Chapter 7: Fire beats Ice
The sky lightened in streaks of pink and orange as the clouds were lit from the bottom in a fiery glow. The sunrise intensified with each passing minute, growing brighter and sharper as night was cast off.
Natsu sat on the roof of Kardia Cathedral, the scene of his victory against Laxus all those years ago. The dragon slayer was basking in the morning rays of the rising sun.
"You've got some balls. Are you going to piss of every woman in Fairy-Tail?" Gajeel muttered joining Natsu.
"I was thinking about Erza being next." Natsu joked.
"Lucy, Cana and now Lisanna, you need to get a lid on whatever is going on." Gajeel scoffed.
"Did you come here just to lecture me?" Natsu asked.
"No, the lecture part was Levy's idea. I came to talk." Gajeel answered.
"Damn, she's already got you whipped." Natsu laughed.
"That shrimp's got a hold on me." Gajeel chuckled.
"Let's get down to business." Natsu's voice turned serious.
"I like the fire in your eyes." Gajeel smirked.
"When I rescued you from Jose and Ivan, I was only using a half of my full power." Natsu spoke.
"Aria's damned Metsu was able to scatter half of my magic. So I was also using half when I changed." Gajeel replied.
"Good, so we both have more to offer." Natsu nodded.
"Gi hi hi, I don't exactly know what you want but I want to see your power." Gajeel laughed.
"Did you hear what happened to Sting Eucliffe?" Natsu asked.
"I heard he was killed on a job." Gajeel answered.
"That's what Sabertooth told everyone." Natsu sighed. "What do you know about Minerva?"
"She left Sabertooth and joined a dark guild over three years ago." Gajeel mumbled. "Is this going anywhere?"
"Yes it is. Minerva and Sting were lovers. I don't know much but I heard they were into the kinky stuff; you know, domination and torture kind of stuff, really messed up stuff." Natsu explained.
"Okay, I get the picture, no need for examples." Gajeel cut him off.
"After Minerva joined her dark guild they still kept in touch for the occasional rendezvous. Well one thing lead to another and she ended up killing him six months ago." Natsu explained.
"Was it bondage gone wrong?" Gajeel asked.
"No, they were meeting for one of their rendezvous and she straight up got mad with him and murdered him in cold blood." Natsu responded.
"The kid had a lot of potential." Gajeel sighed.
"The point is on his death bed, Sting transferred all the magic he had left in his dying body to Rogue. Rogue then gained the White Shadow Dragon Mode." Natsu revealed.
"What the hell was Rogue doing at Minerva and Sting's rendezvous?" Gajeel questioned.
"I don't know. Maybe Sting took him to watch and that's why Minerva got mad." Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "The important thing here is Rogue becoming the White Shadow Dragon. He is just like us now."
"A dual element dragon slayer." Gajeel nodded. "Why are you so interested in this whole dual element thing?"
"You saw how much power we have. At half strength we were able to bring down a mountain. Combined we could destroy entire cities without breaking a sweat. Dark guilds would crumble beneath us." Natsu explained.
"Natsu, I would honestly like to help you bring down as many dark guilds as possible but I can't. I want a peaceful life with Levy. I want to start a family with her. I want to be around as my children grow up." Gajeel declined.
"I was kind expecting you to say that when I heard about the wedding. I was holding to some hope that the old, rough and ragged Gajeel was still around." Natsu scoffed. "Saving your sorry ass turned out to be a waste of time."
"So what are you going to do now?" Gajeel questioned.
"I'll stay in town tonight and leave here tomorrow, possibly for good." Natsu mumbled.
"I'm already dreading the complaints from all the people you're going to piss off." Gajeel muttered.
XXXXX
Lucy remained in her bed with her covers pulled over her head not wanting to face the world. She had just about summoned the strength to wake up but couldn't when Natsu's words rang in her head.
"Lucy, wake up. It's not good that you spend all day in bed like this." Cana sighed trying to coax the blonde out of bed.
"I don't want to get up, maybe tomorrow." Lucy mumbled.
"You shouldn't be the one wallowing, he should." Cana replied annoyed.
"He hates me, he was so angry." Lucy responded.
"It's not like all of it is your fault. Gray also had a hand in what happened. You should have told him that." Cana huffed.
"Has he spoken to Gray?" Lucy asked.
"No, from what I heard the two haven't interacted. I guess it's a good thing. Who knows what will happen. Gray got pretty pissed off when he heard how Natsu was treating you." Cana revealed.
"Oh god, does Gray know about what Natsu saw?" Lucy asked.
"No, I don't think you should mention it when Juvia is around. Even though they're married she still gets extremely jealous." Cana warned.
"If those two meet then all hell can break loose. You have to make sure they don't." Lucy pleaded.
"I don't have to do anything. In fact I'm looking forward to Gray taking this new Natsu down a peg or two." Cana refused.
"I know there's something wrong with Natsu. I can feel it. Something happened during these three years. Something that broke him." Lucy said getting up.
"We've already established you sleeping with Gray, after he asked you out, broke him." Cana responded without thinking.
"I'm a terrible person." Lucy muttered retreating under her blanket.
"That's it; I'm coming to get you." Cana sighed.
The brunette then jumped onto the bed and on top of Lucy. The two then began wrestling as Cana tried to drag Lucy out of bed.
"A guy could get used to this." Loke laughed.
"What are you doing here?" Lucy yelled.
"I just thought I'd pop in. I was on vacation with Aries and when I got back Plue was telling me about how depressed you were." Loke explained.
"So you just waited for us to get in bed together before forcing your way through the gate?" Cana scoffed.
"What exactly did Plue tell you?" Lucy inquired.
"Well, he said and I quote; plue plue plue, plue plue, plue plue plue." Loke smirked.
"Oh you're hilarious." Cana mocked.
"I know that Natsu came back and he said some things that hurt you." Loke said.
"So you're pretty much clued up on what's happening." Lucy smiled.
"If I see that guy, I'll make him pay." Loke promised.
"Now that, I would like to see." Cana cheered.
XXXXX
Natsu waded through the rumble that was his home admiring the destructive power of Gildarts. The guild ace had laid waste to the small building with a single punch while only using a minuscule portion of his power.
"This is brilliant. This is the power he showed me on Tenrou Island. This is true power." Natsu laughed. "He's grown stronger in three years."
"It really is you." Happy cried flying into Natsu.
The Exceed embraced his partner and held on tightly while Natsu did nothing.
"It's been a long time Happy." Natsu mumbled.
"Your voice, your eyes, everything about you is so cold." Happy sobbed.
"The years have changed me old friend." Natsu laughed.
"What happened to you Natsu?" Happy asked.
"It's a long, painful and sad story." Natsu responded.
"I have time, I can listen." Happy exclaimed.
"No you can't. You're a father now; you have your own family. You shouldn't concern yourself with me." Natsu said coldly.
"Natsu, we're partners remember. I'm your best friend." Happy pleaded.
"I don't have friends anymore." Natsu tried to separate himself from Happy.
"I don't care what you say Natsu, I'm still your friend." Happy shouted.
"Happy, this path I've taken as the crimson reaper. It's a one way journey. There is no coming back." Natsu said pushing Happy away.
The dragon slayer then began walking away.
"Natsu, I don't know what's going to happen because everyone is on edge but please promise me you won't hurt anyone from Fairy-Tail." Happy shouted. "Promise me."
Natsu paused in his tracks and gritted his teeth. The image of Happy's crying face the words of the Exceed brought back haunting memories of a pink haired girl.
"I can try."
XXXXX
Mirajane smiled blissfully as she wiped the bar counter, the reason she was beaming was because her husband was sitting at the bar with her. Laxus had not taken any jobs and promised to spend the entire day with her.
"I take the day off and this is what you choose to do." Laxus sighed.
"If you had told me earlier I could have gotten Lisanna to take my shift for me." Mirajane replied.
"Speaking off Lisanna, how is she, I mean after last night." Laxus asked.
"Shush, we don't want the entire guild to know. She only told Levy, Wendy and I what happened." Mirajane whispered.
"You're Fairy-Tail's number one gossip." Laxus laughed.
"Oh, you have jokes now, do you mister?" Mirajane smiled.
"Nope, that was completely out of line." Laxus apologised.
Ever since her pregnancy had begun, the demon Mirajane had become much more fearsome. In an instant, she went from the smiling barmaid to the devil incarnate.
"Lisanna was pretty shook up. She used to have such a crush on him growing up and when she got back from Edolas all she could talk about how much she wanted to finally confess to Natsu but she never did." Mirajane sighed.
"So why didn't she?" Laxus asked.
"She never got the chance, the only girl on Natsu's mind was Lucy but Lucy wasn't exactly available so things were complicated." Mirajane explained.
"You really do know everything that goes on in this guild." Laxus smiled.
"I do, like did you know that Laki has a …" Mirajane spoke but stopped herself. "I forgot, I promised I wouldn't gossip anymore."
"You look so cute when you do that." Laxus teased.
"And you look so cute when you're standing on the second floor looking down Mr Guild Master." Mirajane giggled.
"It still doesn't feel real. I know I am but it still feels like the old man is in charge. Even though all he does is lounge around and read dirty magazines." Laxus sighed.
"I thought I confiscated all his magazines for trying to spy on us in the hot springs." Mirajane snarled.
"You did and he must have somehow stolen them. You just stay here and relax and I'll go re-confiscate them." Laxus tried to calm down his wife.
XXXXX
Natsu walked through the outskirts of Magnolia bored. He didn't have much to do in town; in fact he didn't know why he was still around. He should have left immediately after Gajeel turned him down but for a reason he couldn't fathom he stayed there. The dragon slayer began walking towards the eastern forest in the hopes of clearing his head.
"There you are flame brain." Gray scoffed.
"I haven't heard that voice in three years." Natsu laughed.
"Where do you get off talking to Lucy like that?" Gray demanded to know.
"Aren't you married to Juvia now? Or is it you're still seeing Lucy on the side?" Natsu jeered.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Gray retorted. "I ended things with Lucy three years ago."
"But apparently not before one last dalliance." Natsu shouted.
"That was the last time; it's not my fault you didn't have the balls to tell her how you felt." Gray shouted.
"That's where you're wrong. I did confess to Lucy about how I felt, she told me to give her time to think and do you know what she did with that time? She slept with you." Natsu yelled.
The dragon slayer was moments away from throwing down with Gray but the last shred of his humanity, a blue Exceed named Happy kept harping in his ear to walk away. Natsu did just that.
"I didn't know that." Gray slammed his hands on the ground creating a magic circle. "Ice-Make: Floor!"
The ground underneath Natsu froze solid trapping his feet.
"Let me go Gray." Natsu demanded.
"No chance flame head. We're going to talk this out." Gray scoffed.
Happy's voice was still with Natsu as he chose to leave. The heat radiating of Natsu's body gave of a potent red aura as it melted the ice and freed him. The dragon slayer continued to try and leave only to have Gray intercept him.
"I thought you'd be chopping at the bits to fight me." Gray smirked.
"You don't know how lucky you are." Natsu cursed.
"There's something definitely wrong with you." Gray placed his right fist over his left palm. "I'm going to make you say what happened over the last three years."
"Ice-Make: Block!" Gray shouted creating a massive block of ice that he launched at Natsu.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu shouted as his fist ignited in flames and he clashed against the ice shattering it. "Walk away Gray, I don't want to kill you."
"Ice-Make: Arrows." Gray yelled as he formed multiple arrows from both his hands and fired them at high speed towards Natsu.
Natsu ducked and weaved avoiding most of the arrows but one was able to graze his face and cut his cheek. Natsu snapped as pure raged drowned out Happy's pleading voice. The dragon slayer became shrouded in crimson red flames as he charged.
Natsu's feet ignited in flames as he attacked.
"Ice-Make: Ice Geyser." Gray called out as he back tracked and aimed his magic at the ground.
Several spikes erupted from the ground trying to trap Natsu between them.
"Fire Dragon's Claw." Natsu snarled as he kicked his way through the ice.
Natsu then placed his hands in front of his mouth, in the pose of a trumpeter, before releasing his roar in stream of thin but powerful flames.
Gray created a wall of ice to shield himself but the roar was too powerful and blew through his wall easily. Gray was able to dodge direct contact from the roar but the explosion that it caused when it hit the wall sent the ice make wizard careening towards Magnolia.
"Ice-Make: Ice Cannon." Gray yelled as he picked himself up.
Gray created a large, long-barrelled cannon made of ice which he used to fire cannonballs, also made of ice at Natsu.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu roared.
Natsu engulfed his entire body in flames and then propelled himself towards Gray swiftly using his head to tear through the ice cannon balls before head butting Gray, launching the ice make wizard further into Magnolia.
"This is getting crazy." Gray muttered. "Ice-Make: Hammer."
Gray created a massive hammer made of ice above Natsu and tried to crush him. Natsu punched the ice hammer, shattering it with his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. Gray was back tracking further into Magnolia as Natsu progressed towards him.
"Ice-Make: Lance."Gray shouted.
Gray placed his fist over his palm and created multiple lances made of ice that he directed towards Natsu to slow him down.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack."Natsu snapped.
Natsu ignited two streams of fire from his hands, and swung his hands using the streams of fire to blow away the lances.
"You were all talk back then. Now you're running scared!" Natsu roared as his body became engulfed in red flames with yellow sparks of lightning.
"Crap, he's angry now." Gray gulped. "Ice-Make: Ice Impact!"
Gray slammed his right fist down on to his left palm, creating a massive hammer made of ice, with ice spikes at the head.
Natsu inhaled deeply. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar!"
Natsu released a powerful blasted of fire with lightning spiralling around it. The roar destroyed the hammer losing a lot of force and blasted Gray, sending the ice make wizard flying across Magnolia like a rag doll.
Gray's paralysed body landed in a heap on the side of the road. Natsu continued forward determined to take out his rage on the ice wizard.
A bright, golden light then appeared in the sky as Natsu closed in on Gray. The light was blinding and caused Natsu to stumble backwards and deactivate his Lightning Flame Dragon Mode.
"Lion Brilliance? Loke?" Natsu laughed as he clutched his eyes.
As Natsu partially regained his vision he looked down and saw two Magic cards on the ground in front of him, "Heaven" and "Wind", on top of each other. The cards unleashed a massive wave of wind that knocked Natsu backwards.
"Oh Cana's here too." Natsu cackled as his vision came back.
Standing between Natsu and Gray was Erza in her Heaven's Wheel armour while Cana and Lucy stood by a barely conscious Gray.
Natsu turned around to see Gildarts and Laxus cutting off any chance of escape.
"You guys have me trapped, there's no way I can fight all you and survive." Natsu sighed raising his hands up.
"Why did you attack Gray?" Erza yelled.
"He started it, he attacked me first." Natsu responded.
On the ground Gray nodded.
"That still doesn't excuse you from trying to kill him." Gildarts shouted.
"You're not going to go anywhere until you tell us what happened to you." Laxus demanded.
"Gildarts, to answer your question, am I a threat to Fairy-Tail? Yes." Natsu grinned.
Natsu looked around at the insurmountable odds and chuckled to himself as he remembered how he came to this point.