Natsuki groaned when she felt the ground beneath her shake. The ground was cold and she felt somewhat weak. She opened her eyes slightly only to cover them from the bright light coming from above her. She flinched when the ground shook again. She looked to her side and saw some explosions from outside her window. Her eyes widened when she saw her father being attacked.
She sat up and looked around her surroundings. She started to panic when she realized she was trapped. She reached for her bag and took out the things she wasn't looking for. Her eyes started to flood with tears when she didn't find the object she was looking for. She crawled towards the window and started banging on it.
"PAPA!" Natsuki cried out desperately. "PAPA!"
"Teleportation."
Natsu clenched his fists as Barcadia would disappear and reappear from different areas. He was landed a harsh blow coming from behind him.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!"
Natsu spun around and kicked him before he could fall to the ground. Barcadia was sent flying towards the wall.
Natsuki watched as the two went for each other without taking a rest to catch their breath. This was the first time she's seen her father's full power at his strongest. His magic was amazing and beautiful, just like from what she's heard from the others in the guild.
"Jii-chan," Natsuki tugged on Makarov's coat.
"Hm?"
"What's Papa's magic like?" Natsuki asked innocently. Makarov thought about it, only to come up with negative answers. Natsu's magic has caused nothing but destruction not only for a town, but for his bank. Thankfully, Erza overheard her question and came to the rescue.
"Natsuki," Erza knelt down so she was the same height with the four year old, "your father's magic is beautiful. Even your mother thought so."
Makarov facepalmed at her obvious lie. He and Lucy have always held the same thoughts when it comes to Natsu's fire.
"I'm sure you will see it one day," Erza continued.
"Papa…"
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"
Natsu sent Barcadia flying towards the wall harshly. Natsu used the time to attack the container, until he realized Natsuki had awaken. Her crying face made him think twice about breaking the glass. He would be to reckless if the glass were to hit her. Natsu growled and clenched his fists. He retorted back to attacking Barcadia who had gotten up and almost sneaked up on him.
He had to find a way to stop the machine by machine. But he first had to take out the brain to it all. Natsu screamed as he pulled a few quick jabs onto Barcadia. Natsu had underestimated his power. He seemed weak, but he endured all his attacks without showing any signs of magic.
Natsu's squeezed his fists tightly at the thought of the container. Out of no where, his fists started to produce lightning as well as fire. He furrowed his brows, but then his eyes widened from realization.
He still had the lightning given by Laxus back on Tenrou Island. After all this time. He smirked and looked at the container. Natsuki watched from the inside with wide eyes. Natsu ran for the container and jumped high up in the air. If he were to hit the middle of the bottom of the glass, it could possibly hit and hurt Natsuki. He couldn't risk that.
"Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Instead of just fire, Natsu blew our lightning as well. Natsuki covered her head on the ground. She screamed and covered her ears from the loud sound of his roar. The attack hit the container straight through, creating two holes on each side. One was in the area Natsu aimed at near the top of the glass. The second hole was in the center of the back of the glass.
Natsu grunted. His lightning wasn't as powerful as it was back then. He landed back on the ground on both feet.
"NATSUKI, HANG IN THERE! I'LL GET YOU OUT SOON!" Natsu called out, now that she'll be able to hear him. Natsuki looked up and nodded. Barcadia got up from the grown and wiped the blood that was trickling down from the corner of his lip. He chuckled.
"After five years of complete silence, it looks like you're still as strong as you were back then."
"Just went on a small hiatus," replied Natsu. "Now tell me how to stop that drainer!"
"That machine can never be stopped! The time it stops is when all her magic is completely drained! Only five more minutes!"
Natsu gritted his teeth from annoyance.
"Teleportation."
Natsu took his eyes off of him for one second, and it was the biggest mistake of his life. He felt two pairs of hands on his back.
"Metsu."
Natsu's eyes rolled back from the shock. He suddenly felt incredibly weak. He fell forward and landed on the ground with a big thud. Natsuki started banging on the glass as she cried.
"PAPA!"
She had just witnessed her father's defeat. What could be worse?
Erza's team appeared on the doorway after having defeated all the guards.
"NATSU!" Happy cried out. Natsu slowly regained his consciousness from all the shouting from his nakama. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was his daughter crying out for him to get up. But that was the problem. He couldn't move. All his power is gone.
Erza gritted her teeth when Barcadia started to approach Natsu. She's heard that Barcadia has the power to drain magic, same as Aria from Phantom Lord. It was possible that their magics would be the same. That was a big problem. If any of them were to get close, their magic could be drained and everything would just end here and now. She was amazed at how long Natsu had lasted.
Erza's thoughts were disturbed when she felt Natsuki's little bag still around her. She looked down and found her solution. She quickly looked up at the container and was relieved to see a huge hole near the top of the glass. She removed the bag and handed it to Gray.
"Gray, throw this inside the container!"
"Why?" Gray asked.
"Just throw it!"
Gray was taken back.
"NATSUKI! HEADS UP!"
Natsuki looked towards Gray and saw him toss something over to her. It went through the hole above her. Natsuki stood up and caught it. She gasped when she realized what it was.
Barcadia approached Natsu. He lifted his head by pulling his hair.
"You really think you could overpower me? You're weak, and you always will be."
Natsu clenched his fists. He was taken back at the fact that he could. Just a second ago, he couldn't move anything in his body. That means, his strength was coming back to him a lot quicker than he expected. But time was running out.
"For kidnapping my daughter.. you will suffer," Natsu threatened.
"But you wouldn't be there to see it," Barcadia raised his hand over Natsu's face. Natsu closed his eyes tight. The first thing that came to his mind was Lucy.
"Open! Gate of the Lion!"
Natsu's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar chant.
"Loke!"
Suddenly, Barcadia was knocked away from Natsu. Natsu managed to catch himself with one arm. He flipped himself around so he landed on his back. His eyes widened when he saw Loke attacking Barcadia. Where could he have come from?
"Open! Gate of the Heavenly Scales!"
Natsu looked towards the direction where the chant came from. His eyes widened when he saw that it his own daughter causing all this. Natsuki's hand was raised with a different key in hand.
"Libra!"
Libra appeared from the hole of the container. Loke jumped out of the way. Barcadia was held down by the gravity magic from Libra. All this was a lot to process for Natsu. He never knew his own daughter had magic to begin with, let alone a Celestial Spirit Mage. What shocked him the most was her magic. Where did she learn this magic from? The biggest surprise was that fact that she was able to call out two spirits. Two spirits. Lucy couldn't do that when they first met.
"Open! Gate of the Snake Charmer! Ophichus!"
Natsu watched as Ophichus appeared from its key and broke through the glass container. It headed for Barcadia who was still being pinned down by Libra. Natsu winced as he was crushed by Ophichus' large size. This was all too much. There was only one other person Natsu knew who could summon more than two spirits. And it looks like she took after her mother. Natsu could feel his whole body again. He stared at his hands and squeezed them tight. He was so careless during his fight. Lastly, Ophichus roared before returning back to its key. Libra disappeared as well. Natsu got up and ran for Natsuki who was still inside the container. Natsu slid on his knees and hugged.
"Papa!" Natsuki returned the hug. Erza, Gray, Happy, and Loke walked over to them.
"God, I was so worried about you," Natsu murmured. "I'm so sorry I lost you."
Natsuki shook her head with a big smile on her face.
"But I got to see Papa's magic! It was so cool! Erza-san was right! Your magic was pretty!"
Natsu rubbed the back of his head. "Well.."
Erza smiled and placed her hands on her hips.
"Thank you for returning her keys, Erza," said Loke. "I don't know what I would've done if something like this were to happen when I'm not around."
"Of course. But I don't think you should worry about her being all alone anymore."
-x-
"Can someone please explain this to me?" asked Natsu who pointed to Natsuki playing withe Plue and Happy.
"Simple. She inherited Lucy's keys," said Gray. Loke nodded.
"Couldn't have said it better."
Natsu's eyes widened.
"How? What happened to Lucy's keys after she died?"
"We kept it safe in the guild's storage," explained Erza. "Those are very rare keys Lucy has worked so hard to collect. So we stored it deep in the storage where no one would find it. We thought it might be useful in the future, and it looks like it was."
"But at the age of five to have magic? Isn't that a little early for celestial spirit magic?"
"Her magic power has exceeded its limits since birth."
"Where did she learn it? Lucy's not here, and Yukino's..."
"I taught her," explained Loke. "I couldn't resist. Although her hair looks like this idiot's, she's just as beautiful and sweet as her mother."
"Natsuki wanted to learn the same magic as her mother, so it ties in," said Gray.
"Does.. she have all of her keys?" Natsu murmured. Natsu looked towards his daughter and he could've sworn he saw Lucy. Natsu's eyes started to flood with tears.
"Every single one of them. All thirteen golden keys and all her silver keys."
"Good... I'm glad," The corner of Natsu's lips twitched into a smile. He fell onto his knees as he covered his forehead. He placed his free hand on the ground to support himself. Erza's expression softened when she saw a few tears falling to the ground. She knelt down and hugged her friend. She rubbed his back and hid her face in his shoulder. Gray lowered his shoulders and unfolded his arms.
Natsuki ran up to Loke and tugged on his pants. Loke kneeled down to her level. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the Loke plush toy.
"Why is Papa crying?" asked Natsuki. "Is Papa sad? Is it my fault?"
"No no," Loke comforted her by rubbing her head. "He's not sad. He's happy you're alright."
"But why is he crying?"
"He just misses Mama."
I apologize for the sucky fight. I re-watched some of Natsu's fights in the anime and pretty much most of his moves aren't named attacks like "Iron Fist" and "Claw". It was pretty much Natsu hitting his fire.