Sea of Blood
"Natsu?" Gray and Erza said in unison.
"That's what it looks like!" Lucy said with a nod.
Sure enough, Natsu was holding onto the fin of the sea monster strongly, as the beast thrashed through the water. His teeth were clenched, and his face was a look of pure concentration.
"What's he doing here?" Gray said.
"I overheard some people talking about a guild sending someone to deal with the monster," Erza said.
"You don't think…," Lucy said softly.
(with Natsu)
Natsu continued to hold on to the monster's fin, as he weighed his options. Its not like he was worried that he couldn't take down this monster. Heck, flies were harder to swat, since at least they could move fast. But what he was thinking, was how could he take this down without destroying more fishing boats.
Why am I worrying about that? he thought Oh yeah, it gets taken out of my pay.
The sea beast then finally managed to throw him off. In reality though, Natsu had willingly let go, so that he could look for a vantage point. Once he was directly over the monster, it opened its mouth, and out of it, came an enormous stream of water. Natsu clenched his teeth, and formed an "x" with his arms.
"Chaos Dragon's Shield!" he said, as his magic seal appeared over his arms, and blue magic gathered around them, and formed a large "x" around him. The water flowed around it easily.
Before Natsu could fall down, though, his magic seal appeared around his feet.
"Chaos Dragon's Flight" he said, as he jumped further into the air, his feet powered by his magic.
(with Lucy, Gray, and Erza)
"Is Natsu flying?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, that's his Chaos Dragon Flight technique," Gray explained," By channeling magic into his feet, and releasing it in a steady stream, he can levitate, and sometimes fly."
(with Natsu)
The sea monster let out an angry roar, as if challenging Natsu to come back down. Seeming to understand what the monster was saying, Natsu just sneered.
"I don't accept challenges from weaklings," he said, folding his arms. This seemed to make the monster even madder than it already was. It spat another stream of water at Natsu, but Natsu managed to fly out of the way. He then opened his mouth.
"Chaos Dragon's Roar!" He then released the chaos energy, as it beamed down towards the monster. The monster dove underwater to try and escape.
"That won't help you," Natsu said darkly. He was right, as the beam crashed into the water and a full force explosion of energy exploded. The water exploded sky high, with the shockwave blasting the monster into the air. Natsu then shot towards it.
"Chaos Dragon's Spear!" he said, as he slammed his body into the sea monster. The beast let out a cry of pain as it flew back into the water. Natsu smiled darkly.
The monster slowly leaned back up, but it looked dazed. It let out an angry growl. It had a large bruise on its side, and blood leaked from its mouth.
Natsu then released the energy coming from his feet. As he began to fall back down, Natsu gathered the energy back into his fist.
"Chaos Dragon's Fist!" he yelled, as he punched down. The sea monster, however, managed to dodge, and Natsu plunged into the water.
(with Lucy, Gray, and Erza)
"He missed!" Lucy said," I thought Natsu never misses!"
"He doesn't," Erza said softly," He just did that to get back in the water."
(with Natsu)
As he floated down the water, Natsu looked up at the sea monster, as it dove back under the water to confront Natsu directly. The water around it was turning red with the blood that was coming out of it. Natsu was starting to lose his patience with this. This monster was surprisingly enduring. No matter. He gathered the magical energy back in his feet, and launched towards the beast.
"Chaos Dragon's Fist!" he said, as he punched the monster in the chin. In the process, several of the monster's teeth broke, and it was thrust up. It broke the surface, as it let out a pained roar. Natsu then erupted out of the water, using his Chaos Dragon's Flight ability, and soared over the monster.
The beast looked up at Natsu, he held up one arm.
"This battle, if you can even call it that, ends now!" he declared, as he gathered magical energy in his arm. He then pushed himself off towards the beast.
"Chaos Dragon's Guillotine!" he roared, as he then slammed his elbow into the monster's neck. There was a sickening crack, and the monster did not so much roar in pain, as much as it let out a weak croak of pain, as a cloud of blood sprouted from its mouth. Its eyes widened, before they suddenly lost all their light. It then fell back down into the water.
There was a silence throughout the boardwalk, as everyone just stared at the monster's dead body.
"He… killed it," Lucy stuttered slowly.
As if on cue, Natsu climbed onto the monster's head, and pumped his fist into the air in triumph.
The entire harbor then erupted into cheers.
"We're free!"
"The monster is finally dead!"
The Fairy Tail trio just stared in awe at the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. Said mage bent down to the monster's head, and pulled off one of its scales.
"I can't believe I'm even bothering to take a trophy from an opponent like this," Natsu sneered as he put the scale in his pack, before jumping to shore. People quickly surrounded him to give their thanks, but Natsu pushed past them, uninterested in anything.
As he walked by, he noticed the others. His eyes narrowed.
"He sees us," Erza said, narrowing her eyes. Natsu then jumped up, and next thing anyone knew, he was standing right in front of Lucy. The blonde just froze up, as Natsu's aura seemed to smother her.
"What are you three doing here?" he questioned.
"We have a quest to deliver this jewel," Gray said, as he held up the wrapped item. Before anyone could stop him, Natsu grabbed the wrapping paper, and tore it off. And before anyone could ask what he was doing, they all got a good look at the jewel.
It was shaped like a pyramid, with very smooth sides, and a point. It was pitch black, but it had a dark blue center, which almost looked like a little light inside of it. Once again, Lucy felt a shiver go down her spine. But it wasn't just her this time. Gray clenched his teeth slightly, as goosebumps went up his arm, which was strange since he rarely got cold in such a fashion. Erza seemed to flinch for a moment, but she kept it concealed for the most part.
The only one who appeared to be completely composed was Natsu, who just looked at the gem with a bored expression.
"I do not see why you three are being so shaken by a rock, especially that one in particular," he said with a frown," Now I must collect my pay." With that, he began to walk away.
"Wait!" Lucy said," Do you know about this rock?"
"Don't bother," Erza said," Natsu never…."
"Its called the Eye of the Black Dragon," Natsu said, as he stopped, and briefly turned," Named for the fact that the blue spot inside of it looks like an eye." He then continued walking.
"Well, where…" Lucy started to ask.
"I told you when we first met, that I am not a map," Natsu said darkly, as he kept walking.
"Don't bother," Gray said," Let's keep walking."
"Fine," Lucy said with a sigh as she looked at the map," The map says the museum is only a few blocks from here." The trio then got walking again, as the townspeople took the water so that they could carve up the monster's meat before the seagulls got to it.
In a short time, the group arrived at the museum.
"Doesn't look like much," Gray said, rubbing the back of his head with an unsatisfied look.
"Look, we got here, so we must complete our mission, and deliver the jewel," Erza said, as she started to walk in.
Once the three of them were inside, and managed to find the director's office, they presented him with the jewel.
"Thank you so much for delivering the Eye of the Black Dragon," the director said," It is very valuable, and with the sea monster finally gone, we might get more people coming to the museum."
"Do you know what makes it so valuable?" Lucy asked, genuinely curious.
"It is about a legend behind it," the director answered.
"Legend?" Erza echoed, arching an eyebrow.
"There is an old story, about how this jewel was once used by the legendary dark mage, Zeref, to control the Black Dragon."
A gasp came from all three members in perfect synch, as they all exchanged looks. Could this gem really have been used to control the dragon that raised Natsu.
"Of course its just a legend," the director said," Well, let me pay you."
After they received their pay, the group of three found the inn, and managed to settle in for the night.
"Do you think that story of the Eye of the Black Dragon is true?" Lucy asked Erza, as the two took a bath.
"Of course not," Erza said shaking her head with a firm expression," Its just an old folktale, and I never believe in those. Odds are it was just a jewel Zeref or some dark mage carried around, and caused destruction, nothing else really."
"Well, I guess," Lucy said with a shrug, before bringing up the next subject," So is Natsu really that strong?" Erza sighed as she looked up at the ceiling.
"That was only a taste of his strength," she said," If Natsu had been fighting another mage, I don't think the result would have been as clean."
Note: Alright, so this is chapter 10. And it seems like there may be more to the jewel than is really being let on by Natsu. This jewel may not be the titular "Eye of the Black Dragon", but you will have to wait to find out. Seems like Natsu might not hate humanity as much as he might think.
I was a little worried how I was going to write the battle scene, because this would be the first time we see Natsu fight seriously. The first time he fights was with Erza and Gray, but that was more of a kid fight than anything else. There was also the time Natsu met with Bora, but that wasn't a fight either. So I wanted to give Natsu a fight scene that could at least given an impression of what happens when he fights to actually win. Don't worry, you'll definitely see more of what he is capable. This was sort of supposed to serve as the equivalent of the Lullaby Arc, so I hope to start up a new arc soon. I am still thinking about how I am going to get in Phantom Lord into this situation, since I still want Juvia and Gajeel to join the guild