A/N;

Pairing: EndLu, Fairy Tail

Genre and Rating: Canon, M

Natsu stood on the battlefield, bodies of demons and humans strewn about in in a wide arc, no pattern amongst the carnage. Fire licked at his claws, dark black talons growing from where his nails used to be and scales covering the skin of his wrists and forearms.

He let loose a feral snarl, turning slowly in a circle, daring anyone to challenge him. A grin that felt twisted even to him revealed his elongated fangs, lower lip bleeding where they touched. Power surged through him, consumed him in white hot ecstasy. He wanted to fight.

Natsu roared.

The sound resonated in his chest, flames from his thrown back head reaching for the smoke and ash filled sky, mixing with the deafening sound of challenge and bestial power. He dropped his head back into a normal position, manic laugh pulling from his throat even as he felt blood trickle down the sides of his chin. His own or someone else's he didn't care.

"Natsu."

His head whipped to the right, pointed ears twitching at the soft call. He watched with a cocked head as a figure slowly emerged from the smoke. Her clothes were in tatters, revealing milky skin that was blemished with dirt and blood. She shook as she continued to walk towards him, twin paths cleared from honey brown eyes along her cheeks by tears. "Stop it."

Natsu grinned at her command, because that was how she said it. Though the fear in her body and decimation around her, Lucy's voice did not quiver and her tone was final. She was so strong. His weirdo.

"Stop what, Luce?" he asked, smirk pulling at his lips and his tongue flicking out to clean the blood from them. He could see his reflection in her watery eyes, ruby red scales accentuated by the odd black one covering his cheek bones and encroaching on the sides of his face, black horns curing upwards from his temples. Although he supposed it should be his eyes that scared her the most, the open and deep grey replaced by an electric red, a hint of insanity dancing under the surface.

He watched her until she stood in front of him, smile falling slightly from his face at her trembling lip. He scanned the bodies around him -at least what he could make of the remains- searching for any familiar faces. A strange feeling weighed in his chest when he remembered that the power surge had come after he had charged head first into enemy territory. No one that Lucy would care for lied dead around him. He frowned when he recognized the strange feeling. Relief. For what he wasn't sure, as he couldn't care less about who he tore his claws through, only desiring the rush of victory and the sounds of begging before him.

"This. The killing. You don't need to k-kill them to beat them Natsu. Yes they're bad people, but they're still people." Lucy said softly, eyes searching his for understanding as she gently cupped his face with both of her hands. Natsu looked at her blankly, noting how her voice wavered and became hinted with desperation. He didn't like it. His Lucy should never look so scared and broken.

"I don't have to Lucy. I want to." he answered, smirk pulling at his lips until he saw her flinch back, one arm wrapping tightly around her to stop her from retreating. From leaving him. "They challenged me Luce. I have to show them that I'm too strong for them to ever fight. What I'll do to them if they hurt my family." His last sentence made him pause. It had been automatic, but rung as truthful as all of his other statements. It was odd though, because he didn't care about Fairy Tail or Sabertooth or any other guild, and yet the thought of anyone of them being hurt made him snarl in anger. His eyes focused on Lucy again when he smelt fear swim around them, horror growing in Lucy's eyes as more tears fell from them.

"W-who are you?" Lucy asked, leaning away from his body as she dropped her hands from face. The loss of contact made something ache in his chest and he felt his tail twitch in irritation, dragging along the ground before curling possessively around her ankle and making her jump at the unexpected contact. A ghost of a smile flitted across her face as he brought one of her hands back up to his face, nuzzling into the soft skin and taking in her scent buried beneath the layers of grim and battle.

"I'm Natsu. I'm your partner and a Fairy Tail mage. I'm E.N.D. I'm powerful enough to never lose you again." Natsu growled, holding her widened gaze from the corner of his slanted eye even as he nipped at her skin, teeth gentle and teasing as the skimmed along her flesh. He watched the denial gather on her lips even as it drained from her eyes, the truth settling over them like a heavy blanket. "I'm going to be King of Alveraz when I kill Zeref and end this. Heh, get it? END it." Natsu grinned at his own joke even as Lucy paled at his statement.

"No, Natsu! You couldn't beat him before, he's practically a god." she cried, free hand fisting at the shredded remains of his jacket. "You'll die if you try, especially when you're tak-in the form of one of his demons." Lucy's breath hitched and he watched her curiously, her nose scrunching in the way it did whenever she thought too hard or lost herself in her fantasy world. Panic clearly laced her words, voice high and nearing hysterics.

"He has your book Natsu, oh god he has your bo-"

"Shh, shh Luce. I'm more powerful than him now. Can't you feel it? Hell, after I've taken over as Emperor I'm gonna kill Acnologia! Nothing can stop me, Luce. Nothing can stop us!" Natsu crowed, pulling her body close and lifting her in a hug, burying his face in her shoulder as he spun her around. Giddiness mixed intoxicatingly with the power inside him, the closeness of Lucy soothing some primal fear in his soul. As long as she was beside him and he had this strength, she would be safe.

"You're scaring me, Natsu." Lucy whimpered as she clung to him, her body shaking even as her limbs wrapped around him tightly. "You're you but you're different. I see my Natsu in your eyes sometimes, but th-then you speak like that. All power hungry and ruthless a-and, and-" Lucy broke off in a sob, nails digging into the back of his neck and catching under the scales that covered his spinal column before spreading out.

"I'm still your Natsu, Weirdo." Natsu hummed, careful of his claws as he rubbed her back and supported her. He felt her shake her head against him in disconnected movements. "Yes I am." he sighed, walking towards the path where he knew Zeref was. He could sense it. Probably shouldn't tell that to Lucy though, it would only scare her more. "Hey, shh, shh. Why're you crying?" he asked as he stepped over charred bodies, face impassive as he kicked a dismembered head from his path. She hiccuped and sobbed louder, arms and legs tightening their hold on him. He sighed to himself, lifting his gaze and looking intently through the haze around them. He would put a claw mark into Zeref for every tear Lucy cried. A sadistic smile curled his lips and he squeezed his hand into her thigh where he held her.

He could almost taste his brother's blood now.

A/N: This was fun and good practice for angst week. This kinda took it's own turn, but I'm still lowkey proud of it :D Song Prompt was Castle by Halsey

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