Natsu? But how will you save all these people?" The white haired man smiled again before setting his whole body alight with blue fire. Once more, the flames engulfed Natsu's form and it sent him reeling to the ground. With a huff, Hyperion swiftly turned around.
"Well, my employer did say to kill you the first chance I saw you… but you're pretty fucked up, kid, so you know what? Imma let you go! Yep for free, how does that sound?" With a smile, he looked over his shoulder in joy before that turned into astonishment as he saw Natsu push himself up from the floor with a sway in his movements and his eyes dropped.
"I ain't gonna run, no way! I'm a Fairy Tail mage and I will see that my job is done; and that starts with killing you." Gritted teeth met a beaming smile as Hyperion turned on his heel.
"Oh? Well kid I did try to warn you." Walking up to the teen, Natsu tried to take a swing at him but it landed wearily on his left arm. Shaking his head in mock disappointment, Hyperion just smiled. "No not like that… like this!" With a bloodthirsty smirk, Natsu watched in horror as Hyperion leaned his hand back and watched it become coated in swirling blue fire.
"Fire Devil's Ensnaring Fist!"
Hitting the Fairy Tail mage square in the chest, he watched in glee as he saw Natsu go flying back into the once beautiful clothing shop. The last remnants of woods fell down and the few shards of glass that were left on the window shattered as Natsu landed. Once again, the azure fire began to eat away at his chest but this time Natsu did not scream.
"Well, jobs done. Come on fella's let's go!" Hyperion began to shout but the smallest sounds of shuffling was heard behind him which made the man both smile and huff in annoyance. Not even turning around, he just shouted. "For fucks sake, don't you ever die?!"
"W-What did you say you were?" Now, instead of that rage and anger that was once there, it was shock and confusion. Leaning back, Hyperion locked eyes with Natsu to see them wide and shaking.
"Hehe, a Devil Slayer kid. Well now, have a good one. I'll see you later Natsu… if you live of course." With a malicious laugh, the man begun to fade away into a cloud of blue fire not dissimilar to the one that Natsu had narrowly avoided not 20 minutes ago. However, one thought plagued his mind as he left in the plume.
'I thought that he was immune to fire…''
And then it was all over. Every flame went out, all raging inferno's seized to exist which left only hollow shells of charred buildings and ruined structures.
Inside the husk that once was the clothes shop, Natsu just lay there, staring at the ceiling.
"He… burned me…. How did he… He uses Devil Slaying magic... so it's just altered fire used to kill Demons… so why was I…"
However, even as he spoke those words, staring up at the sky through the holes in the skyline and as he began to slip into unconsciousness he couldn't shake that thought out of his mind.
How the Hell did this mage burn him?
A dark cloud of azure spread across the courtyard before the form of Hyperion sauntered out.
Whistling a tune, the white haired man took his gaze to the clear skies as he took a deep breath of the morning air in. It had taken him about a day to get here so it had just turned to daylight as he arrived. From all around him, the court was empty. He had left his 'followers' to clean up the mess back at the village while he came here to have a little… chat with his employer.
"Ah… I sure do love coming to Alverez." He muttered before pushing his way through the massive steel doors at the castle's gates. His steps bounced and jumped off the clean walls and ceilings as he walked down the immaculate hallways. All around him, he felt the magical pressures of all those around the castle; to be honest, it was deafening and crushing to his whole body. Letting out an involuntary wince, Hyperion continued his trek to his destination.
Eventually, he reached it. Stepping into the large hall, doors open and welcoming, he felt the most powerful magic presences of all reach him. Both felt utterly demeaning and far above his level. Alining the sides of the massive hall were pillars of marble that kept the place aloft but apart from that, there was very little in what should be a King's Quarter's.
Once again, just like he had done several weeks ago, he started to approach the end of the hall all the while trying to calm his nerves while in front of the figures that he could not currently see. But as he got closer, he could see it all; the large throne like chair, the large window behind it that just beamed light into the chamber and the two people standing by the throne.
The first was a tall, voluptuous woman who held great power and significance in her stance. Her thick, braided crimson hair split off into three sections that spilled down her back and two that flowed down the front of her body. Aside from that, her attire showed confidence and strength in it with a black witch's hat that rested on her head while a black top similar to the robes of a traditional wizard covered her upper half before cutting out in the centre to expose the lower section of her breasts before continuing. Covering her lower half, she simply had a black and scarlet cloth that covered her unmentionables while still showing off her legs. This, along with her her signature wooden staff, just cemented her position. This was Irene Belserion.
However, she was standing to the side of the throne. Before Hyperion, sat a relatively average looking man. He held messy black hair with bangs that almost covered his onyx orbs and his outfit consisted of a simple set of black robes with white outlines and a collar that stretches past his neck and a white toga carefully draped over his right shoulder. While he looked nothing more than average, his power was suffocating and intense. This was the Spriggan Emperor; this was Zeref.
Stepping before the two almost Godly figures, Hyperion gulped before bowing.
"Hello my Lord." He heard a small chuckle from the dark mage.
"There's no need for that Hyperion… Now what have you got to tell me about Natsu?" Zeref asked, leaning forward in his seat with a smirk. The look in his eyes was protective and Hyperion didn't exactly know what to think about it.
"W-Well, he's improved significantly over the months. When I saw him, he had just come back from killing over a hundred Wyverns, one of my men told me." Hyperion said with a small chuckle with his head held down.
"That's very good…. Did you do what I asked?"
"Yes… He had become enraged from what I saw and that should push him for a bit longer."
"Thank you… He always was the one to try and fight for the sake of someone else; even if they were dead. You may continue your mission now, Hyperion. Thank you." With nothing more, a small bag of money was thrust to Hyperion's feet by Irene, who was just watching on emotionless. About to make a stand, the Devil Slayer decided that he needed to ask something.
"Um... My Lord?" The white haired man spoke up, drawing attention back to him.
"Yes, oh Demonic Titan?"
"You told me that Dragneel was fireproof… right?"
"Yes… that is true, it's part of his magic. Why do you ask?"
"Well… my magic burned him."
Silence echoed around the room.
"And I just wanted to know why."
More silence.
"That is none of your concern. Do your job, that is what you were paid for."
"B-But My Lord, how can I continue if- "
Suddenly, another bag fell to his feet but this time it was at least double the size of the last one. Looking up in shock, he saw the red ringed gaze of Zeref, his anger flaring as his eyes morphed to crimson.
"Take that as compensation for your silence. Now leave."
And that Hyperion did.
Once he had left, more silence flooded the chamber as Zeref stood from his seat and moved to stare out of the window. Again, Irene remained quiet, but vigilant as she watched her Lord with his every move. After a few minutes passed, Zeref spoke.
"Irene, go and help Brandish and Dimaria with their training. We need the strong in the 12, and those two have great potential to be strong."
With a bow, the Scarlet Angel left, leaving Zeref behind on his own. However, his face was morphed into a small smile as he looked down upon a small picture that he held inside a locket. A small picture that depicted a young black haired boy alongside an even younger pink haired child. That ghost of a smile grew wider as Zeref continuously stared out the large window at his Empire.
"You'll find out soon, brother. You will learn all soon."
And done... You get no more notes... FOR NOW! HAHAHAH! No... But seriously thanks for reading and next time should be the start of Natsu developing his God Slaying powers and next chapter i should be counting up the harem stuffs and posting my own list and all that stuff so see ya then!
-Jack