Hello everybody! leo0074 with another chapter! Gotta say, a lot of things has happened since the last chapter, but I'm more than ready to continue developing this lively story of mine. Having said that, from now on I'll be trying to write 3k to 4k words per chapter, so they can come out faster and avoid harming the quality in which they are released.
The new season of Fairy Tail is lit and so is my love for the series. To leave it simple, my excitement for writing this story is a flame that has yet to be extinguish. But enough of that, let me address a few questions I received from the previous chapter before going over to the chapter!
TheLaughingStalk Lenny-kun:
I'm following both, so am I reading the Happy's Adventure and the City Hero spin-off. They are all quite great.
surya25addanki:
I sure am glad to hear that! It always bothered me that people often failed to realize how much Natsu has matured after the one-year time skip, so I feel like pointing that out in this story.
Lordlexx:
I see where you are coming from and I can understand the concern of losing a limb affecting Natsu's fighting style, but I assure you it won't be that at all. Natsu is the type of fighter who rather use his fist than anything else, but he has been learning how to adapt to his new abilities, which I believe I've been making him do until now. Also, are we forgetting the fact that Natsu has a vast level of control over his flames that he is able to avoid burning his own clothes while burning others?
My goal is not getting Natsu depressed or traumatized. Nothing like that. But I do believe that going after what he went through and not having any negative reaction coming from him would be a very odd thing. Yes, he is willing to sacrifice anything for his friends, that was in part the point for what he did. He has already set his mind to the idea of defeating Acnologia, so I'm not doing that to give him motivation to train.
I'm not trying to change Natsu's character, but I'm showing the most mature side that Natsu had after the Avatar Arc began. He is still the same brash-laughable knuckle-head from always. I believe he has been like that even in the recent chapters. But take also in consideration everything that has been happening ever since the first chapter. Dying. Not being able to see his friends again. Joining the Gotei 13. Learning about his painful past. The death of his parents. Encountering Acnologia.
Losing an arm is only a small part of his conflicting emotions. The conversation with Unohana was not to show a most depressing Natsu, but to demonstrate that all the events that have been occurring until now have weight on them and Natsu has to carry them on his own. I hope this explanation was enough to relief your concern. Also, losing an arm was just to show that anything can happen in this story.
Were there other ways to do it? Probably, but I know nobody expected something like this to happen to Natsu, so I guess you could say I did a good job when it came to surprises. And call it ironic, but Natsu actually lost his arm the same way Acnologia did.
Yurishimo The Forgiving Dragon:
Yes, Yamamoto could go Bankai and end everything around him. Including his own allies dummy.
Having said that, don't forget to share what in your opinion would be the best pairing-choice, but most importantly, please enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 14
"How is Acnologia here?" Demanded Natsu with a hard gaze fixed on the Head-Captain. "And what happened to him that make him look like that?!"
Those were some of the first questions that plagued his mind the moment he first laid eyes on the now transformed Dragon of the Apocalypse. The left sleeve of his white robe was hanging loosely by his side as his body trembled with restrained anger.
"What exactly makes you believe that I posses any of the answers that you seek?" Yamamoto responded with a firm tone.
"Well, I thought that you..." His voice slowly lowered under his breath, finding himself frozen in mid-thought as he was unable to come up with an answer. A moment passed before he finally released a heavy sigh. "I don't know. Its just that I thought you would know something."
The pink-haired Shinigami felt like hitting himself for overreacting. He just realized that he was acting brash without thinking again. However, before he could say anything else to the old Shinigami, he spoke.
"Regardless of the reason, if the man responsible for your arrival in the Soul Society is not only here, but has also turned into a Hollow, then the more reason for us to put him down for good."
Yamamoto still remembered everything that the young wizard told them about the so called Dragon King and how much of a danger he was back in his own world. But now that he was able to witness at first-hand the vast amount of power that it possessed, he was left without any doubt in his mind.
Acnologia was a threat that needed to be eradicated as soon as possible.
"But then how?" Natsu could feel his own body shake. His fist was clenching so much that it could almost draw out blood. "How did he ended up turning into a Hollow? Just what the hell happened to him?"
He still didn't know much about Hollows other than what he was told. They were monsters that devoured the souls of their victims, therefore needed to be killed at sight. He thought that was all there was to it. But now? He was not so sure anymore.
"Those aren't the questions that you should be asking yourself." Yamamoto responded. "The how and why are irrelevant at this point. The real question that you should be asking yourself is simple. What are you going to do about it?"
Natsu blinked at this. That was not the response the Dragon Slayer was expecting or looking to hear from the old-man, but it was enough to make him stop and think for a moment.
What am I going to do about it?
Somehow that question struck deep in his mind and he couldn't help but curse at himself as he realized just how stupid he was for letting his frustration get the best of him. But honestly, who could blame him? A lot of life-changing stuff has been happening to him lately that he could barely keep himself together anymore.
However, what Yamamoto said was enough to make Natsu realize that he shouldn't let any of that stuff prevent him from moving forward. He only wished that he could have seen it sooner. And now that he did, he had to ask himself again.
What am I going to do about it?
Relaxing his body, Natsu turned his head back to the Head-Captain with new found determination. Fire was burning brightly in his eyes and Yamamoto did not failed to see it.
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"The same thing I told to myself long ago." Spoke Natsu. His voice was firm, showing that his words still carried the same conviction that he always had. "I will defeat Acnologia, no matter what."
The young wizard was definitely something else. There was no doubt in his mature mind that the boy may one day become a very powerful Shinigami and a huge asset for the Soul Society.
The Head-Captain nodded in approval, satisfied by the boy's answer. "Good. Now that we are done discussing this, I believe it is time to address your future as a Shinigami of the Gotei."
Seireitei. Barracks of Squad 1. Main Hallway…
It wasn't until a few hours later that Natsu finally left the office in a much lighter mood. Having finished discussing some very important stuff with the Captain-Commander, the Dragon Slayer began to make his way back to the barracks of Squad 4.
Yamamoto was very specific when instructing him to take a few more days of rest to let his injuries heal. Unfortunately, that meant that he won't be seeing much action for at least the next couple of days.
The shock of his encounter with Acnologia has lessened quite a bit thanks to his talk with the old-man. He was feeling much more relaxed now. Still, he knew that now that he wont be able to continue his training due to his wounds, soon enough he will have to dealt with the boredom of doing absolutely nothing.
Life sure can be cruel sometimes.
"Yo, dragon boy." It was none other than Yoruichi who spoke as she came through the other side of the hallway. And as always, she had a snickering smile adorning her face. "Glad to see you are doing better."
"Yoruichi." Mumbled Natsu, clearly not expecting to see the female Shinigami anywhere this soon. "Hey, uh... not that it bothers me or anything, but what are you doing here?"
The Captain grinned, amused by his apparent cluelessness. "Well, as soon as I heard that a boy with pink hair was causing trouble around the Seireitei, I figure that it had to be you, so I decided to come and see how you were doing."
Natsu chuckled awkwardly, not sure how to respond to her blunt statement.
"I guess that describes me quite well, doesn't it?" The Dragon Slayer laughed. However, his expression then changed into one of realization. "Oh, now that I think about it, I heard that I almost got turned into Hollow-meal if it wasn't for you, so thanks for saving me back there."
"You don't have to thank me anything. It was my responsibility to watch over you, so I should be the one apologizing for my carelessness." Her eyes drifted slightly to where his left arm used to be and her smile dropped for a moment. "Especially for what it ended up costing you."
Natsu was sincerely taken back by her words. He honestly did not blame her for anything that happened. More than anything, he wanted to tell her that it was he alone who was at fault for his own failure at stopping Acnologia. But unfortunately, someone else beat him to the punch.
"You don't have to apologize for anything, Yoruichi-sama!" Someone said from behind the Captain. "I was the one in charge of the team, so I should be the one getting punished!"
It was then that Natsu realized that Soi Fon was also there. She has stayed completely silent the whole time that he didn't even realized she was there.
Yoruichi blinked at first before she adopted a teasing look on her eyes. Her sudden mischievous smile made the assassin's frown disappear almost instantly, sending a shiver down her spine. She knew full well what her Captain intended to do and she didn't like it one a bit.
"Oh, don't worry Soi Fon. I'm sure Natsu here doesn't blame you for anything of what happened." She reassured the younger girl, resting an arm around her neck before looking at the pinkette in question. "Isn't that right, dragon boy?"
"I honestly don't think any of you did anything wrong." The pink-haired Shinigami admitted with a shrug. "So yeah, pretty much."
Hearing this, the Head of the Shihōin clan grinned at the young assassin. "Did you hear that Soi Fon? I told you not to worry."
"I wasn't worried!" She tried to deny it with a flustered look present on her face. It was almost enough to satisfy Yoruichi. Unfortunately, almost was far from enough.
"Come on Soi Fon, you can't lie to me." Yoruichi spoke with a tender tone while showing her a teasing smile. "I know you were concerned about whether he was going to wake up or not."
"T-That isn't true…" Soi Fon hesitated to speak. Her voice came out as a whisper that showed a small degree of embarrassment. The Captain couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't sweat it, Soi Fon. I'm only teasing you." Yoruichi reassured the younger girl, but her words did next to none to make her feel any better. She then placed a friendly hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Anyway, I also came to see the Head-Captain to discuss the final details regarding our last mission, so I'll talk to you later."
Natsu nodded in understanding, "Sure. I'll see you around then." Without anything else to say, Yoruichi was soon out of sight, leaving Natsu and Soi Fon all by themselves. What followed next was an awkward moment of silence where neither of them spoke to the other.
The Dragon Slayer found the situation quite odd. He was expecting the younger assassin to leave as soon as Yoruichi left, so he found it a bit confusing that it was not the case. Unknown to him however, his analytical stare was enough to make Soi Fon lower her gaze while shifting her weight from one leg to the other in an uncomfortable manner.
Judging by the troubled look on her eyes, it was obvious that there was something she wanted to say, but for whatever reason, she was hesitating to do so. "Listen I…I wanted to talk to you about something."
"With me?" Natsu raised an eyebrow, to which she nodded before sighing in resignation.
"Yes, I…I don't normally say this, especially to someone like you."
"Someone like me?" The pinkette questioned with a small hint of annoyance in his voice. "What's that suppose to mean?"
"But Yoruichi-sama insisted that I should say it, so…" There was a small pause as she allowed herself to breath. Swallowing her pride was quite painful. "I wanted to…to thank you for saving my life back there."
She gave the Dragon Slayer a short bow, coloring her cheeks with a deep healthy red. One couldn't tell if it was from either anger or embarrassment, but it was probably a bit of both. Natsu however was unsure as to how to respond at first, but he quickly dismissed that thought and grinned widely.
"No need to thank me." He responded cheerfully, much to Soi Fon's surprise. "I mean, what kind of person would I be if I just allowed a friend to get hurt without doing anything about it?"
The black-haired girl couldn't help but blink at this. "A…friend?"
"Of course! We are friends, aren't we?" He asked with a hint of hopefulness. "I mean sure, you are kind of mean and serious pretty much all the time, but I don't see why we can't just leave all that stuff behind and start again. How about it?"
He offered his hand to the still dumbfounded assassin and smiled as he waited for her response. It didn't take a genius to know that Soi Fon didn't like him one a bit. Natsu realized that since the first time they met and he had no clue as to why that was, but he had every intention of fixing that.
"A-As if I would ever desire to associate myself with the likes of you!" Declared Soi Fon with a harsh tone, slapping his hand away with a scold. "The only reason I'm even talking to you is because Yoruichi-sama asked me to, nothing more! So don't get any funny ideas, you hear me?" She told him before stomping away, leaving a very confused Dragon Slayer all by himself.
"That went well, if I dare to say so myself." Natsu's ears perked at the sudden intrusion of another voice. Turning his head slightly to the side, he was greeted by the sight of a man. A Lieutenant nonetheless, if the badge on the sleeve of his uniform was anything to go by. "Glad to see you again, Dragneel-san. I've heard quite a lot of things about you."
Natsu looked at the unknown man for a moment before his eyes slowly widened in recognition. It was the same guy with the glasses he encountered after his confrontation with Shinji. "You…" He mumbled in surprise.
"Oh, my apologies, I forgot to introduce myself the last time we met, didn't I?" The man gave him a kind smile, feeling ashamed by his own carelessness. "My name is Sōsuke Aizen, I'm the Lieutenant of Squad 5."
A slight frown formed on the Dragon Slayer's gaze. "Yeah, I remember you alright. You are the one who brought me here, didn't you?"
"I can't say that I didn't. I had my orders after all." The man known as Aizen admitted while rubbing the back of his head as a response to his accusation. "But I must say, for someone so young, you are remarkably strong. I honestly never thought I would see the day someone would defeat Captain Hirako. I was actually thankful that you pass out due to all the exhaustion. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I could have done if I was forced to fight you."
"If you say so." Replied Natsu as he pondered for a moment, still not sure as to how to feel about the man. I pass out? Just like that? His memory was still kind of fuzzy, as there was still a lot of missing information. He could barely remember anything that happened after the fight was over.
Seeing that the pinkette was hardly in mood for conversation, the Lieutenant gave him a respectful bow.
"Oh, how inconsiderate of me, I shouldn't be bothering you. Especially now that you are still recovering." Said Aizen, reorganizing some of the papers he was holding before offering the Dragon Slayer a friendly smile. "I look forward to meeting you again, Dragneel-san. And if you are interested, perhaps you can tell me a little more about your last mission some other time."
A stray ray of daylight reflected on his glasses, hiding a much more sinister meaning behind his apparent kind and harmless words.
CHAPTER END
Well, I guess this is it for now. I know that not a lot of things happened in this chapter, but this is mostly a moment of recovery for Natsu. There will be a couple more chapters like this before we go back to Acnologia.
Regarding Soi Fon, I want to state before anybody call me out that this IS a much younger Soi Fon. Compared to the time when she becomes a Captain, right now she still has yet to develop more of her cold personality up to the point where she dismissed almost any sort of help, even if its meant to save her life. So yes, I believe that as long as Yoruichi is there to influence her, it is between her character to thank someone, regardless of who it is.
I hope this chapter also explained more of Natsu's current inner conflict and how I intent of making him overcome it. Now that he knows that Acnologia is there looking for him, he will push himself much harder to reach greater levels of power. With that said, just a few more chapters before we get into a time-skip.
Soul of Fire, while it will certainly follow the same events of Bleach, will have some mayor differences created by the arrival of both Natsu and Acnologia. Some very surprising stuff coming will be coming soon.
Please let me know what you think. Either constructive criticism and suggestion are more than welcome, so please share your opinion! With that said, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all a wonderful day.