**DISCLAIMER** Fairy Tail belongs to Mashima, not to me **DISCLAIMER**
Ok, so first of all, I haven't forgotten that Irene was a dragon. For those that missed it, part of the storyline involved Natsu finding a way to make her human again, so she's now a high enchantress/dragon slayer (maybe on the dragon slayer part. I honestly haven't 100% decided if the 'human seed' should take away dragon abilities or not).
Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I'm trying to whittle away at the number of stories I'm updating concurrently. For that reason I've been pushing to finish some of my shorter stories first.
Anyway, here's Chapter 7. Hope you enjoy it.
"I still can't believe the three 'strongest' mages in Fairy Tail couldn't bring one puny brat back with them."
Erza growled, staring up at the cocky lightning mage standing on the balcony of the second floor. He really pissed her off, always thinking he was better than everyone else just because he was one of the most powerful mages. He was also older than everyone else by at least 2 years.
"You couldn't have done anymore," she said with a scowl. "Or did you forget Gildarts was there?"
"Gildarts is a sniveling coward," the blonde mage stated arrogantly. "If I'd been there I would've smashed that red-headed cunt into the ground and dragged Natsu back here kicking and screaming if I had to."
"You would've what?"
Erza froze as a familiar voice sounded behind her. She turned her head a millimeter at a time, already feeling the magic power rolling off the newcomer that somehow entered the guild unnoticed. Her eyes confirmed her fears as they scanned the red-haired woman that now stood behind her, only a few feet inside the open doors. Her eyes were blazing as she stared up at the blonde-haired man on the second floor.
Erza leapt to her feet, ignoring the cold fingers of fear that threatened to freeze her body. At the same moment, Mirajane leapt into her peripheral vision, taking a battle-ready stance beside her. With some effort, Erza managed to summon a glare that communicated confidence.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice laced with venom. This person, no, this witch who stole their Natsu away from them, had no business coming to her guild. If she was here, nothing good could come of it.
"Stand down Erza, we're not here to fight." Erza felt her body freeze again in shock as she looked past the red-haired woman toward the familiar pink-haired head and onyx eyes behind her. The world stopped around her even as her heart began to race as though it would burst from her chest. This couldn't be real. She'd despaired of ever seeing him again, but there he was. Mere meters from her.
"Yes Erza, be a good girl and listen to your daddy."
That snapped her attention instantly back to the smirking redhead in front of her for an instant. In that last instant before her world faded away, she managed to articulate a single word that intelligently summed up the thousands of emotions and questions running through her mind at the moment…
"NAAAANNIIIII?!"
~~~~~~A few minutes later~~~~~~
"Erza! Come on and snap out of it already!"
Her eyes blinked open at Mirajane's voice, and she slowly looked up at the white-haired barmaid hovering over her. She groaned, pushing herself to a sitting position.
"Mira, you're not going to believe the dream I just had. Natsu came back to the guild, and that red witch said he…" She trailed off as her eyes found a trio at the bar. A pink haired man in his late teens sat next to the red-headed witch in question, and on his other side was a smaller girl with long, blue hair. They seemed to be in earnest conversation with the master.
Growling, Erza got to her feet and marched up to the trio. "You've got some explaining to do!" She said. "Just what did you mean by that comment earlier."
"Just what I said," the woman replied placidly, not even turning to face her. "You see, whether you know it or not, I just happen to be your mother, which now makes Natsu your father."
"You're not making sense," Erza scowled, forgetting the fearful magic of the redhead.
"Well, perhaps I should explain…"
~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~
"Lady Irene, I mean no disrespect, but why am I dressing up like this? Won't this tuxedo interfere with my training?"
"All will be made clear to you shortly. And we're going out to the village today instead of training."
"The village," Natsu blinked rapidly, trying to catch up to events. "But didn't we just stock up on food?"
"Fufufu. You know there's more in the village than just food, Natsu."
"Of-of course milady, but you've only ever brought me to carry baggage."
"All will be clear soon enough. Now, let's get going."
Natsu shrugged and followed her out the door. It was about a 10 minute walk to the village, and, as usual, everything was very quiet. Irene never had been much for small talk, and seemed even less so today.
But the day just kept getting weirder when Irene stopped, taking Natsu's arm and turning him toward the village temple. "Come," she said. "I have some business to attend to here."
Natsu followed her obediently inside, wondering what kind of business Lady Irene would have in such a place. Normally she seemed to despise priests, speaking of them as lowly beings who couldn't master magic without serving a god or goddess to acquire it. What was more puzzling was that when they came in, the village priest and two other people seemed to be waiting for them.
"Ah, Lady Irene. The preparations for the wedding are complete, as you requested."
"Wedding?" Natsu couldn't help asking, even if he were punished for the outburst later. Who was getting married? For that matter, who did Irene even care enough about to see get married. And why was she involved in the preparations?
"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" Crap. This was Irene's sweet voice came out only when he was in severe trouble or she was doing something mischievous. "We're getting married today, Natsu-kun."
Oh. That made sense. Of course she would come there for their wedding. It was only natural that she would also give instructions for the preparations. After all-
"WHAT?!" His thoughts derailed as the meaning her words finally caught up with his scrambling brain. He could feel his eyes widening, his mouth falling open before he could restrain it. For a moment, it seemed his whole body would go limp.
~~~~~~END FLASHBACK~~~~~~
"Yeah, his face was epic." Irene said with a smirk. Oh, but I never properly introduced myself. My name is Irene Dragneel. She emphasized the Dragneel heavily.
"So you forced Natsu to marry you just like you forced him into your service," Erza said, seething. "That doesn't mean anything."
"Actually, Natsu doesn't seem to mind at all. He's been working hard to make you little brothers and sisters, haven't you Natsu?"
The way the back of Natsu's neck turned red told Erza everything she needed to know, but she still couldn't believe it. This witch didn't have feelings for anyone.
Then again, it was more than probably that Natsu himself didn't fully understand what was going on. If he was anything like the Natsu who left the guild, he was denser than a boulder when it came to that kind of stuff. He'd clearly been taken advantage of here.
"Back to the matter at hand." Erza was surprised to see Mavis, who had appeared toward the end of their stay on Tenroujima, sitting on the bar in front of the three. "I ask you again why you want our help. Is it really just for Natsu?"
"I owe Natsu a debt, and I feel this is the only way I can truly repay it." The woman answered, a sneer on her lips. "I really hate being in debt, you know."
"You know that Zeref will come for you when you fail to meet his appointed time, right?"
"Well, we have until then to figure out how Natsu can live through this," Irene said, shrugging her shoulders in an uncaring manner. "Zeref's bodyguards are mostly weak anyway. There's only one we need to worry about, and if it comes to it I'll handle him personally."
"Wait," Erza scowled. They were just moving on as though there were nothing wrong? "Are we just going to ignore the fact that this woman took advantage of Natsu and forced him into marriage? Are we just going to pretend she didn't make these two slaves for the past few years? We should be trying to take Natsu back from her, not helping her!"
Barely had the words escaped her lips when a terrible aura filled the guild hall. Like a poisoned, icy mist, it rendered her heart frozen and her body momentarily incapable of movement. Any further words she planned lodged in her throat, unable to proceed any further. She realized that her eyes were pointed at the floor, though she had no memory of looking down from the scarlet witch's face. She raised them a millimeter at a time, struggling against the force that somehow invisibly guided them downward. When they reached their destination, they were met by a gaze of cold fury that foreshadowed a thousand painful deaths.
"That," the words came out in a deathly hiss, seeping with venom at each syllable, "would be the last mistake you would ever make." In an instant Erza thought she saw Irene's arm move, but suddenly Natsu's hand was on her shoulder, and she turned the terrifying gaze on him.
"Natsu," her words were still cold, the aura still overpowering. Yet the tone changed almost imperceptibly as she addressed the dragon slayer. "This girl won't give up unless I teach her a lesson."
"Lady Irene," Natsu's response came quiet and calm. "Do you truly think that any person or force in Earthland could make me abandon my promise? She is a fool, and nothing more."
Erza's head whipped up despite the oppressive aura, her eyes focusing on Natsu. Her lips trembled as she desperately tried to hold back the dam that threatened to burst from her eyes, not wanting the guild to see such weakness. But more than that, not wanting Natsu and Irene to see it. At that moment Erza felt something she never experienced before. Something she couldn't even summon up for Jellal, or Zeref, or the tormentors who took them to the tower of heaven. She'd never known it before, this absolute despising of another human being… This almost terrifying sense that she would like nothing more than to see the witch grovel at her feet before she cut her into a thousand pieces… Yet, despite it being her first time, she knew what it was. She hated Irene. From the bottom of her heart, she despised and hated the red-haired witch that claimed to be her mother. By channeling her emotions into that hatred, she was able to fight back the hurt from Natsu's words moments ago.
"You are not my mother," she hissed, her eyes snapping back toward the witch at the bar. "And I will never allow you to have Natsu."
With those words, not waiting for a reply, Erza turned and headed out of the guild. She kept her figure tall, her stride regal. She couldn't for a moment let her guildmates see that she was on the verge of tears. That she felt utterly helpless and humiliated. That witch stole her guild mate. She changed him into somebody he was never meant to be, and there was nothing she could do about it.
She was no more than 100 meters from the guild when a gust of wind overtook her, and the blue-haired girl was suddenly standing in front of her. She glared down into her eyes, but the large brown orbs that met hers didn't reflect the anger Erza felt. Instead they were warm and, unless she was imagining it, a bit sorrowful.
"He did that to protect you, you know… All of you."
She knew immediately what the girl meant, but it did nothing to assuage her anger. What did it matter why he did it? The Natsu that left her wouldn't have dared call her a fool! Not only that, he would've been the first to try to get a former guild member back. And this blue-haired little girl… Who did she think she was anyway? Maybe she'd lived with Natsu the past few years, but Erza was in his life before her.
"Listen, what's your name?..."
"Wendy," the girl answered calmly.
"Wendy, I know you think you know Natsu, but that's not Natsu. The Natsu that left us was fun, cheerful, and had an indomitable spirit. That witch changed Natsu, and I can't forgive her for that."
The girl's voice was a little harder when she replied. "You're wrong. I met Natsu when he left your guild, and it's true that his outer character changed. He went through things you could only imagine. Of course that will change him. But his heart never changed."
Wendy paused for a minute, but before Erza could voice her protest the young girl continued. "I used to hate Lady Irene. I hated her because of what she did for Natsu. Because of the way that she treated Natsu… But Natsu never hated her. Instead, he slowly wormed his way into her trust, and now he's been slowly changing her. She doesn't realize it herself yet, but Lady Irene is a much different person than when we first met her. She actually cares deeply for Natsu, and her actions in the guild are only proof of that."
"I don't care about that," Erza snapped, the tears threatening to break again. "She stole Natsu. He ran away only a few years ago, but now he's forever beyond my reach!"
She instantly covered her mouth as the girl's eyes lit up with understanding. Her small head bowed as she looked at the ground. "I see. I can't say that I blame you for feeling that way, but I do hope you'll still work with us to save Natsu. As one of the strongest Fairy Tail has to offer, your assistance would be invaluable. Also, I'm sure you'll be able to move on someday."
"What would you know about it? You're just a child," Erza scowled.
"A child?" Erza thought she detected a hint of bitterness in Wendy's voice as she spoke, but if so it was soon gone. "No. Physically, perhaps, but after these last 4 years my mind is no longer that of a child. If anything, you're the child here."
Erza bit back her protest as she looked into her eyes - eyes that didn't belong on a girl that young. Wendy was right, but she wasn't ready to face that reality just yet. Instead, she just scoffed, brushed past the girl, and hurried back to Fairy Hills. Once in the privacy of her room she let her emotions out, her tears flooding her bedding in a torrential downpour.
~~~~~~Fairy Tail Guild Hall~~~~~~
Natsu frowned as Wendy left the guild hall. He knew exactly what she was going to do, and he didn't really like it. After all, he had his reasons for acting like the bad guy here. It wasn't just about stilling Lady Irene's wrath. If his guildmates truly believed he'd changed this much, they would gladly let him go. It would be a lot smoother that way, and the only sacrifice would be their opinion of him.
Still, he couldn't do anything about it at the moment, because the whole guild hall felt, and smelled, like a ticking bomb. He could sense Irene's rage, and he knew with the atmosphere this tense the slightest thing could make her snap and start a war with Fairy Tail. This would, of course, completely defeat the purpose of coming here.
"Lady Irene, if I may," he spoke quietly, his hand still on her shoulder.
Her gaze turned on him, a cold look that was reminiscent of the years she spent 'training' him. Yet, just as quickly, she looked away again. Her posture wasn't any calmer, but she at least seemed to recognize the wisdom of allowing him to take over. She nodded, almost imperceptibly.
Natsu felt a hiss of air escape as he let go of the breath he'd been holding. "I apologize for that, but you can't fully blame Lady Irene for being angry. We came to you for help, and instead one of the members threatened to take something valuable from her. I hope we can put that behind us at least long enough to discuss this."
Mavis looked at him, her green eyes reflecting a keen intellect. He knew immediately that it would be unwise to attempt to deceive her, not that he planned on it anyway. He also knew she was the one they must convince if they hoped to have Fairy Tail assist them.
"How do you think we can help you fight Zeref?" Makarov asked, his voice calm and even. Natsu could sense that the old man hadn't let his guard down, however.
"We're not actually asking that you help us fight Zeref," he responded. "We want to figure out a way that I can defeat him without ending up dead."
"And why would you die if you defeated Zeref?" Makarov asked, his brow furrowed.
Glancing again at Mavis, Natsu explained his past. His memories having returned when he unsealed the power of E.N.D., he was able to tell them about Zeref in the past, about the dragon slayers training with their respective dragons. Eyes widened as he spoke of the Eclipse Gate, and the journey that took him 400 years into the future.
"So you're a demon, eh?" Gray scowled. "I always knew I didn't like you. Rather than helping, we should kill you right now."
"Gray," Mavis held up her hand. "To take any such action right now would be incredibly rash. None of them have made any move to harm us or justify aggression."
"She was ready to kill Erza," Gray objected. "And Natsu just said he was E.N.D. You do know that's the monster responsible for my parents' deaths, right?"
"Were you listening at all Gray?" Mavis asked. "Natsu wasn't around when your parents died. He came out of the Eclipse Gate in x777, and joined Fairy Tail almost immediately afterward. Your parents were already dead at that point."
She then turned toward Irene. "While her reaction was a bit extreme, it is also true that Erza threatened her." She then turned her focus back to Gray. "Besides that, even with everyone here, if it came to a battle against these three we would almost certainly lose."
"Yeah right," Gray said with a frown. "Laxus alone could wipe the floor with all of them."
Natsu laughed internally at the statement. Before he left he might've started a brawl right then and there, but now the idea of even fighting the ice wizard seemed boring. He could sense his magic power, and it wasn't even on par with Wendy's, let alone his or Irene's. Even Laxus, who he'd once considered insanely strong, didn't begin to approach Irene's power, and with E.N.D.'s power unlocked he'd surpassed Irene in terms of raw magic power, at least. Wendy was, at the very least, close to Laxus, if not equal to him. In fact, with her poison dragon slayer abilities from the lacrima, she could probably beat the lightning mage handily, despite the fact that he could now sense dragon slayer magic in him.
That sparked an idea. "Why don't we put this to rest so we can get on with our discussions." He saw Wendy coming back in as he spoke. "Wendy is the weakest of us, so she will duel Laxus. If she loses, we'll leave without causing trouble and seek help elsewhere. If she wins, Fairy Tail must agree to help us."
Irene turned to him, a glare in her eyes. Yet she didn't say anything, which Natsu was thankful for. He knew the first master would never agree to allow him to battle Laxus. She could sense magic power, so she would know Wendy's and Laxus' levels were about equal. Sure, it was a risk, but it was one they would have to take if they weren't going to spend hours fighting people like Gray.
Makarov also looked to Mavis, his eyes asking the question of the first master. After a few minutes of thought, the girl nodded her head.
"I believe that is fair," she said. "But the duel must take place outside, of course."
"That goes without saying," Natsu said wryly. Of course they wouldn't hold a battle inside. There would be nothing left of the guild if they did that.
"You might want to think again," Laxus sneered from the second floor. "At least put someone who might have a chance against me."
"Wendy will be your opponent, as agreed," Natsu said. "If it seems reasonable to all parties, the match will begin immediately."
"I don't see why not," Makarov said after again glancing to Mavis for her approval.
As the group headed out of the guild, the betting board was set up as jewels were brought forward. This was still Fairy Tail, after all. Unsurprisingly, almost nobody bet on Wendy. They were all confident in their number 1 lightning mage.
Once they were there, it was agreed that Irene and Mavis would act as judges in the duel. The two took positions opposite each other, Laxus with an enormous smirk on his face while Wendy merely looked serious and composed. Mavis stepped forward into the ring to speak the official words. "Match start."
And that's a wrap. Next chapter: Wendy vs. Laxus. Who will win, and who from Fairy Tail actually bet on Wendy anyway?
Oh, and don't be afraid to drop a review. Reviews are like candy to writers... OM NOM NOM