Chapter 12: Shattered bonds reformed
Here we are with the next chapter of Burning Skies my readers, as stated for this chapter, not only will Natsu and Gray go head to head in a one on one match-up BUT Irene finally makes her reappearance. As you can imagine, Gray is pissed sure but no-where near what he was in cannon when he thought Juvia died while Natsu is a lot more battle crazy as I always saw him as a berserker. As a result: A total blood bath since Natsu might just aim to kill or main Gray while some part of Gray fights to help his friend regain what he has lost while the demon side of him fights to destroy a threat.
Enough talk, let's fight!
(Previously)
"Above us ye?" Gray muttered as he stood up and started walking to face Natsu, all the while Natsu was curious as to what Gray thought he could do that the others couldn't. Gray stopped just a few metres shy of him and raised his head, letting Natsu see that half his face was black to with his right eye radiating a sinister violet.
"I'll show you just how far you're fallen! Right here! Right now!" Gray yelled before he charges him, the devil slayer ice particles flowering in his wake.
The dragon prince takes on the devil slayer.
(Now)
How did it come to this?
No…the real question if why did it come to this.
This wasn't supposed to happen, none of it was!
So why?
Why did we fail so badly that the one we all saw as unbreakable was shattered and re-forged into…this?
I told them, Happy told them that fighting was supposed to be a last resort. Sure Natsu responded more to actions than words but this is different.
He is different.
While Lucy was helping to treat Juvia after he fight with Natsu, these were the thoughts that plagued her mind, she couldn't help but think of an alternate route this could have taken, she was a writer and journalist.
"Ice Make: Cannon!"
This been going one for the better part of the last 15 minutes. Natsu and Gray were just slugging it out like they used to. No, nothing like they used to.
"Red Skull!"
She could tell, everyone still awake could tell, that Natsu had been toying with Gray for the most part. Sure Gray scored a blow earlier on which was a victory but after that. Natsu stopped playing around. Lucy looked to the left and saw the large pieces of ice that what remained of some of Gray's earlier attacks.
And it was only getting worse.
(With the two fighters)
"Ice-Make: Impact!" Gray casted as she created a massive intricately-designed hammer made of ice and smashed it down in Natsu, only for the dragon turned humanoid to raise both hands and catch it, killing the momentum dead in its track.
"Good approach, bad execution. Two layered magic: Grand fire bomb!" Natsu said before he casted into creation an equally large fire ball which ploughed through the ice hammer and flew upwards. It look like it was going to fly into space till Natsu brought down a single finger pointing in Gray's direction.
"Firestorm!" Natsu called out as the fireball exploded into dozens of smaller ones and showered into Gray position.
"Ice Make: Dome!" Gray casted as the ice dome shielded him from the brunt of the attack before shattering in the last stages of the attack. Gray quickly went on the offensive. "Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" Gray casted as he fired off 6 large spears of ice towards Natsu who dashed to the right to avoid them.
"Dammit, stay still!"
"Nope!" Natsu said with a crazed grin as he fired off his own attack. "Prominence Typhoon!" And with that a large blast of red fire was fired at Gray who like Natsu, dodged the blast, not minding the heat wave and explosion of it hitting something behind him.
'Dammit, this is getting me nowhere fast, even after I froze the area!' Gray thought to himself as he tried to think of another attack plan.
Shame Natsu didn't give him one.
"Rumblehorn!" Natsu called out as he fired off numerous blast of fire towards Gray from each hand, each shot forcing his hands backyard like the recoil of a cannon, each one also was making a sound similar to a war horn as they were created and subsequently fired off, Gray quickly placed up a defence with his Ice make: Shield before jumping back, knowing that it won't hold. This proved to be right as after 5 shots, the shield was destroyed and Natsu refocused his aim on Gray. Who proceeded to dodged them the best he could, some coming way to close for comfort.
"Two can play at this game. Ice Make: Arrows!" Gray casted as he fired off much larger than normal arrows at the fire blast, each one cancelling out the other for a bit before Natsu cut his attack and jump into the air, flames gathering around the palm if his hands.
"Rapid Fire Volley!" Natsu casted as he fired off hundreds of small balls of fire at Gray, each one only as big as a baseball but all together…
"Ice make: Bunker!" Gray casted in a hurry to block the attack, luckily for him the bunker held out against the onslaught, once the cost was clear, a hatch opened up in the bunker's roof and from it come out a very large barrel made from ice. The barrel was aimed straight at Natsu.
"Ice make: Howitzer!" Gray casted as he fired off a massive blast of ice and frost at Natsu who chose to block the attack, the dragon turned human was pushed back well over 100ft before he dispersed the spell.
"Well that was certainly impressive Gray, another one of those and I make actually break a sweat." Natsu taunted as he landed, Gray would have attacked him on the spot but he noticed that Natsu didn't land and act like this nothing like he had been for most of the fight, be looked like he was in pain.
"Damn, what do you know, it's actually starting to hurt." Natsu said to himself as he looked down to the slab of Devil Slayer ice he had landed one, even with boots on, he could feel the ironic burning sensation.
"What are you talking about?" Gray asked/demanded of him as he took this time to catch his breath.
"I'm part demon Gray, at least in this form. Don't ask how cause I don't know-my best guess is I adsorbed a little bit of Mard Geer and Jackal two years ago. It's a great power boost but it's a real pain against magic such as this." Natsu revealed as he pointed down to the ice he was standing on. Gray and everyone was surprised by this new information…well everyone except Mira and Happy, one already knew and the other had her suspicions on the subject as she had been feeling demonic energy flowing out his him, not much but it was still there none the less.
"…Why would you tell me that, you know I practice Devil Slayer Magic?" Gray asked him wearily as he readied himself for another near death brawl. Natsu at this just shrugged his shoulders, not at all concerned by this.
"Don't really know, maybe I want you to actually have a chance in hell since this is boring…or maybe I want you to know that even with that knowledge, I'll still crush you." Natsu told him as his smirk turned into a blood thirsty grin as he eyed what he saw as a piece of meat ready for the slaughter.
"We'll see about that-Absolute Freeze!" Gray casted as he froze the entire area with his devil slayer ice, effectively making the entire battleground a hazard for Natsu to step on.
"Hey I remember when Silver used this on me, but that was then…this is now!" Natsu told him before he took in a deep breath, Gray was preparing for his roar but rather than that, Natsu breathed out a torrent of burning liquid that set fire to everything it touched, not even the ice was safe as it too caught fire, it didn't melt but it was one fire. "Greek Fire!" Natsu casted as he finished his spell, smiling like a madman as Gray looked upon the flames as they climbed ever higher.
"Now this is a hellscapes a man can get used to. Come one oh wizard of frost and snow, show me what you can do!" Natsu said aloud as the flames casted dancing shadows that if Gray didn't know any better, would say that they were an extension of the darkness within him.
(With the others)
"How did he set fire to the ice?" Lyon asked in disbelief, never before had he heard that such a thing was possible.
"I don't know, isn't it supposed to be fireproof?" Sherry asked they all moved a bit further back as the flames grew intensity and power, making it uncomfortable to be near them.
"It was the spell." Jura stated as he looked upon the flames with a clear frown ad sweat gathered on his brow.
"What do you mean Jura, what about it?" Yuka asked his senior guildmate as he kept some of the flames back with his wave only to dispel it when he saw that even his 'waves' were catching fire.
"That spell as created for the soul purpose of setting fire to materials that regular fire can't such as water and ice. It was named after an ancient warrior culture and their ferocity in battle. To think he would have learned such a technique." Jura told them all as he never imagined he would see this spell be used by anyone other than the former 1st wizard saint, he knew that when used right, one small fire could burn a whole town to the ground with very little countermeasures against it.
"Happy, what else does he know?" Erza asked the Exceed, they needed a plan and they needed one fast.
"Well…" Happy was clearly hesitate to give them any more info but they could see that he did want the fighting to stop.
"Happy please, you don't want to fight him anymore than you do but we need to get him to at least listen to us again." Lucy begged him, she wanted to help her friend as much as he did but they needed Natsu to calm down first.
"….He knows smoke and lightening dragon slayer magic." Happy told them sadly as he flew into Lucy's chest for her to hug him, clearly overwhelm by the situation.
"When did he pick that one up?" Orga asked as that seemed very bad to know as the pyro obviously didn't feel the need to use it yet, showing just how much he was holding back.
"It was from Laxus, wasn't it? From when we battled Hades nine years ago?" Erza asked Happy as he nodded at her question, confirming her thoughts on the matter "I didn't think he would have refined his skill in it to the level of not needing to activate his flames to use it but." She added
"You got that right, I still need to go into Iron Shadow Made just to use shadow dragon slayer magic." Gajeel added as he stood back up, still holding his hand as Wendy had healed it but not fully as she needed to focus on other right now, Bacchus was still out of the fight and from the look of it, he wasn't going to enter the fray again any time soon.
"Can we try to put them out?" Ren asked as he eyed the flames with distaste.
"Unlikely that you wind will do anything more than strengthen them, besides…I don't think he would let you live for interrupting his battle." Jura told him honestly as he had accepted then this battle may be the last for either them…or Natsu
"Aye, Natsu always been battle crazy but now…I don't know how we are going to be able to get through to him." Levy said as he helped Lilly to stand again.
"But…But we have to! There has to be a way, she's not here so she can't talk him down so we have to do it." Happy pleaded with them with tears in his eyes, he just couldn't accept that his father may die, did didn't want to accept it.
"You mean the other dragon?" Kagura asked to which Happy nodded.
"Okay how would she do it, how would she get him to listen?" Kagura asked him, if they knew how she did it then it should be easier for them to figure out a method themselves.
"He would just listen, he cares too much about her not to." Happy told them sadly as he didn't really know if she had a way with words, knew when to speak or maybe Natsu just listened to her.
"What is her name than?" Lisanna asked as up till this point, no name had been dropped.
"It's…it's…" Happy started but held back.
"Please Happy." Lisanna pleaded with him, what damage could knowing a name do?
"It's Irene." Happy told them.
"Are you all speaking about Lady Irene?" A new voice asked, gaining all their attention as they turned to see one of the villagers standing behind them. She was wearing a simple blouse and dress combo but the look in her eyes showed she wasn't in the best of moods.
"When the hell did you get here?!" Rocker yelled as he jumped back in fright, how the hell she got here without no-one noticing her!
"Not too long ago but you've all been too distracted to notice." She replied, not at all surprised by their shock
"Your one of the villagers who spied on us, aren't you?" Arana asked as she eyed the newcomer.
"I am." She confirmed without hesitation.
"Why?" Minerva asked as she meet the poker-face of the newcomer.
"Because we don't trust you and it seems we were right not do, all you have done is stolen why was ours, ignored our warnings and now you have angered our protector and ruler." She told them as she pointed to the battle raging just across the flames.
"Patty, what are you doing here?"Happy asked her through a telepathic link he felt her establish when she announced her presence.
"Lady Irene was sighted to the north of here, last reports we got was that she wiped out a dark guild that had set up camp in the area." Patty reported as she sent him the info she read on the report.
"So that means…" Happy started but she interrupted him.
"Yes, she is on her way here, shouldn't be more than another ten minutes." Patty confirmed as she continued to watch the fight press on.
"And Natsu too absorbed in his fight to notice isn't he?" Happy thought sadly as he too turned to watched the fight catching Grey dodging a fireball.
'Yes, if he knew he would most likely have killed the ice wizard and flown to meet her but let's not get ahead of ourselves just jet." Patty said as her king could have easily turned into a dragon and finished this off long ago but chose not to.
(Back with the two combatants)
"Ice Devil's Rage!" Gray casted as he let loose his breath attack, trying to make space to think as Natsu had been on him this whole time, dodging his attack before launching his own counterattacks.
"Fire-wall!" Natsu tiredly casted as a 60ft wall of flame came into being right in front of him, taking the attack, even if it was reduced to a frozen sculpture. It had served its purpose.
"Ice make: Excalibur!" Gray casted as he formed a large double edged broadsword the launched himself through the frozen fire to take on Natsu in close quarters, sadly Natsu was ready to meet him head on.
"Prominence Beast!" Natsu casted a large monster made out of red fire came into being and charged at Gray "Take him my pet." Natsu told his creation as he jumped back.
"It will take more than-" Gray started as she slashed the beast in two, destroying it as he kept on going "An oversized fireball to take me on!" Gray finished as he jumped up and prepared to finish this off.
"I know…you just walked into it." Natsu told him as he clapped his hands together, just as Gray landed, he saw the same black walls that had surrounding Juvia surround him, and he realized it a moment too late.
'Crap!' Gray thought to himself as scrambled to get a counter going.
"Prominence Blasting Furnace!" Natsu casted with glee as the trap was sprung with Gray right in the middle of it, he was rewarded by the same pained screams from the black box before he dispersed that as well. But his surprise, he didn't see a body.
"Now…where did he go? That shouldn't have killed him." Natsu asked himself as that didn't have the kind of power to incinerate a wizard of Gray's calibre. As he walked over where he saw Gray standing, he saw shards of ice all over the place and suddenly it clicked in his mind.
"A decoy…wait a minute!" Natsu said aloud as he tried to jump back, only to nearly lose his balance, he looked down and saw his feet and shins had been frozen to the floor, the ice flowing with devil slayer magic meaning he wouldn't be able to melt it in time to escape the trap he had walked into.
"What?!" Natsu yelled in anger and surprise as he looked around for his opponent, he didn't have to look hard to see that Gray was standing a little over 20ft from him, a little burned but still standing.
"This ends right now Natsu!" Gray yelled as he took the classic ice maker stance and started pouring unreal amounts of power into whatever he was doing.
'I can't move! He lured me here...smart play Gray, smart play' Natsu thought to himself with a small smile as he was man enough to admit when he had been outsmarted.
"Devil's Ice Make: Grand Impact!" Gray casted as a giant intricately designed hammer the three times the size of the one he tried to use on Silver two years prior was created 200ft above Natsu, Gray then brought it down upon the dragon in human form with the force of a rocket, destroying everything within range and generating a blast wave so strong it knocked Gray off his feet. Even the wizards observing the battle weren't spared as they too had to hold on for dear life as the sheer destructive wave threatened to blast them away as well. Afterwards there was silence on the battlefield as even the raging fires were put out by the ice or the momentary lack of oxygen. The wizards all got back up to their feet to see that the battlefield was silent, no sounds of battle could be heard and both combatants were hidden by the chunks of ice and dust cloud blocking their view.
"That…that had to have been enough…I put…almost everything I had into that…" Gray said to himself as he could barely stand after using up all that power.
"Was...was that enough?" Lyon asked as he never before had anyone seen something like that. The shock was still present in their minds.
"I don't know, I don't feel his presence anymore." Beth said as she couldn't feel his heavy magical presence.
"So he's knocked out then, we win?" Lector asked as he floated behind Sting for cover.
"Gray-sama did it?" Juvia said quietly as she couldn't stop the smile of happiness from spreading across her face at the news.
"I wouldn't count on it." Patty said, breaking the mood.
"What do you mean Patty?" Happy asked her.
"Happy, you and I both know that although that was a great performance by the ice wizard, the fact of the matter is that he put most of his remaining power into that assault and is in no shape to continue." Patty said as the dust started to clear for them to see that Grey was indeed in no condition to fight, hell it looked like just standing was a chore at this point.
"But is it needed? I mean you saw that strike that must have done him in." Rocker asked weary of her answer. Their answer came in the form of the ground itself shaking, the magical pressure that was gone a moment ago returning with a vengeance.
"No…it only got him more excited for battle…" Parry told them as the air itself starting to rise in temperature.
"T-That's impossible, nothing should be alive after that." Risley muttered as it become very clear that Natsu was down but far from out.
"Damn it! Just how much do I need to give for you stay down?" Gray asked as he tried to ready himself for the battle to continue.
"The ice…is cracking? How?!" Gajeel asked as he had seen first-hand how tough that was.
"Well this a fine mess I gotten myself into…I admit Grey. Juvia was right about you, you are strong." Natsu admitted with a smile, if anyone could see it, they would have seen that it was a different one to the ones he had been showing them throughout the battle, another change even he did know about was the fact that the single red scale that represented his humanity had grown, now eight times its size. At that moment the hammer he was hit, starting to grow cracks all over itself before breaking into 7 different pieces which themselves were cracking up.
"How are you still moving under there?!" Gray yelled in frustration and fear as he saw the broken pieces of the hammer he dropped start to move around.
"Oh this? I ain't gonna lie, this was mighty impressive…but as I already said. Ice will never beat me…never again." Natsu said in a deadly serious tone as the magic power he was putting out continued to rise to twice what he put out in the beginning of their fight, the power was enough to drop Grey to his knees, too weak to resist it.
"Is that lava?!" Rogue asked as he noticed that lava was flowing out of the area under the impact zone, meaning that it must be coming from Natsu
"Everyone move!"
"Three Layered Magic Circle: Grand King Upsurge!" Natsu casted as s giant eruption of lava and magma shot out from under Natsu's position, blasting the ice pieces into vapour and blowing Grey off his feet
"You didn't think ahead Grey but I can't blame you. Most things would have been beat with that last attack but at the same time, it shattered the ice layer you had put down earlier, allowing me to once more call upon the burning magma of the very Earth." Natsu told him as he made his approach, flexing his fingers as flickers of fire danced around him, seemingly preparing for the finishing move, Gray was nearly out of power and still couldn't believe that his old rival was still ticking at this level of efficiency but none the less forced himself to his feet to meet him in kind. Once Natsu was around a few feet away from him, he stopped and observed Grey head to toe, like he was looking for a weak spot to expose before he spoke once more.
"…Calm yourself, I have no intention of continuing with this battle. That goes to all of you." Natsu suddenly announced as he cancelled the flames around him and his power level return to the dormant state it was when he spoke with Lucy.
"Is he for real?" Sting asked the group at large, not buying that after all that…he was willing to just stop fighting.
"I don't know." Erza answered as she knew how much he loved to keep a fight going as long as possible, this was really out of character for him.
"Grey, as I already said, I was wrong about you and for that, you have my apologies. You were able to inflict more damage than Juvia could ever hope to do and thanks deserves praise." Natsu told the ice maker as he gestured to the few bruises forming on his chest and cuts across his arms as well as his near non-existent clothes as he was left only wearing pants with his torso was bare.
"Oh my God, he's right, he's all beat up!" Rocker yelled.
"Is that means that he…" Lector asked but stopped himself mid-sentence.
"I can see what my father saw in you humans, even though you are hopelessly outmatched and guaranteed to die by my hands, you didn't hesitate and threw in everything you had and more…all to protect what you hold dear." Natsu said as he gestured to Grey's beaten and tired form before he sighed and closes his eyes in thought. "So consider this fight yours Grey, you earned it."
"So…so I win?" Grey asked as he had to focus to just stay standing.
"Only because killing you would serve no purpose, I think all of you already know I was holding back, and I'm not talking about my dragon form or my dragons fire either, what I was using here was about 70% of what I'm capable of in this form." Natsu told him, crashing their hopes that they even had a chance if he deemed them annoying enough to just blast straight to hell.
"…Heh…you were holding back that much then?" grey asked as he let himself fell on his ass in exhaustion, not really seeing the need to keep standing when the fight was already over.
"Yes but as I said, it was impossible for you to win and if I wanted you dead, you'll all be dead at my feet right now. Hell that last spell I used could have hit all of you and from the looks of it, some of you would have been unable to escape it." Natsu informed them as he pointed to the still very hot lava around them.
"But…but why?" Grey asked.
"It was what Lucy told me in our meeting, her words have been on my mind this entire fight, it was the reason I chose not to incinerate Lilly, Bacchus, Gajeel and Juvia when I had the chance but you all proved her right as the fight went on, rather than fighting for your own survival, you fought for the lives of the person standing next to you, regardless of whether they were your guildmate, friend or none of the latter." Natsu told them with a smirk as he saw the surprised faces on the gathered group.
"You mean that you were-?" Lucy asked as she like the rest had heard what he just said.
"That I was listening to you Lucy? It's hard not to, you fairy tail wizards can be loud as all hell." Natsu confirmed as his smirk grew a little bigger. Leaving Lucy with a small smile of her own.
"Yeah, you're right there." Lucy said as she thought of all the times Natsu himself was the cause of that noise.
"Hmmm…Patty." Natsu said as he turned his attention to the lone villager present.
"Yes sir?" Patty asked as she nodded to him in a way only a servant could to their master.
"Please inform my staff that we will be having quests for the next few days, and to prepare the med bay for more than a few people." Natsu said as he turned his back to them and started walking back to his castle.
"Just like that, your letting us stay with you?" Erza asked, watching as he kept on walking.
"Only until your wounded are fit for travel out of my territory, make no mistake, you have my respect, not my friendship nor is this an attempt to re-join any of you, those bridges have long since been destroyed." Natsu stated as he turned to look at her with a blank face
"That's the best we can hope for, isn't it." Erza asked but more stated, however the answer didn't came from Natsu but from…another source.
"At least for now." A powerful female boomed from above them.
"Who said that?!" Carla yelled as she and everyone else started to look around, it wasn't till Patty spoke that everyone knew who it was.
"It is Lady Irene, she has arrived." Patty said as she pointed to the hills behind them where they could see a large dragon approaching them. For most of them, it may have been the third second or third time they had seen dragons but none the less it was an awe-inspiring sight to behold.
"Wow, never seen a female dragon before." Semmes said as he pointed to Irene as she came in for a landing beside Natsu who had fully turned to face her.
"Yeah, she's bigger than him, is that mean she's older?" Elfman asked as recalled how big Igneel looked and what Natsu looked like in his dragon form and was able to tell that Natsu was the smallest of the three.
"Must be, you heard Wendy's mother, most dragons went extinct well over 400 years ago." Rogue answered.
"Oh how rude, speaking about a women's age when she can hear you." Irene stated, get them to all jump as they saw her giving them a grin as it was probably her intention to get a rise out of them.
"As always it is good to see you Irene, don't mind them. They're not known for their manners." Natsu said to her with a smile which really threw them off as it was so similar to the ones he use to flash to just about everyone, seems he reserved them for just her now.
"So you say, I saw you battle, you're right they do know how to fight at the very least." Irene responded as she looked him over and saw the damage he took was minimal as he had taken worse from their training session…still it was a feat that his former friends could actually land a hit in the first place.
"Anyway, I have invited them to stay till their wounds have been seen to and taken care of, it would be a dishonour to make them leave in their condition, and most of them can't even defend themselves in their current state." Natsu said as he pointed to the ones he had taken out of fight such as Bacchus, Gajeel and Juvia who were still being treated. Not really caring for all the no-names council members he had killed.
"Your right there…hmmm…how about you head on ahead of us, we'll catch up." Irene suggested as she eyes the group but gave more attention to Erza, luckily the redhead didn't seem to notice.
"You sure about that?" Natsu asked her with a frown.
"Of course I am dear, if they couldn't beat you then they have no chance of harming me…not that their stupid enough to make the attempt, isn't that right?" Irene assured him as he turned back to the group and releases some of her power as she grinned, showing off her own razor sharp teeth.
"Yes mam!" they all chorused in fear at what she would be able to do if she was truly stronger than Natsu
"Man, why do I feel like this is familiar?" Lucy asked Cana as she felt that thus fear shooting down her spine was somehow…familiar.
"Don't know but it just feels like it." Cana answered as she took a gulp to swallow the saliva build-up as she and the rest of them looked onto the mighty beast.
'Oh if only those poor fools knew that this is Erza's mother. If they think she's scary, they haven't seen Irene mad yet…which is a good thing.' Happy thought to himself as he thought it would be best for that information to be said at another time.
"Alright then. I'll see you back at the castle." Natsu agreed before he turned to walk away, once he made a distance from them, he transformed into his own dragon form and took flight back to his castle, leaving the group to their own devices.
"I suppose that we should greet then." Wendy said to break the ice, Irene agreeing with the youngest slayer.
"I agree. I am the Sage Dragon Irene. It's a pleasure to meet you all in person." Irene introduced herself to the group with her version of a bow, once everyone had their turn to introduce themselves which in the case of Lilly and Bacchus as done for them. Irene led them back to the castle, it was quiet was they walked before dropped something out of the blue. "I meant what I said back there, give him time and you will have his trust again, he's too Natsu to lock someone out of his heart for forever." Irene stated with a smile as he continued to lead them back, purposely not answering their question about her statement.