Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima, Tiamat is loosely based on Tiamat from Forgotten Realms which Belongs to Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The traits of the chromatic dragons have been altered to match the dragon slayers in the Fairy Tail Universe.

Edited and Revised June 15, 2019

Chapter 9: Magic Must Be Given Freely

The two men observed Erza and Gray nervously, even as Mira gave them a welcoming smile.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, how can we help you?" Mira greeted them kindly, not seeming to realize who had just entered their guild. She glanced over at Erza, confused by her behavior.

"We'd like to speak to your Master. My name is Connor, I am the Master of the Penta Dragons," The older of the two men spoke, and gesturing towards the other man added, " My companion's name is Justin."

Justin bowed briefly, but his eyes never strayed from Erza and Gray.

"We know who you people are," Gray growled at the visitors, "You have a lot of nerve coming here." He could barely contain his rage. These people were responsible for the condition Natsu was in, and that was not something he was willing to ignore.

"GRAY! These men are our guests, you will either calm down or leave," A voice that could only belong to Makarov came from the second floor. Although he sounded friendly enough, he must have had the same idea as Gray because Laxus was nowhere in sight. He made his way downstairs to meet their visitors.

"But Gramps-," Gray protested, but Makarov cut him off with one scowl.

Erza took the hint and grudgingly sent her sword away.

She looked over at Gray worriedly, willing him to calm down as well. He'd been a mess ever since Natsu had disappeared. She knew exactly how he felt. Hell, she was itching for payback just as much as he was, but she understood it was best to let their Master handle it.

Gray glared at Makarov but began clenching and unclenching his hands in an attempt to keep himself under control. He very much wanted to hear what this man had to say.

"Please forgive my children, they are usually friendlier than this," Makarov remarked evenly, holding out his hand for a handshake. "I am Master Makarov. How can I help you?"

"It's alright. I wouldn't be too fond of me if I were him either," Connor replied, unconsciously moving closer to Justin as he acknowledged the barely contained rage in Gray's eyes.

"I am Connor," The Penta Dragons Master bowed his head in deference and gave Makarov his most charming smile before shaking his hand firmly.

He regarded the short man that stood in front of him. Connor knew the man was a powerful wizard, one of the Ten Wizard Saints of Fiore, but it was hard to reconcile that fact with the seemingly harmless old man that faced him.

"I want you to know that I had nothing to do with what happened to your dragon slayer, none of us did," Connor began, even though he knew this was a half-truth at best. He may not have known what Tiamat was up to, but he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to find out either, and it had been his idea to use the dragon slayers in the first place.

"It was never part of our plan for any of the dragon slayers to be hurt," Connor looked at Makarov apologetically. "Is he okay? Justin and I were barely able to get out of the building."

"What was this plan exactly?" Erza asked with as much diplomacy as she could muster. She hadn't missed that Connor had just admitted to leaving Natsu defenseless in a burning building.

Connor was about to speak when Makarov stopped him. "Hold on, let's go down to the library. There are some people there who should listen to this."

Makarov led the visitors to the guild's library where Levy, Freed, and Lucy were looking through the recovered books. Mira followed them, but Erza stayed behind wanting to check on Gray before they joined the others.

Erza grabbed Gray by the arm, "Are you going to be okay?"

Gray shrugged her off once again, "I'm fine."

Erza let him go without a fuss, but she had a feeling their definitions of fine were very different. She glanced up at the infirmary before pursing her lips and entering the guild's library.

"Everyone, I need your attention," Makarov announced as he entered, causing the three researchers to look up at him with interest. "This man is the Master of the cult that summoned Tiamat, I'd like you to listen to what he has to say."

Lucy, Levy, and Freed nodded, switching their attention to Master Connor. Levy offered Connor a small smile, while Freed regarded the man warily. Lucy didn't seem to know how to feel, so she peered at Erza's expression instead.

Once they were all sitting comfortably in one of the long tables, Makarov eyed the Penta Dragon's Master expectantly.

Connor cleared his throat nervously, he had no idea how this was going to go. He needed Fairy Tail's help to stop Tiamat, but he couldn't get a read on these people.

Justin grabbed his hand under the table and squeezed it once before letting go. Connor smiled at him gratefully. He recited a quick prayer in his mind for luck and began.

"We summoned Tiamat from the Nine Hells because we were convinced she was the only one strong enough to defeat Acnologia. We were aware she wasn't exactly trustworthy, so we spent years doing research and planning our next move. We wanted to make sure we could keep her under our control before we even considered summoning her, so we used all the information we could find on her to devise elaborate binding rituals. "

Freed interrupted, making no attempt to mask his scorn, "Did you really think you'd be able to bind a God to do your bidding? There is no magic capable of doing that."

Connor frowned, there was nothing he could really say. The green haired man was right, he knew that now, but at the time he'd been willing to believe plenty of things in the interest of saving their world.

"At least he tried to do something," Justin protested.

"Yeah, and look at what that got us," Gray growled in response.

"That's enough!" Makarov snapped, he looked at each of his brats in turn, his expression communicating he expected them to keep their emotions in check. When he was satisfied they'd understood he nodded at the Penta Dragons Master to continue.

"When she arrived on Earthland, her magic would be dormant. In her dragon form, she has five heads, much like the symbol on our cloaks. To restore the magic in each of those heads, she would need to absorb the power from a matching dragon."

"She couldn't force the magic out of them, it would have to be given freely. In the past, when dragons were abundant, she would have found five chromatic dragons to bed, but that wasn't possible in our time, so we set about identifying matching dragon slayers. The Grand Magic Games allowed us to find four of them and so we set our plan in motion."

"Wait. Are you saying that if Tiamat raped the dragon slayers, she wouldn't be able to get their magic?" Freed interrupted Connor.

"That is correct, the magic can't be taken by force. It must be given freely. That is why we needed to identify someone the dragon slayer would respond to so she could shapeshift into them."

Gray's mind was racing, Lyon had said the healer knew that Natsu had been raped. He was pretty sure that meant she'd found evidence of anal sex which Erza or Lucy would not have been able to do. The fact the Natsu was now pregnant supported that argument for the same reason.

But If the magic had to be given freely that changed everything. Did that mean Natsu willingly had sex with someone he thought was him?

That didn't make sense though, Natsu didn't think of him that way, he never had, and Gray would know. Over the years he'd waited for a signal from the dragon slayer that never came. He'd once even flirted clumsily with Juvia to see if he got a reaction, to no avail. To his frustration, Natsu's only response had been a small smile that seemed to encourage his friend to 'Go for it.'

Sting? Tiamat had been with Sting, it would have been easy for her to change into him. That made more sense. The two dragon slayers had a natural closeness that he sometimes envied when compared to their constant rivalry.

Wait a minute, what was he even thinking? Natsu had been forced to take something that made the rather innocent dragon slayer agree to have sex in the first place. Gray was pretty sure consent was hazy at best in this scenario.

A few days ago, he'd prayed that he'd not been the one that did this. So why was he now wishing that Natsu would have chosen fake him over fake Sting?

He felt someone squeezing his hand gently and looked to find Lucy giving him a worried look. He quickly looked away and tried to focus on what was being said.

Makarov's face was stern as he asked, "Which dragon slayers were you interested in?"

Connor knew if he wanted this man's help, he needed to be honest with him. He took a deep breath and said, "Natsu and Laxus from Fairy Tail, Sting and Rogue from Sabertooth and Cobra from Oracion Seis."

He looked at Makarov intently, trying to gauge his reaction, but the man's face gave nothing away.

"All of the mages we sent to observe the dragon slayers could teleport, but only Natsu and Laxus seemed to be able to spot them consistently, which made it difficult for us to learn much about them."

Connor pointed at his companion, "Justin here is one of our best, and he wasn't able to find out anything about Natsu that wasn't already public knowledge, even after trailing him for weeks."

Even though they had suspected, Makarov was enraged at receiving confirmation that his mages had indeed been surveyed. He would never forgive himself for not taking Laxus and Natsu's reports more seriously. He was now determined to do everything in his power to help Natsu recover from this, he owed him that much.

Connor felt a surge in magic energy emanating from Makarov and paused, not sure what was happening. When Makarov nodded at him, he continued his story valiantly.

"Red dragons are the strongest of the chromatic dragons, and Tiamat was adamant about getting Natsu's magic early on. But with no useful information on him, Tiamat and I were forced to shadow his team on a mission. She can shapeshift into anyone, but to fool the dragon slayers senses she needed to touch the subject to be able to absorb their scent."

Lucy felt nauseated by everything she'd heard but learning their team had been so close to Tiamat without even being aware of it was almost more than she could handle. She forced herself to continue listening, noticing the abject fury that was visible on both Gray and Erza's faces.

"Tiamat doesn't leave anything to chance," Connor tried to avoid the glares from Natsu's teammates, he could already tell they were going to be a problem, not that he could blame them. "Even though she was sure that your Erza Scarlet would be the one she needed to seduce Natsu, she made sure to absorb the scent of every one of his teammates."

Erza gripped the arm of her chair so hard as she tried to contain her temper that she managed to shatter it, resulting in a violent shower of splinters. Connor stared at her nervously.

Erza bowed her head, keeping her face hidden for a few minutes. Gray got another chair, and the two had a whispered conversation until Makarov cleared his throat.

"I apologize," Erza said, "Please continue."

"Are you sure they should be here?" Connor asked Makarov.

"They'll be fine," Makarov assured him.

Connor very much doubted that but continued anyway. "Tiamat waited for a chance to make her move on Natsu, but he was never alone. When the moment came, she failed in her attempt to seduce him and fearing she wouldn't get another chance she knocked him out with her newly awakened light magic."

Connor stopped to consider how he wanted to frame the rest of the story, but Justin caught his gaze and shook his head. Connor sighed, but he knew his friend was right, no matter how much he wished to protect him, there could be no concealing of his actions.

"Justin teleported both of them to our headquarters in Margaret Town and placed him in a magic sealing stone. I asked her to send him back, but she refused. She claimed she had plans for him, but she didn't elaborate."

The faces of the mages were becoming more hostile with every new bit of information, Connor noticed several of the mages were glaring at Justin, and he hoped that Makarov could guarantee the boy's safety.

"If you thought she was under your control, why didn't you push the issue?" Freed accused, "You could have had Justin teleport Natsu back."

"We still needed his magic," Connor reminded him.

"I don't understand," Levy spoke for the first time, "What were you expecting to happen?"

Connor had no answer to give the girl, so he answered the green haired man's question instead.

"I didn't push because by this point, I had begun to realize that maybe the binding rituals hadn't worked. Tiamat was an outstanding actress, I realize now she was never under our control. We kept her in another magic sealing stone but usually left her to her own devices once she was inside. It seems she was getting out and visiting Natsu in his. I honestly didn't know this was happening. It was my understanding that magic sealing stones rendered magical abilities ineffective."

"Three days!" Gray slammed his fist on the table, making Connor jump. "Three days you let this go on. It never occurred to you to check on him? Give him food or water? What the hell is wrong with you? And what now? You want us to help you fix your mistake?"

"GRAY?!" Makarov roared.

"Don't worry Gramps, I'm leaving!" Gray got up and left the library, slamming the door behind him.

This time Makarov didn't bother to apologize for him, as much as he didn't appreciate Gray's attitude the boy wasn't wrong.

Lucy and Erza made no attempt to hide their hostility, both openly glaring at Justin. He had followed Natsu around trying to get information on him, had teleported him when he was unconscious and then placed him at Tiamat's mercy in a magic sealing stone where he wouldn't be able to defend himself. Justin gulped as he felt the warmth of their stares on him.

Those glares were not lost on Makarov, he noticed Freed's reaction wasn't much better. He wasn't all that surprised, they'd been taught to consider each other as family, and one of their siblings had been hurt. He just hoped he was able to impress on them the importance of cooperating with these men. They had to stop Tiamat before she could come after Rogue, Laxus, and Cobra.

"I am so sorry, I don't know what else to say. We never expected any of this to happen, we just wanted to rid the world of Acnologia and his destruction," Connor said sadly.

"The end doesn't justify the means," Levy pointed out.

"No, young lady, it does not," Connor agreed levelly, "That's why we're here.

"I heard screams outside my office and came out only to find the building and everyone in it in flames. Tiamat was watching the people burn in front of her as they screamed in agony and she was laughing. It was horrible, if Justin hadn't teleported us out of the building when he did, we would never have survived."

Connor shuddered at the memory, he hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep since that day. The vision of Tiamat's sadistic glee as she watched his friends die painfully was one he would never be able to forget.

Tiamat wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted. It was what prompted him to come to Fairy Tail and beg for their help if that's what it took. Connor needed to impress upon them how dangerous she really was, although he suspected whatever she'd done to Natsu had been enough to make them want to go after her.

"I have no doubt she will come after Cobra, Laxus, and Rogue to reclaim the last of her dormant magic. We must not allow that to happen. The stronger she gets, the more access she will have to her godly spells. I hope that somewhere in those books there might be a way to banish her once again."

"Godly spells, what are those?" Levy asked with interest, although there was a twinge of trepidation in her voice.

"They're like no magic on Earthland," Connor replied, "I've only read about it in books, I do know that awakening her fire magic has put her at almost half power. Any additional magic she absorbs will give her access to more powerful spells. Spells that will allow her to mold our world into whatever she wants."

"I know I have no right to ask this, but I need your help to send her back to the Nine Hells where she was banished to four hundred years ago," Connor beseeched Makarov.

Makarov already knew he would help them. A powerful creature like Tiamat could not be allowed to roam unchecked, especially not when she was preparing to come after them. They needed to stop her, not only to protect their own but to save humankind from her revenge.

But it wasn't going to be easy, judging from his brats reactions it would be challenging to get them to cooperate. Erza, Gray, and the dragon slayers in particular.

He'd have to exact promises from them to keep them from seeking retribution for Natsu, and he would need to guarantee some sort of protection for the teleportation mage.

He also wasn't about to make the mistake of trusting these people just because they were reaching out to them to correct their failure. He needed to make sure to keep them away from the dragon slayers and Natsu in particular. There was still the possibility that they were here at Tiamat's behest.

He thought long and hard about the best way to manage this situation before finally responding.

"These are my terms, and they're not up for negotiation. First, you are not to approach any of the dragon slayers unless they request your presence, and that includes Gajeel and Wendy."

Makarov could feel his brats eyes on him as he explained his terms but kept his own gaze on the Master of the Penta Dragons. He waited until he received a nod from him before continuing with his conditions.

"Second, you will share everything you know with our researchers and help them continue their research. That includes any future communications you might receive from Tiamat or any other surviving Penta Dragons member."

"That is fine, I have researched many of those books already so I should be able to help." Connor agreed readily.

"Third, you will stay here where we can keep an eye on you. We have rooms you can stay at in the guild," Makarov noticed the relief on both men's faces but wasn't sure how to interpret it.

"Fourth, you will not share any knowledge with outside parties unless I approve it, and you will not take it upon yourself to act without consulting me first."

"These are all fine, we will agree to any condition," Connor said impatiently.

"I'm not done," Makarov said firmly. "In return, we will protect you from the Magic Council, I will ensure that Justin will remain safe from any retribution, and we will help you take on Tiamat when the time comes. "

"We accept your terms," Connor shook Makarov's hand gratefully as the Fairy Tail Master questioned how the hell he was going to get his mages to agree to them as well.

xxx

Tiamat walked around Era trying to figure out the best way to get into the Magic Council's prison. She looked at people coming in and out, but they were all checked by the guards. She needed someone that they would easily overlook. Someone whose presence they wouldn't question. She supposed she could try to teleport in, but she assumed that they must have ways around that. It was a prison after all.

She wasted a second day watching the prison entrance from a nearby cafe, finally settling on the Head Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit, a man by the name of Lahar. He visited the prison several times a day and was usually just waved through. She followed as he left the prison and overheard him telling a man with an X shaped scar on his face that they would be going to Hargeon the next day. She would put her plan in motion then.

The next morning Tiamat changed herself into Lahar. She didn't bother to look in a mirror, she already knew she would look just like him. She'd had this ability since the moment she came into being. Tiamat ran her mind through what she'd seen of the man so that she could imitate his behavior. That was the tricky part. She took a breath and headed for the entrance to the prison. As expected, Lahar was waved right through. Tiamat was inside.

She looked around and saw hundreds of magic sealing stones floating in the air. How was she supposed to find Cobra in that mess? She couldn't very well look into every cell without looking suspicious. She looked around to see if there was someone she could ask. There wasn't. Tiamat cautiously made her way to the first row of cells peering into the first one and quickly moving on to the next one.

She heard a cough behind her and turned to see a frog-like creature staring at her. "Captain Lahar, can I help you with something?"

"Ah yes, I am looking for a prisoner. His name is Cobra. The Council wishes to interrogate him."

"Cobra... Cobra...hmm... is he one of the guys from Oracion Seis?"

"Yes. That's the one."

The frog creature looked at some kind of screen, and a magic sealing stone came down from somewhere close to the ceiling. It approached Tiamat with some magical sealing cuffs. "Here, you will need to put these on him before you take him out of his cell for questioning."

Tiamat grabbed the cuffs and thanked the creature for their help. She approached Cobra's cell and went inside. She looked at the man sitting on the floor and threw the cuffs at him.

"Put these on."

Cobra smirked at Lahar but put them on. "Feeling kinky today, Lahar?", he asked in a sarcastic tone, making sure to put extra emphasis on the name. Tiamat looked at him in surprise.

"Who are you?" Cobra looked at Tiamat with interest, "You are definitely not Lahar."

Tiamat was at a loss for words. No one had ever figured her out this quickly before. She chose to stay quiet and pulled Cobra up from his sitting position on the floor.

"If you want me to go willingly, you need to tell me who you are. I made a promise to stay in here, and I don't intend on breaking it unless I have a good reason."

Tiamat looked at Cobra in frustration. Stupid, frustrating dragon slayers. Still, Cobra was a green dragon. Green dragons had always loved her the best. Maybe she could appeal to that love. She looked inside of him but saw no dragon laying dormant inside. He must be one of those second generation ones Connor had told her about.

"I am Tiamat," She said simply.

"The dragon goddess?"

Tiamat nodded. She looked at him to gauge his reaction to the information she'd just given him. He looked at her and laughed.

"Okay, that's at least worth a talk."

"I can get you out of here."

"As I told you, I made a promise. I could certainly go for a walk though."

Cobra allowed himself to be removed from his cell. He followed Lahar and let himself be led outside. Tiamat wasted no time and teleported them to the room where she had stayed the previous night.

Cobra sat on the bed and pointed to the cuffs that were around his wrists. "Do you mind taking these off for a bit?"

She thought about it, this dragon slayer was not like the others. He unsettled her.

"You're a goddess, it's not like I can do anything to you," He pointed out.

She grudgingly removed the cuffs.

"Thanks. Now, can you show me what you look like?"

She found herself obeying his requests. She transformed into her Dark Lady avatar and stood before him.

"Much better. Now, do you think you could order up some room service or something? The food at the prison is terrible, and you took me away before I could have breakfast," He looked at her expectantly.

Cobra's eyes lit up with amusement all of a sudden, and he said, "Hey! There's no need for that kind of language. I did ask nicely."

She looked at him flabbergasted. She had not said a word! She glared at him once she realized what he'd done.

"You can hear my thoughts, can't you?" She asked accusingly, already knowing the answer.

He grinned at her, looking very satisfied with himself.

"And yours are amazingly loud. I'm flattered, really I am, but there's only one being in this world that I'm interested in that way."

"Get out of my head!" Tiamat snarled.

"I can't control it, trust me, it's overwhelming. Being in prison is the only time I've experienced true silence in years."

His stomach chose that moment to rumble, and he looked at her questioningly.

"Fine. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

Tiamat left the room and procured some food and drink for the two of them. She quickly returned to find Cobra in exactly the same position as when she'd left.

"Maybe the food will distract me from listening to the lies that you're concocting in your head right now," Cobra laughed at her annoyed expression.

Ugh, why did he have to look so smug? Tiamat did not like to be at a disadvantage. She had told the man she was a goddess shouldn't he at least be a little intimidated? She scowled as she saw him try to hide a smirk in his food.

"So, what do you need me for?" Cobra gazed at her with interest while continuing to stuff his face.

"Aren't you going to just grab it from my thoughts?" She said grouchily.

"Maybe I just like the sound of your voice." And he winked at her. The son of a bitch had the nerve to wink at her! She couldn't wait to take him back to prison.

"Fine. I don't have enough magic yet. I need to absorb your magic to awaken my green dragon magic."

He studied her with interest. "So you can defeat Acnologia?"

"Yes."

"Why did you just think about Dragneel?" He looked at her with distrust.

"He's more of a side project, nothing for you to worry about," She said as she forced her mind empty of anything to do with the Fire Dragon Slayer or Igneel.

"Whatever. Well, I hate to disappoint you, but you aren't getting your hands on this body. I do have an idea that might work though."

He finished his meal and stood up. "Let's go somewhere isolated."

"You're going to give me your magic, just like that?" Tiamat looked at him incredulously. He really was a strange man.

Cobra just nodded at her. She grabbed his arm and teleported them to one of the secluded snow covered mountains in Era. She looked around to make sure they were alone and let go of his arm.

"Why are you doing this?" Tiamat asked him curiously.

"I went up against a dragon recently, and I wasn't able to defeat him. Hell, I was barely able to hurt him. I'm pretty sure that dragon was weaker than Acnologia. If my magic can help take him down while I rot in prison, I can live with that."

"So what is this idea of yours?"

"I want you to transform into your dragon form. I am going to channel all of my magic into one roar. Have your green dragon absorb it."

She looked at him as she ran the idea through her mind. It certainly wouldn't be as pleasurable, but it could work. She transformed into her dragon form and looked down at the dragon slayer. He looked a bit shaken. She grinned in triumph.

"Here goes." Cobra concentrated on his magic. He began collecting it inside his body, making sure to get every last drop. He took a breath and focused all of that power into his roar.

POISON DRAGON ROAR

Cobra aimed his roar at Tiamat's green head, and she absorbed it, making sure to gather all the magic inside her. He collapsed weakly on the ground, and she considered testing her new power on him but then thought better of it. He had willingly chosen to help her, even if she really couldn't understand why. Tiamat aimed her green magic elsewhere and was relieved to see it work.

"You look pretty cool as a dragon. I'm glad I got to see it," Cobra smiled at her. "Now let's get me back to prison before they suspect something."

She turned back into Lahar and placed the cuffs back on Cobra. She teleported them close to the prison and then walked them back inside.

They walked past the frog creature towards Cobra's cell. Lahar took his cuffs off and went to place him back inside. To her chagrin, Cobra chose that moment to kiss her cheek and whisper "Good luck, Tiamat."

Her cheeks flushed, and she did not miss his chuckle from inside his cell. The frog creature was looking at Lahar very strangely.

'Stupid dragon slayer,' She thought, confused by the sudden fondness she felt.

xxx

A/N: I made a lot of changes from the posted version to the first part. I hope you like it. The Cobra part remained mostly the same.