Salamander's Requiem

Written by: 01/03/14

At Kunugi Station…

Imagine if you will, a scene where Natsu is spying on the Dark Guild Eisenwald, who are currently sequestered in Kunugi Station, in the town of Oshibana. Furthermore, imagine listening to their conversations about various pinup girls, and let's not forget that the female members of the guild also seem to share the same odd interests, mixed in with a general sprinkling of 'Anyone who looks at me funny, dies'. No, this is not a usual mission by any means.

This is just… Wrong…

In what kind of world does a dark guild sit around acting like perverted fools when they're on a mission!?

And what is that woman doing! Is she…! She's actually drooling over a picture of Erza!

'Natsu-san!' as a sweet voice interrupts his musing, laced with an edge of steel.

'Natsu-san, weren't you supposed to be finding out what these… things are doing here?'

'Ah, uh yes of course. That would be the plan, if these idiots weren't so focused on… various other things.' he replied slightly nervously.

'I'm bored Natsu-san.' the voice whined.

'Not my problem. Just go and do whatever, I'll wait and see what happens here.'

'You're no fun…'

"Now that's done with, let's see just what you're going to do next Eisenwald…" he murmured to himself.

He was a master at hiding his presence from others, though where he gained this seemingly infallible ability still eluded the inquisitive minds of many of his guild members. It wasn't often that he decided to do this, since he was obviously comfortable with allowing his guild members to know where he is. At times, he exuded a cold dangerous air about him, though only some of the strongest members of the guild could tell the source, the general sense of unease was enough to dull the exuberance of even the most excitable members. This, when compared to the warm and inviting aura he once displayed so openly, was a cause for concern. Nowadays, that cold edge had thawed slightly, as he simply wasted his days away.

Unfortunately for Eisenwald, unless they were specifically looking for intruders, it would be unlikely he'd ever be discovered, unless through his own actions. And this is what made him all the more dangerous.

It won't be long before they send the Rune Knights in to eliminate this threat. I mean, capturing a train station in broad daylight is insanity at best. Well, I can always use this to my advantage.

A dark smirk formed on his face, though one could not see it beneath the shadows of his hood. His mere thought process was simply enough to send chills down the Eisenwald member's spines.

I'm sure she'll forgive me for lack of control when dealing with these… people…

A Certain Car…

"Oh god, my face!" a painful moan escaped from Gray, while a red handprint was firmly planted across his face, courtesy of Lucy and her reactions.

Erza took one sharp look at Gray, instantly quelling his complaints. Lucy still looked extremely embarrassed, while Elfman simply didn't seem to have the brainpower to grasp the understanding of the events that had transpired.

"Explain." Erza uttered firmly.

A small squeak came from Gray, unknowingly lowering his image to 'girl-scout' level before he launched into a fast explanation, lest Erza knock him out for being too slow to answer.

"I ran into someone from Eisenwald. He attacked me with Shadow magic, and then something cut through the train separating us. He said Erigor had come to get him. That's all!" he finished with a flourish.

Erza promptly knocked him out with a fist for suddenly overcoming his fear of her retribution.

"Thank you Gray."Erza replied sweetly, or at least as sweetly as a terrifying woman could, despite him not being able to hear her.

Elfman, Lucy and Happy simply looked at her with nervous grins, hoping that they wouldn't be next in line.

"The train is heading to Kunugi Station in Oshibana, so we'll have to catch up with it." Erza continued still oblivious to the staring of Elfman, Lucy and Happy.

"H-Hai!" they all answered as one.

Erza then began feeding more magic power into the car, increasing its speed.

"You know… If E-Erigor came to get that guy, couldn't he be the one with Lullaby?" Lucy asked tentatively.

Erza did a small double take at the question before replying. "Well-reasoned Lucy. That must be the case."

A lull in the conversation became noticeable, while the landscape was speeding by them. This however, did give Lucy more time to think.

A gasp of shock and awe came from her lips, as she shakily spoke again.

"L-Lullaby was the name of the thing right? I thought it sounded familiar, but I only just realised what it is! It's a flute with death magic! Whoever hears its song d-dies!" she gasped.

Erza, Elfman, Happy and Gray, who was now coming round from his naptime, all involuntarily shuddered at the even more dangerous situation they were now in.

"I'd say they were planning on using it in Oshibana, since that guy was on the train to there." Gray spoke up again, after having now recovered.

"That just isn't Manly!" Elfman exclaimed.

"We'd better hurry." Erza cut in.

Kunugi Station…

A banging sound could be heard throughout the station, followed by a loud voice from behind the barricaded doors.

"This is the Rune Knights! Surrender or we will be forced to take action!"

From his vantage point, Natsu could see a group of 20 or so Rune Knights, obviously inexperienced and nervous, despite the assuredness of the commander leading them.

These people aren't going to last very long against Eisenwald. They're inexperienced, thus prone to mistakes, and not very high quality, if that's what's been sent to deal with a dark guild. The higher ups must be stupid!

Best I can do is try and make sure these idiots don't get themselves killed.

'Aw, Natsu-san is so manly!' chimed in the voice.

'Oh for the love of… Can you stop showing up at inopportune moments!?' Natsu growled.

'I'll pretend I didn't hear that!' she added cheerfully. 'I'm just happy that I'm about to see you… uh… do something?'

'Beat up some Eisenwald members, stop anyone from getting killed, all the while not being discovered spying on them.' Natsu replied succinctly.

'Yes… that.' The voice replied slightly flustered.

The annoying little prickle of irritation in Natsu's head was reaching the point of a full on headache, which only served to add to his bad mood. Letting his annoyance bleed over into his fighting action could only result in destructive effects. Taking a deep breath, Natsu started calming down, preparing for the fighting to come. Meanwhile, she decided to watch Natsu in action, leaving him to his own thoughts.

I can't wait to see Natsu-san kick some butt!

The Eisenwald members wasted no time in reacting to the threat of the Rune Knights.

"Oy, Oy! Come and get us if you can trash!" catcalled one of the members. A cheer shouted out amongst them. Erigor as the guild leader of Eisenwald had bestowed a bloodthirsty fanaticism upon many of the members, due to his status as an assassin. A role model of a dangerous kind, inflicted upon many impressionable sheep who desire power and money above all.

This was the true danger of a dark guild. Dark thoughts were encouraged and grew ever more insidious upon the individuals in a dark guild. Questionable morals and ethics only gave birth to even more evil in the world.

*CRASH*

The doors to the station were blasted down suddenly, before the platoon of Rune Knights charged in to engage the enemy.

It was brutal.

Outnumbered by 3 to 1, they stood no chance, even with an unexpected ally lurking in their midst.

In the chaos, a black cloaked figure was barely noticeable, flitting in and around the edge of the fighting, slash one sided battle. He was almost a blur, as he struck seemingly at random, felling several members of Eisenwald at the fringes, before sweeping them up and removing them from sight. The Rune Knights held up for a surprising amount of time, but even a disorganised mob can overcome tactics with enough numbers. Eisenwald had no such restrictions on their fighting, able and willing to use the most dastardly of tactics and attacks to end their targets. Eventually the knights started dropping like flies, overcome by sheer numbers and exhaustion, but one crucial thing was missing.

Bloodshed.

Natsu knew just how to manipulate circumstances to best suit his goals, as for every formation of chaos; he struck hard and without mercy, brutally incapacitating the foe with heavy and efficient strikes. However, preventing the Rune Knights from tragically losing their lives to conflagrations of deadly magic was taking its toll. If he started throwing his flames around without abandon, he would be discovered, and while he could probably eliminate the entire guild alone, he would leave himself tired, and unable to prevent Erigor from completing his goal.

Instead, he was forced to intercept bursts of magic with his own body. While painful, as a Dragon Slayer, his body was extremely durable, and capable of taking even the most deadly of attacks with minimal damage. He could not take all of the hits head on, since he would end up incapable of completing his task, but he was able to utilise some of his skills by deflecting magic off his body with the usage of various limbs. Like he once did to Bora, he was able to beat away weaker attacks of magic with ease, merely taking negligible damage in the process.

Of course, he could not merely leave the Rune Knight's standing, since they would be targeted again. For every one of the attacks he was forced to block, he sneakily knocked out the Knights, giving it the appearance that they were struck down. He wasn't infallible though, and some of the knights were still heavily wounded from the exchange of magic.

Then it was over. Amidst the cheering and jeering from the now celebrating Eisenwald members, they failed to notice they had lost several of their own, without trace.

And in a dark storage room deeper inside the station, a pile of bodies were tied up and locked inside by the man in a black cloak, with smirking face, showing the gleaming white elongated incisors that denoted a Dragon Slayer.

Weeelll…. I can say they won't be waking up anytime soon.

Natsu then chuckled darkly in a small celebration of his success. He had successfully eliminated 13 Eisenwald members in a few minutes of fighting, even whilst defending the Rune Knights, and come out of it with minimal damage and expenditure of energy, and hadn't been noticed to boot.

However, his improved mood quickly took a turn for the worse with yet another interruption.

'…You really don't do anything easily do you Natsu-san?' she questioned him.

A few moments of spluttering out loud was Natsu's reaction before he got control of himself.

'I'm not debating my methods with you!' he snarked back.

'And here I was, hoping you would blow the whole building up, like you used to.' she whined.

'...Right.' he muttered. 'I suppose it wasn't flashy enough for you, you annoying…'

'Lalalala! I can't hear you!' she interrupted childishly.

Natsu simply facepalmed at the sheer stupidity of the conversation.

'Anywaaay Natsu-san.'

'Yes…?'

'Erigor is on his way here, and he's got a guest, and Lullaby with him.' She explained carefully.

'Ah, so things are about to get underway. Now please leave me in peace!' he grumbled.

'…Fine!'

A short while later…

Natsu had followed the guild members, as they relocated into the innermost part of the station. It seemed they were awaiting the arrival of Erigor, and a person called 'Kageyama' who had retrieved Lullaby and broken the seal on it. However, Natsu could not understand what they were doing here.

This makes no sense to me at all. Erigor can fly, yet he's coming here with the flute, instead of going straight to Clover Town? He can't be planning a test for Lullaby here could he?

While he was mulling these various thoughts over in his head, a small gust of wind signalled Erigor's arrival in the station, along with Kageyama and Lullaby.

Well… What the hell do I do now? I can't just go and attack Erigor for Lullaby here; it could wake up, and would probably destroy most of the town before I could stop it. Even scum like this don't deserve one of his demons slaughtering them.

Hmph. I guess I shall wait and see what he'll do next, though my brain is screaming for me to go and thrash him and get Lullaby quickly. Just as well she's not here; she wouldn't be able to last long in Lullaby's presence.

His musing was finally interrupted by Erigor snarling at Kageyama.

"You FOOL!" he roared. "How could you reveal yourself to those fairies!? You could have wrecked everything!"

"S-sorry Erigor-sama!" the man called Kageyama wheedled.

"You're lucky I decided to come and get you sooner!" he hissed again.

Kageyama flinched, but made no attempt to reply to the incensed master of Eisenwald.

"You're lucky they don't fully understand what our mission is!" he continued, before visibly calming down, and continuing with a dark smirk on his face, and a smooth voice.

"Though, we can use it our advantage…" he murmured. "I'm going to set up a little trap for those annoying little flies! Annoy me again Kageyama, and you shall regret it!"

Kageyama simply flinched and nodded his head, eager to avoid the wrath of his master.

Meanwhile, Natsu simply watched on calmly taking in the conversation.

I see… So this wasn't part of his plan after all. And Fairies? That just convinced me that Erza has gotten herself involved in dangerous business yet again. Not that she can't handle Eisenwald or Erigor but Lullaby is a factor even she can't truly understand. This could go really badly wrong.

I'd better go follow Erigor and see about this trap he's setting up. Why must I be the one doing the hard work?

Oh that's right… Stupid question.

With Erza, Gray, Lucy, Elfman and Happy…

"So this is Kunugi Station." stated Gray.

"Are those bodies?" Lucy questioned faintly, voice quivering slightly.

A growl from Erza distracted her attention for the moment, as she interrupts. "Those are rune knights, members of the army."

"They don't seem dead." Interjected Happy, as he was curiously poking one of the aforementioned knights, causing him to groan in pain.

"No time for that. We have to stop Erigor now!" Erza forcefully exclaimed.

"Aye!"

A short while later, Erza and the others reached the platform area of the train station, only to come face to face with the entirety of Eisenwald. To the untrained eye, the odds would seem to be stacked firmly in their favour, as they outnumbered the fairies by a great amount, but numbers don't mean everything when faced against individuals of great strength and skill.

"I knew you would follow us here little flies." A smug voice called out to them. A man hovering in midair with a scythe could be seen above the mob of dark mages.

"Erigor I presume." Erza replied with a stoic expression. "Just what are you planning with Lullaby?" she demanded forcefully.

Erigor grinned widely at the question, as he swiftly hovered on to the top of a speaker. "What do all train stations have in common?" he asked gleefully.

Don't fall for it… The figure of Natsu hidden in the shadows of a nearby balcony watched the scene before him with mild curiosity.

"The speakers!?" exclaimed Gray. "You're going to kill all of those innocent people?"

Erigor suddenly laughed darkly at this statement. "Innocent?" he questioned lightly. "No one is truly innocent you naïve fool. Certainly not all those sinners, who turned a blind eye to the injustice people like us suffered! They will reap their just rewards, and I as the reaper, shall grant them all the justice they deserve!" This was accompanied by a loud cheer from the mob of Eisenwald members.

"What a monstrous sense of justice you have Erigor." Stated Erza. "We will end your twisted crusade here and now!"

"You can count on it!" snarled Gray, drawing supportive cheers from Elfman, Happy and Lucy.

"Stall them!" roared Erigor, as he suddenly sped away leaving the rest of his guild to deal with the fairies.

"Gray, Elfman, after him! Lucy and I will take care of things here!" Erza commanded.

"You got it!"

"I'm going to get that Ice mage for embarrassing me earlier! You get that other one Rayule." Kageyama stated to a man with a black and yellow hood, strongly resembling a sort of Egyptian pharaoh. With that, the both of them set off after Gray and Elfman.

/

"Erza-san is amazing…" Lucy spoke in awe.

Said Knight was seemingly unaffected by the battle she had just been through, but looking closely, the faint tremors of exhaustion were prevalent. This was not enough to put her down though; she would see her job through to the bitter end, without faltering. Too much was at stake.

Erza was a strong and proud woman, not to mention stubborn. She would never admit to a weakness in herself, or to admit when her strength was failing her. The way she fought was like beautiful dance, at times clean and efficient, at others fast and frenetic, constantly teetering on the edge of a knife. Every move flowed seamlessly into another, decimating the foes in front of her with absurd ease. Not a single blow was without purpose or effect; her movements were flawless as she danced around their attacks, cutting down the enemy with each opening she exploited.

Such a one sided battle. It was hopeless for the Eisenwald members from the very start; such was the power of Erza Scarlet.

"So, Erza Scarlet does her job, as usual." interrupted a monotone voice from the side.

Leaning against a marble pillar stood Natsu, arms folded and shrouded in a tattered black cloak, looking at the scene of battered and beaten Eisenwald members with seeming indifference.

Erza took one look at Natsu before doing a double-take. "And just what are you doing here Natsu?" she queried after recovering from her surprise.

Natsu seemed to consider her question momentarily before answering. "Oh well, I was in Oshibana for the day, and thought I'd come to see what the trouble was. After all, it's hard to not notice a train station being taken over." He replied nonchalantly.

Erza seemed to consider this for a moment, before making a noncommittal noise at his reply. "I guess that's true." She replied. Of course, she didn't quite believe him, but there was enough of a ring of truth in his answer, that she couldn't really pressure him on her thoughts.

"Oh by the way, you'll find a few of these delightful people tied up in the storage room around the corner." He supplied casually.

"I see." Erza replied slightly tense. "And how exactly did you manage to put them in there Natsu?"

"A question that needs no answer." He rebutted. "Just them being there is enough information."

He paused for a moment, before continuing. "Well, it seems you have everything in hand. I'll be on my way; after all, I have things to do, people to see, that kind of stuff."

Before Erza could respond, he had already slipped away, leaving her with Lucy and Happy, and various unanswered questions.

"Infuriating…" she murmured to herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted moments later however, when Gray and Elfman burst back into the room, almost frantic.

"Erza!" Gray panted, trying to catch his breath. "Erigor tricked us; they're using Lullaby in Clover Town!"

"The Guild masters!" she exclaimed. "We have to go quickly!" She turned and sprinted out towards the entrance, and to the magic 4-wheeler she had parked. For a fleeting second, she thought to herself. Did Natsu know about this?

/

"Ahhh, I've been waiting for you flies." The hovering guild leader of Eisenwald called out to them as the exited the station.

"Erigor!" Erza yelled. "Hand over Lullaby now!"

"Hmmm, no thank you, I'll keep it for myself." He replied smugly. "Besides, I have you just where I want you!"

A sudden roaring sound rang out, as a giant wall of wind surrounded the station. "I would normally love to stay and fight you Titania, but I have places to be!" Erigor cackled, before flying out of the wall.

Erza made a quick attempt to chase him down, but was thrown back by the wind wall, taking a few cuts and scratches in her armor as she did so. After various attempts, each no more effective than the last, she growled. "Damn it, we can't get out!"

Her hand twitched slightly as she remembered the card. Would he come? Would he? Her thoughts circled round as she hesitated to decide. I don't need his help. But what about the master? No. He wouldn't care!

She was brought back to reality by a sudden cheer from Lucy.

"Virgo! We can use Virgo to dig out!" she exclaimed. After a short explanation of getting the key from her previous mission, and being introduced to a rather petite maid, Virgo the Celestial Spirit, they were outside the wind wall.

"Happy, take Gray and chase down Erigor!" Erza barked. "Elfman, Lucy, with me!" We don't need to rely on that gutless dragon, she thought vindictively.

/

'So Natsu-san, what was the point of that?' A soft female voice asked.

'Simple really. An already mostly exhausted Erza with Gray, Elfman and Lucy for backup just isn't enough to cut it.' He replied matter-of-factly.

'Also, considering the fact that Lullaby can activate itself, they would be easy pickings later on. It was for the best that I delayed them. Now they won't get themselves into trouble they can't get out of.' He continued.

'How caring of you Natsu-san.' She answered sarcastically.

'You forget yourself.' He replied darkly. 'Leave.'

'As you wish Natsu-san. We'll see how things end for you someday.' She answered back sharply, before her presence receded, leaving her words ringing in his head.

Change comes slowly, but change is inevitable. You'll understand eventually. She thought to herself, before disappearing.

/

"Slow down Erza! You're going to kill yourself, or blow up the S.E plug!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I know my limits! We have no time!" she yelled back, as the 4-wheeler suddenly picked up even more speed. "We must stop Erigor before it's too late!"

/

"Ice-Make : Hammer!" a loud cry rang out, as a giant hammer smashed down on an unsuspecting wind mage.

Erigor cried out in pain, as he took a hard blow, knocking him down onto the railway tracks just outside Clover Town. His sudden rage was momentarily quelled by the strange sight of a flying blue cat holding up a half-naked mage. Growling slightly, he pulled himself up before hovering in mid-air again.

"Not bad little wizard. But let's see if you can handle this!" he yelled. "Wind Blade!" He flung out his left arm like a horizontal sword swing, releasing a sudden blast of razor sharp wind blades to cut down his foe.

This was quickly evaded; as Happy dove down to avoid the blow, setting Gray on his feet.

"Storm Bringer!"

Happy and Gray had no time to react as a sudden tornado slammed into them, throwing them back a long distance, and causing Gray to hiss in pain as he struck the dirt.

Erigor watched on amused as Gray struggled to his feet, laughing madly. "Oh this is going to be fun!"

"Don't underestimate me!" Gray snarled out. "Ice-Make : Lance!" An almost torrential amount of Ice lances were sent flying at Erigor, who scoffed before throwing another string of Wind Blades to counter the attack. Some of the wind blades cut through the lances, striking Gray and knocking him to his knees, but many Lances broke through his Wind Blades, slamming into Erigor ferociously.

Erigor spat out blood as he grew more incensed by the fly before him. "You're annoying me brat! You won't be standing after this one! Emera Baram!" he roared, crossing his arms in an X-formation, and then unleashing a giant hurricane of deadly sharp wind at Gray.

The attack crashed through where Gray was, slicing the railway into pieces, and sending chunks of rock and boulders flying from the point of impact. As the dust settled, nothing remained.

Erigor threw his head back and laughed darkly in delight; no one had ever survived this attack, and were usually shred to ribbons by it.

"Oi. Don't get cocky!" a voice snapped from behind him. "Freeze!" it yelled, before Erigor's world went black.

During the chaotic impact of Emera Baram, Happy grabbed Gray and got behind a distracted Erigor. Usually he would have sensed the movement on the wind, but the rattling explosion and subsequent debris had thrown that sense out of order. It was simple enough, as Gray grabbed his shoulder and froze him head to toe. He had no way of knowing this, but if Erigor had not used so much magical energy in powering the wind wall, he likely would have gotten away from the attack unscathed.

But as Gray held the flute called Lullaby in his hands, he cared little for what ifs.

/

"So what do we do with Lullaby now?" queried Lucy.

"We could go take it to the master in clover town." answered Elfman.

"A good idea." Erza nodded approvingly. "Good work on taking down Erigor as well Gray."

"He wasn't anything to worry about." Gray replied, shrugging off the praise.

A sudden hand made out of shadow wrenched Lullaby away from Gray's grip, and pulling back to a smirking Kageyama. "You may have stopped Erigor, but you won't stop me from fulfilling our dream!"

With that, he suddenly smashed the Magic 4-wheeler to pieces with his array of shadow knuckles, before sinking into his own shadow with a chuckle, leaving 5 Fairy Tail members looking almost ghost-like in shock.

"Graaaaaay…" snarled Erza.

"I swear, I thought I'd knocked him out earlier!" he whimpered.

The sounds of fleshy impacts and sobbing were all that could be heard.

Evening in Clover Town…

I can't really appreciate the view. The night sky doesn't have the same feel as it used to. Natsu was sitting on a tree branch, overlooking the meeting hall where the guild masters were gathered.

I wonder when Erigor will show up with Lullaby, he should have turned up by now. Natsu thought to himself as he frowned slightly. I know I didn't get their plans wrong, so where is he?

His attention was drawn to a sudden rustling in the bushes, as he tensed up ready for a fight. Fortunately the tension was defused like a balloon popping, as Makarov walked out of them, holding what seemed to be a rather erotic magazine.

Oh boy. Natsu sweat dropped slightly as he could see the drooling Makarov looking at a certain picture. Was that a picture of Erza? Well, I'm not mentioning that to anyone. Filing it away in the 'must forget' category.

Fortunately, all thoughts of erotic pictures were pushed aside as a slightly dishevelled man stumbled out of the bushes, holding a flute, which looked remarkably like Lullaby.

Kageyama. What is he doing here instead of Erigor? What the hell happened!? This isn't how it's supposed to go down! Where did I go wrong?

"Ho! It's not what you think!" chuckled Makarov nervously, as he tried hiding the magazine behind his back. "Say, you don't look too good. Are you ok?" He asked Kageyama.

"Oh, uh yes." He replied nervously. "I snuck out of the hospital you see."

Makarov raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"Well, I just wanted to play my music, but they wouldn't let me. Would you like to listen?" He replied quietly.

"Some music? Of course, go ahead!" Makarov smiled gently.

Surely he can recognise what that flute is, what the hell is he thinking? Natsu thought furiously.

Kageyama's hand's trembled slightly as he raised his lips to the demon flute Lullaby. A moment later he licked his lips nervously, all the while looking at the gaze of Makarov. He did not notice Makarov making a hand signal behind his back, signalling someone to stop. Natsu realised he was ordering Erza and her team not to interfere, as they had just caught up to Kageyama's trail. Master Bob, the guild master of Blue Pegasus, and Master Goldmine of Quatro Cerberus were also preventing them from interfering.

Finally as he resolved to blow on the flute, Makarov's arm suddenly stretched out rapidly, pinning Kageyama to a tree, and dropping Lullaby to the ground.

"Do you really think I don't know a cursed object when I see one hmm?" Makarov questioned him lightly.

"S-so you knew all along?" Kageyama choked out.

"Indeed. I was just waiting to see if you really were going to go through with this." He stated. "Power isn't everything, and eliminating anyone who stands in your way just isn't acceptable."

"Ha, I could have guessed you would say something righteous like that." Kageyama grimaced.

"Well, you should listen and learn well. It doesn't matter what our reasons are to grow stronger, nor does it matter how we gained power. The only thing that matters is what we do with it, once we have it. If you wish to become strong, don't rely on a flute to do your work for you. Comradeship is the best way to power. The love of friends is everything." He spoke passionately.

I get the feeling that wasn't directed just at Kageyama. He knows I'm here anyway, it's glaringly obvious. He only knows because I'm not trying to hide from him though. Natsu leaned back against the tree trunk frowning slightly. But this isn't over yet.

Kageyama bowed his head, a tear coming to his eyes as Makarov's words washed over him. Seeing this, Makarov released him from his grip, before beckoning Erza and the others to come out of the woods.

Upon reaching Makarov, Erza pulled him into a powerful hug, causing everyone to wince as the master's head slammed into her armor.

Yeah that's got to hurt.

The happy reunion of Erza and the guild master was interrupted however, as a sudden screeching voice sounded out from the flute called Lullaby.

"ENOUGH! I WILL COME FORTH AND DEVOUR EVERY ONE OF YOU!"

The sudden rumbling and shrieking howl of the voice caused everyone to flinch; even some of the masters were perturbed slightly.

A bright light flared out from where the flute was, in a purple magic seal. This caused everyone to shut their eyes to prevent themselves from being blinded. Natsu grimaced from his spot in the trees, as he watched a giant form take shape from within the light.

As the light died down, a giant demon stood, towering over the town, and even some of the mountains. It stood on two feet, with two gnarled claws as hands and three glowing purple eyes. Like the flute, it looked like a demonic tree, with small cut-outs acting as a possible channel for its sound based death magic.

It roared once more, uprooting many trees and stripping away their leaves, causing Natsu to grip tightly onto his vantage position. Luckily though, his tree remained standing.

"I shall feast on your pathetic souls!" it screeched.

"A demon from the book of zeref…" Master Goldmine murmured.

Further comments died away in the wind, as Lullaby suddenly fired a purple beam from its mouth, decimating a nearby mountain with absurd ease.

Natsu merely watched on casually, as Erza and her team sprang into action, Makarov stepping aside and letting them deal with the demon. But sometimes faith in your family is not enough.

Elfman charged at the beast using Beast Arm: Black Bull, only to be flung away with a flick of Lullaby's clawed finger. Erza took the opportunity to re-quip into her Heaven's Wheel armour, before using Circle Sword, sending dozens of swords hurtling into Lullaby, causing it to roar in pain. Gray quickly followed up with an Ice-Make: Lance, striking the demon with even more blows. As it was reeling, Elfman recovered before slamming his Beast Arm into its torso, causing it to screech in rage.

It roared again, this time sending powerful winds hurtling towards them, blowing them back a fair distance, before unleashing a powerful orb of death magic, glowing a sickly purple and black, as it flew towards to them and the Guild masters like a bullet.

"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray yelled out, causing a large semi-circular shield of ice to spring from the ground in front of him, taking the brunt of the impact. The explosion however, managed to knock them down, uprooting even more trees and causing flames to break out.

With each blow, Lullaby seemed to grow even more incensed, if not seemingly damaged enough to bring it down or subdue it at the least. After several more minutes of fierce fighting, Team Erza was in rough shape. Erza was extremely exhausted from the toll on her magic during the long day, but still capable of battling on, while Elfman and Gray were out for the count, having reached their limit. Lucy and Happy had evacuated Clover Town, and the masters were ready to step in. Makarov however held them back, knowing there was one more able to fight.

As Lullaby finally reached the limit of its patience, or what little of it had in the first place, it finally began to sing its death song, only to find out its voice had been reduced to a comical wheezing sound.

"My beautiful voice!" it yelled in despair. "You'll pay for that!"

As Erza braced herself for another attack, Natsu finally decided to step in.

It seems I was right; Erza and her team couldn't handle Lullaby.

He quickly dropped out of his tree, landing in a crouched position, as Lullaby finally unleashed its devastating beam that levelled a mountain, directly at Erza, Gray and Elfman.

He sprang into action, leaping in front of a shell-shocked Erza, who simply didn't have the magical power left to defend a blow such as the one Lullaby was throwing her way.

Fire began circling around Natsu's face, as he drew in all the flames from the surrounding area, extinguishing the flames igniting the forest and the town, before the very air seemed to wither and die from the growing heat.

Time seemed to still for a moment, as Natsu reared his head back, fire growing in the depths of his maw.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" he yelled gutturally. A sudden white hot conflagration of flame tore its way out of his mouth, almost like a deadly ray, before crashing into the beam of Lullaby's magic. The two beams duelled with each other for a few moments, before the fiery roar ripped through, smashing into Lullaby, and knocking it down.

Erza swore she felt like she was being melted alive, even only being in the vicinity of the attack stung her skin and caused her mouth to dry, before relief came as the attack shut off.

Natsu glanced at her for a moment, before sprinting towards the form of Lullaby, in the process of getting up.

'You monster…'

'I cannot help you.'

'Everything you touch dies. Stay away! Get away!'

'You really are heartless.'

'Please don't hurt us anymore…'

'What are you…'

Sudden thoughts wormed their way into Natsu's head as he ran; memories of forgotten things, pains of another time, stabbing into his heart, as he almost faltered from the feelings.

I can't…

One tear fell from his eye, before he ruthlessly crushed his sentiments.

His body suddenly burst into flames, as he launched himself at Lullaby.

"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" he growled, smashing into Lullaby with great force, and piercing through its body.

The gurgled croaking sounds of the dying demon were all that could be heard afterwards.

No mercy.

Natsu simply looked on, apathetically, before turning and walking away.

'It's okay Natsu-san. Really.' A soft voice spoke to him once more. 'You'll get through this like you always do.'

But whether it will be soon, I do not know.

'Thank you.' She finished.

AN

Guuuuh. I'm 80% happy with this chapter. I won't apologise for how long it took to get out, since I have lots of plausible reasons for it hehe. I did skip over two or three minor battles and so on. I may add them in a later update if I feel it would be necessary. I might also rework the ending battle, but it seemed suitable enough having read it through myself a few times.

Anyway, give me your thoughts, any suggestions are welcome. You should be happy to know that the story is 'planned' if not written for MANY MANY arcs ahead. I guarantee it'll get 'finished', and it will be a damn interesting story in my opinion. You'll have a shorter wait for the next few chapters, so that should be good news. In other news, my 'z' and '?' including the forward slash key are broken, but I spent the time making sure I got them copy-pasted in anyways.

Next Chapter ETA 16.03.14 At the latest. Probably sooner. I believe this is the longest chapter I've written by the way. And it still didn't feel quite 'finished' to me, but I think that's always changeable after the fact if I want to add bits to it.

I'll mention in the AN if I update certain chapters, I'll also add a date to the updated chapters so you can see when it was reworked as well.

Be brutally honest with me with any bad parts etc. I think I got all the grammar errors, but no one's perfect etc.

Until next time.

Excerpt from next chapter -

"Ever since Lullaby, I've been getting even more wrapped up in getting Natsu back to his old self. I guess I didn't think it through." She responded. "Hit me."

"Mkay… Wait, what!"