Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or anything in it.

Dark Foreboding

High above the lands of Fiore, a dark looking air ship was sailing through the skies.

"Master Hades?"

A Melodious voice called, the owner of the voice a young pale but beautiful woman by the name of Ultear; Her long flowing dark hair in twintails, and her outfit a simple yet revealing purple kimono of sorts that showed her dark insignia of Grimoire Heart off in the back. She held a clear orb in her hand and was smiling about something when she entered the room.

The man sitting in the throne-like chair she addressed looked up, his face cloaked by shadows.

"Perhaps you are already aware..."She trailed off almost like she was hiding a secret of sorts. A part of her wasn't keen on wasting her master's time if he did.

"About what, Ultear?"He responded, gruffly.

At this her smile grew.

"That the alliance has defeated Oracion Seis, and destroyed Nirvana."

"Yes. It is an impressive feat indeed."He admitted. "But our goal is-"

"Yes. Of course."She cut in calmly.

"To locate and obtain the keys to resurrecting the Dark wizard Zatanna. For that, it doesn't matter if Nirvana is in the picture or not."She finished, still smiling. "However..."

"However what?"

"I found out some interesting news regarding one of their members."Ultear said resting a hand on her hip. Her master arched a brow at this signaling for her to go on. "Are you familiar with the R-system?"

"Yes. It was a failed device, meant as an awakening for Zatanna."Master Hades said with disinterest. Dismissing it like it was irrelevant with a small wave of his hand, scoffing in remembrance. "The fools used children to-"

"Perhaps I should have been more clear, Master, I meant other purpose of the R-system."Ultear supplied, her tone becoming more curious than anything else shifting her gaze to look into her crystal ball as an image began to form.

"Other purpose?" At this, Hades interest grew. "What are you referring to exactly, Ultear? What did you find?"

The dark-haired girl looked unsettled by something.

"They were trying to create something...There wasn't much in the way of information, it looked like whoever wrote it was in a hurry to destroy the evidence. The writing was...old-symphonian language I believe."

"Symphonia, you say?"

"Yes. From what the diagrams and legible writing suggests, they may have been attempting to do the impossible."

"Which is?"

"Create a being who could control Etherion for them."

"Ahh!Swaying in the sea breeze feels so heavenly!"

From his spot behind her Cobra could only stare, accompanied by the rest of what was currently Team Natsu, staring at the pinkette who looked to be in heaven with Happy beside her on the railing of the ship.

"You'll fall if you get too close, Idiot."Cobra mumbled under her breath. The usual malice that his voice held had significantly lessened while he was recuperating-he mostly attributed it to spending most if not all his time with the blonde bimbo and little blue-haired girl, claiming them to be the sanest of the bunch.-granted he still gave into the occasional scornful remark or two.

His words fell on deaf ears, hearing Happy sigh in content beside Natsu.

"Isn't this great, Natsu?"Happy chimed.

Wendy watched as Natsu then started running back and forth on deck, waving her arms around like a kid in the candy store, shouting. "Transportation is such a wonderful thing!"

"Idiot."Cobra affirmed, scoffing.

Wendy chose this moment to remind Natsu the spell would be wearing off soon.

"Troia is magic that cures motion sickness!"Happy explained, for some reason shoving his little blue furry face directly into Cobra's who, being the kind of guy he was, sent the poor cat flying. "Aaaa!Cobra, you're mean!"Happy yelled as he flew.

"By the way, Cobra-san,"Wendy said stepping towards the moody poison dragon slayer with curious eyes, accompanied by Lucy. "How come you aren't affected by motion sickness like Natsu-san?"

"Yeah, come to think of it..."Lucy began, looking thoughtful as well.

"Wendy hasn't had to cast Troia on you once."Gray surmised.

"Could it be due to the fact you are not a real dragon slayer?"Erza suggested, equally puzzled by this tidbit of information.

Now Cobra was offended. A tick mark grew on his head, hissing.

"First off you fucker!"He spat the word stalking forward and closing the distance between himself and Erza, purposely poking her in the chest despite Gray and Lucy's warnings from the side. "I am a real dragon slayer, just as much as that useless idiot over there-"

He pointed to Natsu, who at this point was back to dry-heaving on the deck. Her motion sickness back again.

"Secondly, not that it's any of your business"Now he looked at all of them, narrowing his eyes."But my element happens to be bio-hazardous in nature." He left it at that, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall.

Let the idiots put the pieces together.

"I see. So then,"Lucy was the first to figure things out, slamming a fisted hand into her palm blinking. "You're a dragon slayer who can't get sick. Wow, that's surprisingly useful!" She tried for a friendly smile, but Cobra only turned away.

*Sigh*Guess he still needs some time before he can trust us. Lucy thought. She was both happy and a tad nervous at the prospect of Cobra being their new friend-err, Nakama-she wanted to get off on the right foot, well as right a foot as can be after everything that's already happened.

But surely Cobra wants to change, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to help as much as he did. He even...

Her train of thought froze, recalling when Zero had one-shotted Natsu and Gray. She had been so scared, but Cobra stepped in and protected her. He couldn't be all bad, not after doing something like that, right?

"I can hear you."Cobra growled, annoyed. Lucy gave a small squeak of fear, her face flushing a bright cherry red.

In front of them, Wendy was busy scolding Natsu, and Erza and Gray were simply watching.

"If you do it over and over again, it won't be as effective."She said, going into what Cobra referred to as her 'scolding doctor' mode. Figures she'd have one seeing as she was a healer he thought turning his gaze back out onto the sea.

"Just leave her be."Gray said, smiling. Lucy laughed.

'What did I get myself into?'Cobra thought, looking back.

The small group was all laughing. Smiling. Each taking comfort in knowing the battle was won, and they were heading home for now. Without realizing, a small smile tugged at the corners of Cobra's mouth before he was laughing, the previous cold exterior getting chipped away and molded into a less overbearing one.

It had been a long time since he laughed for no real reason anyway. It felt nice.

"Of course if the higher-ups found out about this...it would be total and complete chaos."Lahar agreed, though he seemed hesitant. "Until all the details are known throwing accusations around will get us nowhere, and that's all revealing this information will lead to..."

From across the agitated Rune knight commander sat a calm, calculative looking Hibiki. The usual flamboyant behavior oddly nonexistent since E.N.D. came into the picture making Lahar cautious.

The answer he was given as explanation only served to further agitate him.

"Yes. Though given your position and such, it would serve to greatly compromise you should such information be withheld, and on the off chance you are somehow put under interrogation-"

"Still, to have been completely oblivious to such things! To think all this time...The dark wizard had a sibling, and in Fairy Tail no less...!"Lahar grit his teeth, his hands clenching around his knee. "And then there's you..."

At this Hibiki arched a finely styled brow. The light that kept his beautiful looking blue eyes sparkling and made all the girls swoon over him was gone, darkened to give a much colder, more calculating stare not fit for a member of the Trimens.

"Are you...even human?"Lahar asked, and was given a sly smile as response.

This man-Hibiki Lates-was not at all what he has led people to believe. Lahar could not believe how many of their enemies had already infiltrated the ranks of various guilds. How many sacrifices had been made, all presumably for the greater good, only to find out it didn't even matter.

The peace they maintained. It was only ever an illusion.

"That is a matter for another time I'm afraid. Do not worry captain,"Hibiki said calmly uncrossing his legs and moving to stand. It was done with such grace, Lahar could see how so many girls had fallen for one man. "This is the last time we will meet."

And with that, Lahar's world bled to black.

A Few Hours Earlier...

"N...Natsu?"Cobra rasped, his voice sounding far more frail than he would have liked. "I-is it...is it really you this time?"

Wide brown eyes were staring back at him. They certainly looked like Natsu's eyes, but the sword she clutched in her hand made him wary-It was E.N.D's sword. She had appeared with it-along with how long it was taking her to actually respond to him.

"C-Cobra...you're bleeding."She finally whispered, blinking.

Cobra swallowed, letting his head fall back onto the soft bed pillow. His belt was still undone, and the cut and burn marks on his neck were still clearly visible, but he didn't care. Natsu was back, meaning there was one less thing for him to have to worry about.

"Could you get off of me?"Cobra said, his voice unusually soft from fatigue and anguish.

It took a moment for Natsu to understand what he meant, her eyes slowly taking in their position-her being on top of him in a very interesting way-before feeling her face start to burn, scrambling back, falling in the process and landing face-flat on the floor with a groan.

"S-Sorry..."She said, face still smashed against the floor.

Cobra felt his left brow twitch just a little.

"Idiot."

"So then...y-you have no idea who, or what that thing was exactly?" Cobra whispered, his fingers unconsciously fisting the covers draped over him. His jaw clenched, feeling the lingering sting of that-that thing's touch! Shivering when he ran his fingers against the still burning bruises and teeth marks.

How dare she mark him like that. Like he was some form of property to her, just who does she think she is!

My name is E.N.D. You would do well to remember it.

"She said her name was E.N.D. And that she was a...demon."He muttered, mostly to himself since he figured Natsu wouldn't understand half of what was being said. The word demon unsettled him though, especially since the only demons he knew of were...

Tartaros. He thought, feeling like someone had punched all the air out from his lungs. They couldn't be one and the same, could they? No. It wasn't-shouldn't be possible.

Those are all Zeref's Demons though, the worst of the worst. Cobra thought, trying to assure himself. There's no way one of them would just...appear here!So then why...?

Without knowing why, Cobra's eyes glided to the side a bit, looking down at the sword that lay in Natsu's lap. It was E.N.D's sword. He stared at it, feeling a dark presence emanating from the sheathed blade.

The sword itself was beautiful in design, if not a tad ominous; the sheath was a dark crimson studded leather, the same color as the brightest red blood. The tiny gems that ran along it ran in opposite zig-zag to the small little spiked chains that seemed to keep the blade from coming out fully. The handle was spiked with a skull-like diamond crusted mark resting at the bottom and matching black and red leather straps running over the handle; It looked like a blade straight out of hell.

What caught his attention were the words scrawled along the side. Written in a language he couldn't even begin to understand.

It is the oath between me and my master. The words are what must be spoken to unleash me.

Cobra's and Natsu's eyes widened, each looking down seeing one of what they thought was a diamond blink, slowly turning to reveal piercing crimson colored iris of an eyeball in the center of the Sheath.

"Aaah!I-It's alive!?"

Natsu shot up out of her seat, all but throwing the demon sword to the ground in the process and backpedaling into the wall. Cobra and her stared, watching a blinding red light envelop the sword making it hover in the air a few seconds

"W-what in the-!?"

"Cobra, is everything okay?"

Cobra flinched, feeling a soft hand touch his arm. Without thinking he jerked away, letting out a low, menacing growl and fixing the offender with a glare. Lucy recoiled at the harshness in his eyes. He hadn't even been aware he was spacing out until now.

Squashing the small pang of regret he felt for snapping, he settled for giving an audible 'tch!' And jerking to look off to the side. Something Lucy dismissed as him being annoyed.

Sighing she turned to look back over her shoulder, her team member were each caught up in their own antics at the moment-Erza, Gray both scolding Natsu over her motion sickness and laughing, Wendy and Carla were talking amongst one another fondly-she figured now was as good a chance as any to try and get to know Cobra. After all maybe having him feel like he already had a friend would put his mind at ease more...or so she thought.

"I'm not nervous."Cobra said, pulling her from her reverie. "Don't confuse me for you or one of your stupid friends. It was either this or jail, that's all."

Though there was truth in his words, Lucy couldn't help but feel a little saddened by them.

She opened her mouth about to try and dissuade his such a negative way of thinking when she remembered the three golden keys she'd acquired from her fight with Angel. 'That's right. I still haven't made a contract with them yet!' She thought, getting a bit caught up in the prospect of meeting new friends.

Cobra stared at her hearing her fuss over what to say to her new "friends" as she called them. He didn't see the big deal, like angel said they were just tools. So what if she came off as rude?

"Ne, Cobra would you-"

"Forget it."

"Hey, you don't even know what I was going to say..."He scoffed, not the least bit moved by the disheartened look in her eyes.

"You were going to ask if I wanted to watch you make your little contract, and I don't."He said firmly, arms folded and eyes falling shut. "I didn't care for those little fuckers when Angel had them, and I certainly don't care just cuz you have them now."

Now it was Lucy's turn to start getting annoyed. She didn't really like how nonchalantly he was insulting her spirits. 'You don't have to be so rude!' She scolded mentally fully aware he could hear, as if the smug smirk that carved across his face wasn't a dead giveaway.

Eventually Lucy gave up on trying to get closer to Cobra as a friend, at least for the moment. Cobra knew she would try again later, he was thankful she had left him alone for the moment at least.

Silently turning he began making his way towards the back of the ship and away from the ruckus that was the Fairy Tail mages, unaware of a certain pair of eyes following after him. When he could no longer hear the others thoughts he finally let out a pent up sigh of frustration, resting his forearms on the rail of the ship. His eyes lost some of the hostility he had been feeling in favor of a more defeated look.

He just felt so tired. Of everything.

"Cobra-"

He tensed. That voice, of all the people...

"No, Erik."

He turned his head about halfway fixing the familiar redhead with a glare cold enough, it was as though it could freeze Natsu's flames. His walls immediately went back up.

"That is not my name."He said calmly, slowly, his show scraping back against the floorboards when she came closer-too close. He hissed mentally, making no attempt to hide his contempt for the other individual, even as she smiled at him. There was such fondness in her eyes that it sickened him.

"Really?" Erza said, not the least bit deterred by the cold shoulder he was giving her. "Though we found ourselves on opposite sides of the law, Erik." Her face turned serious, and before he knew it Cobra felt himself get pulled. Armor-clad arms wrapped against him, and he felt heat rise to his face.

"O-oi-!"

"I am so glad you are alright."

Cobra's body became rigid feeling the heavy tremors that made Erza'a shoulders tremble. The smell of sulfur made his eyes widen.

'Is she...crying?'He thought in awe.

"Erik...my friend."Erza whispered, holding him as though at any moment he would vanish into thin air were she to let go. Just like Jellal. "My very first friend..."

Cobra bit his lip. The urge to shove her off dying out as soon as she said those words. Memories he thought were best forgotten came drifting to the forefront of his mind.

Wordlessly he allowed the small moment of relief-making no move to get closer or even return the others obvious grief stricken words-part of him still wondered if, looking back, it was the right decision.

False hope wasn't something he was into. Even without it, he was still a cruel person...

(Somehow saying the old Erik died just didn't seem all that fair. Letting her hold onto something that never was-something so vital to her survival back in the day-then again, he had always been cruel.)

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Hope you enjoyed. Review!

Question: I was thinking, should the pairing stay NatsuxCobra for this, or should I throw Hibiki into the mix as well?

A/N:Also just wanna address some things, first and foremost, I know Hibiki is acting OOC right now, I promise there's a reason for that but it won't be shown until later unfortunately.

Also in regards to the Cobra/Erza moment I hope I did okay, I admit part of me was torn because I kind of wanted them to have form of interaction regarding their time in the Tower of Heaven(more on that later too!) but tried to keep them in character for the most part since I doubt Cobra would be so willing to get all sentimental about it, much less with someone who was an enemy prior to a few hours ago.

Lastly the rest of Oracion seis, as I am aware from watching the anime and reading the manga Cobra typically wouldn't outright abandon them. I plan to do something later on regarding Midnight and the others feelings on the matter since they were more so a close-knit bunch.

...That's all for now! Hehe, sorry for my bit of rambling there.^0^