A/N: So if you are new here to HV then, welcome. Because this chapter was redone and polished so you get the gist if what happened to Natsu to make him how he is lol A very long story telling if i say so myself, you might want to put some sad music on and grabbed your popcorn and sit down for this, Chapter 8 redone
Enjoy~
Chapter. 8 - His story
Gray felt his stomach drop as he stared at Natsu; the Dragon-slayer was talking to Erza like he wasn't Lord Phoenix and he hadn't lied to all his family members about that little life changing fact. After Natsu had walked off the stage he was saved from explaining when his bodyguards slammed themselves right in front of him. The look they all saw on the Dragon-slayer's face made everybody pity him and others holding their breaths in an attempt to keep tears at bay. Because the expression on his face should have never been on someone so happy to begin with as he followed his guards out. The expression screamed deep pain and a lot of suffering which made his face sharpen, looking older, and his more childish features lost.
Lucy turned to watch Natsu talk to Erza, she stood alongside the other members of their Guild. The Celestial mage shifted, her eyes training on Gray who stood off to the side of her with worry. Since Natsu revealed himself, the ice mage had denied that this man before them all was once their idiotic Dragon-slayer that they had all grown up with. Turning away, Lucy wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt at comforting herself, because never in her life had she felt so numb inside.
The boy that laughed without a problem and smiled the biggest smile she had ever seen had shattered before her eyes, and this firm mouthed quiet man that stood before them all had Natsu's face but really in her heart he was not him. Tears immediately escaped her as she covered her face with her hands, the one person she loved the most was a shadow of their former selves and it hurt to watch.
Natsu listened to Erza go on about how she loved his new hair style, and every now and again the Dragon-slayer would slip into deep thought. They all look so torn, how can I make this right? Especially Lucy. Natsu thought as his eyes glanced over to the blonde of his affections, she had wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Her hair obscured her beautiful face from his view but his imagination knew what her expression looked like and something inside of him broke, likely his already damaged heart.
"My lord, may I speak to you in private?" Natsu turned around to come face to face with Addilyan, who seemed a little bit irritated which wasn't something you wanted coming from her. The Dragon-slayer looked back at Erza who had quieted down; she nodded giving her permission to leave.
"Sure." He said after awhile, Addilyan bowed stiffly taking her leave. Looking back over to Erza he saw that she had a raised brow, her hands on her left hip in patience.
"Did you do something wrong?" She spoke looking over his shoulder to the retreating from his respected lady, Natsu folded his arms over his chest with narrowed eyes.
"Not that I can recall... Unless..." Natsu didn't finish his amusing when he bolted to the door that his Lady had walked through with nervousness clear on his face, catching everyone by surprise. His form disappeared into the extra room on the stage, the door slamming shut behind him leaving people to worry.
It had been a few minutes when Natsu had came back with Addilyan talking extensively to him, the words were firm and harsh which everybody looked over to find Natsu begin scolded. The Fire mage had a dark look on his face causing Addilyan to pause momentarily in her rant under the intensity of it before Natsu sighed. Softened his features he put his hand on his hip, everybody brighten in wonder when the younger Natsu show through in that moment. Showing everybody in the room that he wasn't completely gone.
"Well, go ahead and tell them. It will give you some relief." Addilyan snapped, her anger wasn't quite satisfied causing the Dragonslayer in question to slump his shoulders. Gray and Lucy looked over to the pair with unreadable expressions, while the others were pretty much not looking at them at all.
"I'm sorry for how I have kept this secret from you, though it was painful for most I had every reason to." Natsu said as he stared at all his guild mates, some had forgiveness in their eyes and others had yet to even look at the Dragon-slayer. A sign that they felt betrayed by Natsu and that stung deeply for the fire mage as his eyes clouded over.
"I don't expect forgiveness right away, or never. Because of my reasoning, I choose to hide a great secret from all of you. A choice that I actually don't necessarily regret. Because the reason is painful.I hid because it the cause has not only given me extreme trauma, both mentally and physically. But Addilyan thinks it would be the best to tell it to all of you, to better understand what has happened behind closed doors." Erza shifted uncomfortably as she watched her long time Surrogate brother fidget in front of everyone, her eyes sot Lucy to see what her reaction was.
The blonde haired mage had her hands over her mouth as she listened; Gray had his hand on her shoulder in comfort. Some of the others that had been turned away had slowly glanced over; hearing the slight shake to Natsu's voice put great heartache to them and many feared the worst.
"I was frightened when things began to change, how I began to change." Natsu whispered, taking everyone off guard at how a single sentence was filled with cold bitterness. Natsu took a calming breath as he looked off to the side where Addilyan stood; he smiled softly before turning to those that were listening.
"It all happened when I was on a solo mission with Happy, four years ago."
~Flashback~
Natsu walked along side his best friend and partner, Happy, a smile of victory still spread across his childish features. Natsu never felt so alive before, this was his third time going on a solo job request, pulling out a bottle of water he began to drink a mouthful before putting it back into his backpack. The request he was personally given was in need of a strong fire wizard to complete the job, which immediately caught the fire mage's attention and excitement. The request itself was nothing too hard for the Dragon-slayer, a monster that had been destroying and causing avalanches on the outskirts of a town not too far from the capital of Crocus. The town demanded the animal to be terminated immediately and when done Natsu would be granted a hefty price to the great joys of the fire mage.
"That monster was a joke; it didn't even put up a fight, right Happy." The exceed smiling as he flew around the Dragon-slayer, before throwing up his tiny fist and shouting.
"Aye Sir!" Natsu laughed but suddenly something made his mood dampened slightly as he fidgeted with his vest, the laughter he had perviously dead in the back of his sudden dried throat.
"I'm still saddened that I had to kill it though." Natsu said as he kicked a rock that was in his path, his earlier enthusiasm lost in his depression as his steps became heavy as he walked slower. Happy noticed making the Exceed drop his smile also, he knew whenever his friend had to kill something, he got really down in spirit. Suddenly in a rush to cheer up his partner the little Exceed flew in Natsu's line of sigh with a smile causing the Dragonslayer to look up with confusion.
"Ohhhh Natsu can we go further up country and catch come fish! The job request didn't take nearly so long so why not use this time for our own time, and maybe we could climb one of the mountains in the area!" Natsu stopped in his trek, lifting his head as his face twisted into a thoughtful expression as he considered his friends words, and as Happy planned it got the mage into a better mood.
"Alright, Gramps wouldn't mind, let's go!" Natsu laughed as they turned back around and backtracked to where they killed the monster, but traveled even further into the woods to find a lovely clearing with a pond. Happy was about to pull out his fishing rope when Natsu froze mid reach when his nose caught the smell of smoke... and blood. Whipping his head to the left his eyes widen when he found the sky blackened with dark smoke clouds, Happy also noticed causing both to look at one another, Natsu nodded at the fear in his partners eyes as he darted towards the direction that he smelled blood. Happy followed at the same pace, the cat chanced a glance at Natsu to find the Dragon-slayer sniffing wildly, something was wrong.
Upon arriving, neither could prepare themselves for the genocide that had been displayed for all to see, the buildings that crumbled to the ground had once been a beautiful thriving town of families and civilian alike. Natsu's eyes widen as his pupils shrank to pin-needles as his gaze fell on a single body of a little girl, she was still holding her teddy bear even in death. Happy felt sick as he stared at the rest of the dead bodies littering the streets, the feeling of dark magic still lingering in the air sent tears streaming down his furred cheeks as they reflected the blood red flames that covered most of the town. Happy turned in sudden worry for his partner, Natsu hadn't seen the horrors of what dark mages could do, especially to this magnitude. Natsu's eyes were still stuck on the crumbled body of the little girl, the Dragon-slayer felt all the air inside of his lungs vanish as he felt himself collapse to the ash ground below.
Happy screamed in alarm when Natsu suddenly began to hyperventilate, the Dragon-slayer's gaze still fixed on the body as shivers racked his body as he heaved unevenly trying to get the needed air in his lungs but failing. Why? He thought to himself as he stared, why did it happen? Who could have done this? Why did they? Bile rised in the back of his throat as the overwhelming stench of rotting flesh and the iron tang of blood filled his sensitive nose, death? This was death, he was smelling...
"NATSU!" Happy shrieked making Natsu jolt violently from his trance of horrors, olive eyes filled with tears the Dragon-slayer shakily turned to face Happy, the exceed flinching back from such a terrified expression that marred the usually bright face as they made eye contact. It took a while but Natsu managed to figure out a plan as he composed himself, looking around the ruined town before turning to Happy.
"Take to the sky and search for any survivors, I will go on foot." Natsu said steadily as he looked down at the soot the settled almost eerily to the ground beside his foot. Happy bit his lip, conflict noticeable in his large black orbs as he searched Natsu's sudden pale complex, but he was yanked out of his worries when Natsu forced himself out of his darkening thoughts to look firmly into the cat's eyes." What did I just say, Happy, go! I'll be alright."
"R-Right." Natsu watched his friend fly off into the town leaving the mage to collect himself, the strong front he pulled just a minute ago was weak and now he let it all out without the presence of his 'son' to worry about his state. Wrapping his arms around himself in sense of self comfort, a wrenching sob broke free from his dry throat as he shook his head.
"W-why... I don't understand? PLEASE, SOMEONE, TELL ME!" Natsu screamed as his knees buckled, this death that lie before his very eyes didn't make sense to the poor mage as he found himself staring at the ground for the longest time before he steeled himself.
"Look for s-survivors..." He mumbled to himself as he numbly lifted himself from the cold dirt ground, unfocused eyes blinked before he pushed off and ran through the town. An hour ticked by as panic started to set in the pit of Natsu's stomach as his eyes flickered left and right for any signs that something or someone was still hanging on. Turning over a large amount of ply-wood that broke off one of the houses, he cringed away when all he found was death in its wake causing his earlier sickness to rise.
He had to leave; it was starting to become unbearable. Gripping his hair in a painful grasp he stumbled backwards letting the wood fall back into place, the stinging of tears causing him to choke his next breath as he tried to reel it all back in. Breathing in steadily again after his moment of anxiety, Natsu darted away, leaving the town and up the hill they first appeared. Shaking slightly, the Dragon-slayer found a boulder to sit on and tried to calm down.
"It's going to be okay... I'm okay." He told himself as he closed his eyes, tears cascading down his face as he curled inwards on himself. I'm never going to be okay...
~Flashback interrupted~
Natsu had to stop as raw emotions choking him up, the others felt sick to their stomach. They truly didn't know what Natsu had to go through. How they didn't see the trauma when he had came back, Gray closed his eyes in shame as he looked away from his friend. Others from other Guilds were horrified at the story that had begun to unfold before them; Natsu had shut his eyes tightly at the end as his hands gripped the hems of his blazer. Addilyan grabbed his arm and gave a light squeeze, she hated making him speak of such a haunting experience but maybe after this some of the other members could give him the forgiveness he sorely deserved, so he could start healing without the burden of being scold. Sighing Natsu cleared his throat and pressed on, Lucy shuddered.
~Flashback continue~
Natsu sighed tiredly as he cranked his neck up for the third time to scout out Happy, the blue flying cat had yet to return and it filled him with a rush of hope and dread at the same time. The sky had begun to clear of the dark smoke and now was dotted with patches of blue, even though that gave some relief the scene below the smoke hadn't change and for the first time Natsu wanted to be back home.
Innocent and dense to the real world that he had helplessly stumbled upon.
"Natsu~" The Dragon-slayer cringed and bit the inside of his cheek, effectively silencing his depressing thoughts as he looked skywards again. Silence was the only thing he heard as he stared, his chest thumping hard as his heart accelerated. Happy flew just a few meters away and in his paws, dangling lifelessly was a body of a young girl and all he had to do to confirm she was alive was the sound of uneven breathing that she took. Taking off his backpack, the Dragon-slayer ripped off his spare wool blanket and set it down on the grassy patches on the ground for some comfort. Scanning his make-shift bed, he shook his head in distaste as he reaching up and tore his vest off and started to fold it up making a head rest before looking up at Happy.
"Set her down!"The exceed complied to the demand as he flew lower to the ground and with the help of Natsu they both got the girl in a semi comfortable state, Natsu shook in fright when he finally got a good look at her. She was mangled, that was all he could see, skin on the left side of her face was hanging by the tissue as blood dotted her young features. The clothing she wore hung to her thin frame, showing more devastating wounds that ravaged her pale skin underneath. One ankle, Natsu noticed was twisted to an alarming angle as he analyzed her body better. She looked to be at least fifteen, maybe even sixteen years of age and then something occurred to Natsu.
Her family... they...
Shaking himself he sat back on his hind legs and gave a shuttering sighed. Natsu knew this attack had been days ago, and for some reason he felt pride swell inside his chest for this child. Tarring a piece of fabric from his pant leg with his teeth, Natsu carefully set to work with the use of his water, began to wash away and clean the worst of the wounds.
"You're going to be alright, little one."He said softly as he worked, turning he pulled his backpack closer to his begin before digging in it for his spare bandages. Happy watched with sad eyes, he felt at fault, they should have never gone back. Finding the extra first aid bandages the fire mage turned back around, eyes wide, Natsu dropped the bandages.
~Flashback interrupted~
Ezra's eyes shifted to Addilyan who had started to cry, the others also noticed. Natsu had stopped telling them his story to comfort her, and that's when they connected the dots. Addilyan was this girl; Lucy now had tears streaming down her cheeks as Natsu spoke to Addilyan in a calming voice, effectively soothing her sadness. The others felt their hearts reach out to both of them, wanting to shield what they had been through far away from them. Natsu smiled slightly before turning back to continue and everyone saw the strain it was taking on the Dragon-slayer just to speak about it.
~Flashback continue~
Staring back at the Dragonslayer were the most gorgeous eyes he had ever seen, they were filled great pain but despite that large fact, the girl smile. Shaken from the sudden happiness that shone in her eyes, instantly replacing her hurt, Natsu felt the side's of his mouth twitch upwards in a smile of his own.
"Hi."He said gently, not sure if she was able to talk or not. The girl responded with another heart warming smile making Natsu's heart tug as he stared at her face. Suddenly she surprised the Dragon-slayer by lifting her arm to brush away something moist, jolting away slightly Natsu wiped at his own cheek to find out that he had been crying.
"Thank you."The voice was hoarse and dry but she spoke, making Happy and Natsu both relieved as the Fire mage leaned slightly downwards before smiling. Her eyes traced his face before landing on his own, her eyes told him everything, she wanted to know who he was.
"No problem kiddo, my names Natsu Dragneel." That startled something inside the poor girl as excitement replaced her earlier curiosity, Natsu blinked in astonishment when she reached out to grasp his right shoulder, since he was close enough to her. Happy watched the interaction with shock, but slight amusement as the girl got Natsu to turn right for her, showing off his bright red Fairytail insignia. Her eyes going impossibly wide once it was in her sights, reaching out, she touched it.
"Wow, I can't believe it."She whispered in awe as she traced his Fairytail mark with thin fingers, Natsu waited for her to come back from fantasy land so he could know her name as well. It took a while but she pulled her hand away with a smile, before looking back at Natsu who had been patient.
"My name is Addilyan; it's a great pleasure to meet you." Natsu nodded before looking down at her ankle and the other wounds covering her smaller frame, he grimaced before looking back up at her.
"Okay Addilyan, how about we get you to the nearest hospital and we can get to know each other better from there." Happy knowing that they needed to move began to activate his magic, ashen wings burst from his back and without a thought he flew beside Natsu who had carefully picked up Addilyan. The girl weakly smiled up at the blue cat, Happy waved at her as Natsu began to speak to her again. Happy heard a little bit of the conversation which consisted of the Dragon-slayer telling her to rest causing her to pout but none the less complied leaving them both in silence.
~Flashback Interrupted~
"I came back to the guild for a short while before leaving again, if you all recall, that's because I had to rush back and make sure she was alright." Natsu said as he stopped his story to take a breather, Lucy smiled a very thin smile as she replayed the story around in her head, it was horrible to be true, but then again Natsu lived it so...
"After Addilyan had been released from the hospital she had lived a normal life that is until we crossed paths again a year later." Natsu spoke; catching everyone's attention again as they dived back into the terrifying story that Natsu and Addilyan had gone through.
~Flashback continued~
Natsu sat at one of the tables in the guild hall, his every nerve twitching as he watched everyone chat to one another. Breathing a calming breath he tried forcing himself to act normal, a smile spread across his face when he felt Lucy enter the guild hall, as she made her way towards his table. Sitting down, the blonde waved at him without a hit of hesitation making Natsu sigh mentally that he was doing a good job.
"Good morning, Natsu!" She said as she folded her arms on the table, Mirajane coming over to write down the Celestial mage's order before leaving them to themselves. Natsu laughed as he leaned back on the bench, his act of normalcy took a step further.
"Morning, Luce. So what do you say we go on a job together, just the two of us?"He said causing the blonde across from him to turn unbearably red in the face as she stuttered to come up with a answer, his smile soon dropped thou when he saw Gray coming over with an angry scowl on his features. Lucy noticed his dampened mood and swung her head to look over one of her slim shoulder to find Gray standing behind her, she squeaked.
"Oi, Flame- brain, you've got another request. Master wants to see you in his office, pronto!"Anxiety threatened to consume his being as his eyes trained up the stairs, why? A flash of dead bodies filtered across his vision causing the already traumatized mage to jolt as he slammed his eyes shut in attempt to defuse them, catching Gray and Lucy's attention.
"Natsu? Is everything okay?"Lucy's soft voice made the visions of the dead bodies melt as he opened his eyes to find Lucy closes up and he could see the underline of worry he was causing her. He tried to make it look like he was just tired as he sighed.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You know me; don't really want to go on a train." He joked making her crack a little smile as he grinned, as he moved out of her reach he was confronted with an eerily quiet ice mage as Gray frowned his brows at him. Natsu scoffed as he moved away to get to the stairs that lead him to the top floor, to Gramps office. His heart flooding with fear and anger as he came upon the door, knocking with a firm tap he shuddered.
"Come in."
Kicking a rock, Natsu sighed as he lifted up the filler he was given just before departure. It was a request from Crocus to come and defeat a bunch of dark magic's that had been killing for money, Happy hadn't come on this one so Natsu didn't have his wings when he actually did battle. Happy wasn't there to comfort him when he had flashes of that town, it had only been a single year since then, and he was not recovered enough but people needed his help.
He would suck it up...
Walking further up a hill he settled upon the ruins of an old church, presumably the dark mages hide out. The filer gave out some information worth knowing as he scouted out the area before deciding to just get it over with, the leader of this group was known for taking stronger able mages and turning them dark with a special type of magic. The other three were no light weights either; each one of them had a strong capacity of skill in both magic and fighting making Natsu tense and ready for any funny business they may pull. Taking a deep breath Natsu entered the rickety building with his guard high, the smell of dark magical use heavy in the air as he pressed deeper until a voice cut through the dark like a knife.
"Look at what we have here?"
Natsu stilled but didn't waver as he turned sharply to gaze into the face of the owner, the man wasn't anything special to look at. His eyes were shallow with dark circles from lack of sleep, Natsu cringed when he saw the state of this man's teeth, the front role of teeth were horribly cricked and yellow while the bottom set wasn't even there. Dull and flat brown looking hair sat at the top of his head. He wore a black shirt and simple pants, Natsu didn't say anything when the man smirked.
"So they finally decided to do something about our crimes, sending a mage, what's that suppose to do. We've killed thousands of those already, and they could hardly put up much of a fight." Natsu shifted his footing as he eyed the man warily, the Dragon-slayer didn't feel anything off about the guy but he couldn't be fooled.
That would be his greatest mistake, he was jolted when three people came out from the shadows and for a split second Natsu panicked. He didn't even smell them; better yet he couldn't even hear the slightest sound of their footsteps when they had approached. These people were bathed in robes, completely concealing their faces and body from the fire mage's view as Natsu's eyes swept them carefully. The first man stepped forwards a little causing Natsu to stand straighter, giving the man sometime to speak if he so wished.
"My, you are a fine specimen. Haven't seen you around lately, does that mean you're from an official guild?"Natsu flinched when the man began to descend on him, the man's shallow eyes digging into his own making the Fire mage jump back further. The man stopped in his tracks before laughing, his old body shaking with the effort before Natsu could say anything the man stood and spoke.
"My apologizes, I haven't even introduced us, my name is Abaddon it's nice to met you." Natsu watched Abaddon bow low before a smirk spread across the Dragon-slayer's face as he got into a fighting stance. Abaddon backed up when Natsu's whole body lit on fire, the men behind Abaddon gasped as Natsu stood tall and spoke.
"That was all I was waiting for, nice to meet you, Abaddon. The name is Natsu Dragneel, at the kingdoms serves!"Abaddon froze as Natsu cried out a battle roar shaking the church in its ferocity before dashing to intercept the enemies. Abaddon cried out in pain as Natsu punched him squarely in the face, the power thrusted into that single punch astonishing as his body flew across the room, crashing into a brick wall at the end of the church, The others gritted their teeth before lashing out into a fight with the Fire mage, but no matter what they tried Natsu dodged their every attack. Natsu didn't know if this was a joke as he grabbed one of the three that was indulging him in battle and easily kicked him across the floor. Was the information on filer wrong and he was fighting the wrong people, while the actual culprits were still out there killing innocent people?
Natsu was jerked out of his thoughts when an explosion of overwhelming power settled in the air as Abandon's body twitched with high pitched laugher as it rebounded against the walls of the church making Natsu's ears ring. The three other mages before the Dragon-slayer screamed and ran pass Natsu in an attempt at getting away, but he needed all four to complete this job so he sent a large Fire dragon's roar at them, causing them to crumble in their tracks. Sighing, Natsu turned back to face Abaddon, who was now facing the Slayer from across the church.
"Ah, it's come clear to me now; you aren't what you seem at first glance, Natsu Dragneel. When I asked you if you were from an official guild, you didn't answer me. How foolish, the name should have given me a clear clue upon first hearing it; you're the notorious Fire dragon slayer. The Salamander, of Fiore's prized Guild, Fairytail! Yes, everyone in Crocus talks a great deal about you, the one that saved them all from the dragon's that had appeared during the Grand Magical games. I'm surprise they didn't put up a statue in your honor, a shame really. Because you will be needing one very shortly, once they figure out they have sent you to your own grave."
Natsu took a step back when the power in the air doubled, his eyes shrinking in fright as he was suddenly struck from an unknown force. Screaming the Dragon-slayer fell to his knees as blinding pain ridded over all his senses, blood thick on his tongue. Reaching up shakily, Natsu pressed his hand to the wound on his neck as blood coated his fingers. Squeezing his eyes shut he waited for the pain to subside, a minute passed when it finally did and he was forced to take a look at the damage. His hand searched along his neck and felt the cut go from the base of his throat to all the way just passes his ear, that was defiantly going to scar.
~Flashback Interrupted~
Natsu paused when Erza literally screamed.
"So that's where you got it from!" The others that were listening to the story groaned as Erza came forwards and yanked Natsu's scarf down to display his second neck scar that joined up with his other. Lucy squeaked while Gray and most of the males whistled low as they looked at the scar, it was darker in color then his other neck scar, the skin around the poorly healed wound was tight and still very red. Natsu grumbled as he forced his scarf to cover his neck again, before turning to a sheepish Erza.
"Yes, that's were I got that from. Now can we please get on with the rest of the story, no more interruptions."
~Flashback Continued~
Natsu hit the wall a third time since the fight started, in an attempted to stop the bleeding from his neck wound, Natsu had to cauterized it. Abaddon found great pleasure in seeing him do it, it was disgusting as Natsu screamed in gut wrenching agony as he forced himself to continue, after a minute when he felt no more blood seep through his fingers he pulled away. The smell of his own burnt flesh adding to his already pain filled mind as he stood to continue the fight, Abaddon already stood waiting as Natsu launched to attack with all his power. Abaddon scoffed as he lifted his hand and a magic circle absorbed his flames, Natsu fell on his knees as fear and panic took over.
"Come on, we've been at this little game for hours. How about we change things up a little bit, you stop fighting me and come be my little servant. How does that sound?" Staring at the ground with unfocused eyes, Natsu panted as magical exhaustion set in and tears of frustration burning his eyes.
"I k-know your magic, I would never turn my back o-on Fairytail or be a servant to the likes of people like you. If I go down today, then be it in death!" Natsu screamed as he pushed himself upwards to face his opponent with a leveling glare, his determination burning fiercely in his eyes as he threw his right hand over his heart. Abaddon was taken back at such loyalty as Natsu stared him down, daring him to end his life, a smirk crept on Abaddon features as he chuckled.
"You don't have a choice, Dragneel. Your magic is too precious to kill off; I will use you as a pawn in my sick twisted game and maybe kill off a fairy or two! Activate, Shattering ozone consume him and bring the evil that resides in his soul!" Natsu didn't have enough time to reacted as a dark magic circle appearing underneath him, trapping him to his spot as dark magic began to seep painfully into every pore in his body, throwing his head back Natsu gave out a blood curdling scream as pain like no other took over his body. The feeling of lava rushed through every part of his body made the sensation worse as he became deaf to his own screaming.
It hurts, god. Please... I don't want to... help me! Natsu jerked when the feeling of something sinister starting to build a wall between his good self as happy fun filled memories of Lucy and the guild began to melt leaving behind the images of death and screaming children. Natsu's eyes dulled into a sickening grey when he saw himself, Natsu Dragneel smiling that wild carefree smile that everyone loved a crack threatening it to shatter.
A cry of sheer force outside of the barrier holding the Dragon-slayer broke Natsu's thoughts. Some life flooded back into Olive eyes as his blurry vision tried to piece together where he heard that voice before? Suddenly the sound of glass shattering made the Slayer fall limply to the cement ground below, the feeling of the pain was gone but for some reason he...
"I feel so cold, like I want death to be made by my hands... n-no... That's not who I am? Or is it?"Natsu heard the faint noise of fighting and the clashing of metal, but his mind was solely on his thoughts. Slowly but carefully Natsu shifted his hands to be placed underneath him and with a struggle he pulled his upper body upwards, looking around he saw a girl in light armor fighting off Abaddon with a sword?
He's your master, go protect him! Natsu cringed at the soft whisper that invaded his mind, it was like needles pricking his brain as he tried to breathe evenly. Something was not right, pulling himself into a sitting position he found himself watching as the girl stabbed Abaddon through the stomach, causing the old man to fall to the ground in a heap.
You failed him, you failed your Master you ungrateful pest! Natsu yelped as he held his head in pain when the voice came back, this time it was like his head was about to split in two from the force. After a moment it ceased its assault as all became silent again, that was until the girl that was fighting came running. Her sword disappearing in thin air causing an image to flash before the Dragon-slayer's eyes, Natsu frown his brows as it attacked him with bits and pieces.
Scarlet hair, silver armor and a fake eye that never cried a single tear?
"NATSU!"The dragon-slayer found that he had collapsed again and the girl from before was now kneeling before him with a concerned look deep in her vibrant green eyes.
"A...A-Addilyan?" He muttered, suddenly something within him rose and without a clue why, his body sprang and now he was kneeling over Addilyan with his hand over her throat. She didn't scream nor did she move to dodge his attack, she calmly lay underneath him with a sad smile.
"Natsu, I can help you. The dark magic has invaded your brain system, this isn't you." She said slowly watching his movement as his face twisted to one of confusion.
"Help me?" He said after a while, Addilyan nodded as she watched his eyes return to their normal soft Olive and not the dark red that had taken them over when he pounced her, the little bit of dark magic that had gotten into his system already doing harm. She had to get it out before it interferes with his magic.
"Yes, you are Natsu Dragneel of Fairytail. You're a mage and a hero of Crocus, and a family member. You aren't evil, you laugh and smile a lot even though you had experienced trauma." Natsu's hand loosens around her throat as his eyes became unfocused again.
Smiling? Laughing? Natsu Dragneel smiling that wild carefree smile that everyone loved, Lucy. Team Natsu, Gramps... Fairytail? Power, death, determination, strength and fear...
Natsu jerked off of Addilyan as he rolled away from her on the cement, gripping his head in pain as some of the dark magic residing inside of the Dragon-slayer suddenly began to pour out in a mist from Natsu's trembling body before it dispersed. But before Addilyan could acted, Natsu screamed as an overwhelming burn rose deep inside of his chest as the rest of the dark magic morphed itself into the mage's magical reserves.
"Damnit." Addilyan cussed as she ran towards her savour as he began to shake, his eyes a light with realization.
"Dark magic is inside of me... hehe... what, what am I going to do now! Fairytail doesn't take it dark mages, Addilyan... you said you would help me!" Natsu said hysterically as he felt the dark magic bubble to the surface with barely any restraint as the rocks on the ground outside began to pick themselves off the ground under the mere magical pressure as Natsu screamed, his hands tightening into fists. The rocks around them crumbled into tiny pebble sizes and before Addilyan could shake her friend back to reality. They were set a blazed and the ground underneath Natsu caved causing a large crater as he continued to let the world know his suffering!
"I"LL TEACH YOU!" She screamed as the magical pressure started to make her feel like a boulder was sitting on her chest, killing her slowly from its weight alone. Natsu looked up at her as the rocks dropped to the ground while the pressure decreased, his eyes scanning hers.
"W-Wha-?" He was silenced when Addilyan walked in the carter with him, his eyes trained on hers as she sat down in front of his form, her gentle smile easing the riot of emotions inside of him.
"I will stand by your side, and teach you to control this dark magic. A year has passed between us, your still recovering from what you saw back at my home town, it's understandable on how you are feeling right now. I've been reading a lot about dark magic and how it works and even then I think I can get some extra help for you. But right now, I'm all you've got, so what do you say, can I?" Natsu stared stunned before lifting his hands up to stare at them, before nodding.
"Sure, t-thanks." He said in a trembling voice as Addilyan helped him up from the ground.
"Just returning the favour."
~Flashback ends~
"The mage Abaddon was pronounced dead and the other three were placed in jail, but yet something twisted inside of me and I knew I changed. A month later and I found my magic altering in a new powerful way; Addilyan said that the dark magic had somehow increased my magical power to an overwhelming degree. It chilled me to the bone and I hated it." Natsu said with a sneer making others flinch as he looked down before continuing but this time a small almost gentle smile was on his face. Some were still in the stages of sadness; Gray for example was looking away from Natsu to save his pride from the other man's prying eyes. While others were happy that things turned out semi-okay in the end. Even though that still didn't make Natsu feel any better, they now understood the Fire mage, unlike before.
"Then one day I was walking through a forest, having once again finished a job. I was still a little uneasy about taking jobs back then because I still wasn't fully use to controlling my new found powers. So I took my time with this one, and I'm happy that I did." Natsu droned out before a bright smile that they had not seen for ages brighten his warming features as he recalled. Gray turned back around as he wiped his tears, Lucy smiled at the ice mage before turning back to her 'best friend'.
" I had stumbled on a slavery raid in a much larger city up south to where I was walking back from, I saved over 44'000 people with this unholy power and got recognition from the King himself." Natsu laughed lightly at the memory, shaking his head as he looked up at all the mages that had listened.
"I don't think the people of that city knew who exactly saved them that day, unless the King has told them. Anyways, for the first time in years, I felt proud of myself." Addilyan smiled as Natsu folded his arms over his chest before tapping his chin in thoughtfulness, a smile spread across his face as he chuckled to himself.
"I still find it hard to believe, but a little of decision making. I find myself wanting to step forwards as something more than a famous wizard. So then one night while standing in a records store, I got the idea of secretly becoming a singer under cover. Lord Phoenix then rose up from being something dead to some kind of legend; the people of the City I saved praised me as a living God. Sending the King gifts to be given to me, I was flustered at some of the context on the letters but other than that I was happy." Natsu turned to look at Addilyan with a cheeky smile and the girl was happy and very much relieved to see that some of the terror in the Dragon-slayers eyes had vanished.
Lucy breathed out a sigh also of silent relief as she watched some of the old Natsu seep into this man; the Slayer suddenly got a cocky smirk on his features.
"I still hate this dark magic that floats inside of me, but I also welcome it in a sick sort of way. I can do much more with this power, and so not to worry people, it hasn't gone to my head. Like I first said, I hate it; I was confronted once for a position as one of the Ten Wizard Saints. I declined of course; I wasn't emotionally ready for such a duty, much to the disappointment of the council members." Natsu laughed as he recalled their letter they wrote to him, it was pretty funny.
"But now... I can control this power and sometimes combined it with my Dragon-slayer magic. It's pretty sweet, I went to measure what my magical power was once and I was really stunned to find it higher then Gramps! My mind was blown, I had to test it out and so I went out and blew up an entire forest with a single wipe of my hand." Natsu's cheerful smile dampened a little as he flexed his hand while everyone shuddered. The other contestants were in either awe or pale in fright at the monsters Fairytail housed.
Erza felt sweat trickle the base of her neck as she stared at Natsu, she felt like never trying to mess with the man again. He could kill her. Gray was in the same state of thought as he stared at his rival with an almost perfect stoic mask, although you could clearly see sweat soaking his hair and clothing as he stared at the Dragon-slayer.
Natsu dropped his hand and found his soul mood lighten when Lucy turned on him with an almost furious look. As she neared him, he let himself swiftly crouch low to the ground and dodged the fist that was aimed for his head, before spinning upwards to wrap his arms around her waist making her squeak.
"You know, you were talking about me an awful lot since you became aware of Lord Phoenix. Saying things like "he had the most perfect voice ever." And "I love him." Are those true?" Lucy made a low whimper as she shrank down in his grasp, her face hot and red as cherries causing Natsu to laughed at her embarrassment.
"M-Maybe." She mumbled causing some of the other guild members to laugh and snicker, Mira jumped up and down in excitement that was barely contained while Gray and Erza smirked at each other. Natsu smiled a real smile before he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek causing her to melt.
"I love you too, Lucy." He whispered causing Lucy to snap her head upwards to stare at him with wide frantic eyes.
"Me?" She whispered, Natsu cocked his head to the side making his hair sway slightly in a sexy way.
"You, I love only you. Lucy Heartfilla."
A/N: For all you NaLu fans out there!
