Chapter 14: The Calm.

Siegrain left the council meeting, bored out of his mind as was the norm. These council meetings were not terribly interesting, talking about matters that mattered was rare it was mostly about funding, about requests, about research projects, about the cost of the maintain the Rune Knights, and other such tedious topics.

And its tedium was not assisted by the tedious nature of the rest of the council. The stern grumpy old bastards, and bitches so as not to forget the women on the council, had no sense of fun or excitement, preferring instead dull and boring normality, which wasn't entertaining at all.

He scratched the back of his head distractedly as an attendant, one of the frog-men, approached from behind.

"Councillor?!"

"Hmm?" he turned, his eyebrow raised in a look of calm surprise, as if he hadn't known the amphibian was there, which he had "What is it?" he asked, guessing the answer in his head.

"The…" the attendant was out of breath, had it run here immediately upon hearing the news Siegrain wondered, it probably had he then assumed. It paused, hesitating before speaking and when it did so it looked away and spoke in nervous and scared tones "The Torched Heaven Archive… it… it's been destroyed sir."

"Ah" Siegrain, rubbed at his chin thoughtfully, thinking about a very important matter, whether to have tea or coffee that is "Unfortunate" he commented calmly "Was Salamander dealt with?" he already knew the answer.

"No sir."

"I see. Well" he smiled, as if a project he set up and suggested hadn't just failed in a blistering storm of hellfire, at least he guessed that was how it had failed, most things involving Salamander tended to end up that way "that didn't work very well now did it?" he chuckled at the attendants confused expression, but didn't bother clearing up said confusion "I'll have to think my ideas through more carefully. Toodle-oo" if the rest of the council made a fuss he'd just remind them that they wanted Torched Heaven, and Salamander more specifically, dealt with and that he was the only one to offer up a potential solution while they just sat there twiddling their thumbs.

Ultear appeared at his side as he left the frog-man behind, startling even Siegrain though he refused to let it show, she did have a nasty habit of doing that. He set her a charming smile, the same sort that got him listed as one of the 'Mage You Want to Have as Your Boyfriend'. That had made him chuckle when he first heard about it 'If only they knew… haha, they'd shit themselves.'

She returned the smile with her own sultry smirk "It seems your plan 'failed'" she dragged out the word, making sure her sarcasm was heard loud and clear.

"Yes it did 'fail', didn't it? Terrible" he shook his head mournfully, not really but that was the look he was going for "Absolutely terrible, terri-terri-terrible" he sent her another smile as she giggled "But still, maybe we shouldn't discuss it here?" this was the most secure building in Fiore after all, talking about nefarious schemes in the middle of it was just asking for trouble, what with all the surveillance, recording lacrima and frog-men around every corner, it was unlikely any conversation had here would go unrecorded or unheard by unwanted ears.

Then again, the two of them had managed to become councillors, so why sweat the small stuff?

Because it could completely ruin everything, that's why, so many evil plans where ruined because people didn't sweat the small stuff, because the small stuff was overlooked, which was easy enough to do, and Siegrain didn't plan on being stopped because of the small stuff, hence why he suggested they talk about it somewhere where they couldn't be overheard.

And it seemed Ultear agreed as she didn't speak again on the matter.

"It is rather annoying though" he mused.

"What is?"

"Having to ingratiate myself to such people in order to get my plans through" that statement was innocent enough, he could be talking about buttering up the council members in order to get what he wanted passed through, when in fact he was talking about the evil dark guild Torched Heaven and his ingratiating himself to them by, in one fell swoop, destroying all evidence the council had on them "But then again, annoyingness is the spice of life."

That made Ultear laugh "Whereas boredom is the vast majority of it" she said, still giggling.

"Indeed" he agreed "But those little bits of sugar and spice make chewing through the tedium well worth it."

"Oh?" she smiled playfully "And what would the 'sugar' of life be to you, Siegrain-sama?"

"Hmm?" he made a show of thinking, rubbing at his chin and furrowing his brow "Well…" he drew it out, making her wait, then finally smiled "Fun, obviously.

Ultear giggled again, her own smile growing wider "Well in that case the contents of your office will rot your teeth."

That in turn made Siegrain's smile widen "Oh. I see…" he didn't, he had an idea, a fairly good idea, but not a clear view. But he wouldn't ask, instead choosing to wait and see. Why spoil the surprise after all? Surprises could be fun and annoying in equal measure, and both of them were preferable to monotony.

As they neared his office Ultear skipped ahead and waited in front of the door, amusement spread clear over her face, and she slowly opened the door for him letting him pass through unhindered.

Siegrain grinned as he surveyed the room "Well now, this is revered company."

A man was sat behind his desk, leaning back on his chair, with their feet kicked up and resting on his desk 'Someone's sitting in my chair' he thought, feigning annoyance to himself. The man had his eyes closed as he leaned back, he would appear to be asleep were it not for his feet wiggling back and forth.

Spiky pink hair and a white scaled scarf told Siegrain everything he needed to know 'It's definitely him' he thought, grin still firmly in place. He wore a dark red hoodie and green cargo trousers and black trainers with red laces, along with prior mentioned scarf, but nothing about him really suggested that he was one of the most dangerous people in the magical underworld at this moment, nothing about him suggested that he really was the acclaimed 'Salamander', besides his general appearance matching up that is.

Aside from the person sat at his desk there was also someone sitting on his desk, just to the left of where Salamander sat was a young man in his early twenties with spiky orange-red hair wearing a fur lined hooded jacket. Another person stood leaning against his desk on the far right, facing the wall but with her head turned to face them, with long pink hair wearing what appeared to be a red schoolgirl outfit, and another man wearing a red suit and a black cape with long red, fading to orange and yellow at the tips, hair stood slightly behind and to the right of Salamander.

Siegrain brought his focus back to the one sat in his chair, whose eyes had opened and focused upon Siegrain. He flashed his white teeth at them all, smiling his most charming smile "My name is Siegrain Fernandes" he offered Salamander a small formal bow "Charmed."

"Names Natsu" Natsu said. Siegrain already knew that of course.

"Alastor" was the next to speak followed by "Spitfire" and shortly after "Ayano" none of them moved very much during their greeting, save their mouths, betraying their tension. The building, the company, or the job itself, something had put them all on edge, and it might've been all three of them. Spitfire tapped the desk between his legs, his eyes never moving from Siegrain and Ultear. Ayano had her arms crossed and she too was utterly focused on the pair. Alastor said nothing and did nothing that would betray his wariness to a casual observer, but he stood a bit straighter than usual, his eyes a bit narrower, his teeth ever so slightly clenched, those were the only signs of his anxiety.

Of course Ayano and Spitfire did know him very well and weren't casual observer and the fact that even Alastor, who the both of them looked up to as a sort of pseudo mentor/super strong guy, was worried did nothing to ease their own unease, in fact it made it a lot, lot worse.

"Nice to see you again, Salamander" Ultear said teasingly, making her way in behind Siegrain and flashing Natsu a smile and a wink. Ayano felt an instant dislike to the purple haired woman. Natsu returned the smile with a feral grin, fully displaying his sharp canines.

"Huh" Siegrain fiddled with the cuffs of his white jacket absentmindedly "I'm so nervous I can't really think of how to start" he wasn't nervous and that was clearly obvious to any onlooker, he was just playing around. This was the most interesting thing to happen all day and the blue haired man wasn't about to end it swiftly by laying it all bear in one go. He'd take his time and enjoy it to the full.

"Well don't be" Natsu told him, bringing his feet down to the floor with a slam and sitting upright in Siegrain's chair "There's no need to be nervous" he smiled friendlily "It's not like we're gonna kill you… No, wait a minute…" he bit his lip "We might kill you so that isn't right… err…" he scratched the back of his head "Anyway there's no point in being nervous, if we kill you then we kill you, if we don't then we don't, nothing you can do about it… is there? Are you particularly strong?"

"He is one of the Ten Wizard Saints" Alastor spoke in a monotone, one hand clasping his katana the other hidden from view by Natsu was slowly clenching and unclenching, not so much a sign of nerves more him preparing his hand muscles to drew and grip his sword "Like Makarov Dreyar."

"Hmm?" Natsu frowned, he knew that name "Makarov?" but where from? Where had he heard it before? It was right on the tip of his tongue "Oh!" he snapped his fingers "You mean the midget grandpa?" he turned to Siegrain without waiting for an answer "You're as strong as that guy? Whoa, that's impressive…" then he turned back to Alastor with a bright grin on his face "Can I fight him?"

"I do not believe Charmain would be too pleased with you if you did" Alastor told him calmly.

Natsu frowned again "Is that a yes or a no? I can't tell."

"I think he means no" Spitfire said, rolling his eyes. Alastor never seemed to say no to Natsu, it was so unfair, he and Ayano were always told 'No we can't go there' 'No we can't fight them' 'No we can't go on the Ferris wheel' 'No we can't threaten to kill the waiter just because he drew a smiley face on the bill, I know you hate smiley faces but we are not supposed to draw attention to ourselves' in that monotone voice that would make you feel silly and childish, far more so than a scolding voice might. But to Natsu he would say 'I would not advise it' or 'That is inadvisable' or similar to the one he just used 'This is not a course of action Charmain would condone' but not 'No'.

"Oh…" Natsu seemed to deflate, a pout on his lips "That's boring. You guys are such a killjoy."

Siegrain watched their interaction with a smile. He was definitely going to enjoy this, and Ultear was probably right that this much 'sugar' would rot his teeth right out, but who could care about dental hygiene when this was so much fun.

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The ring of hammers, the scent of smoke and the soft glow of the embers that heated her skin, the sights sounds smells and feel of a blacksmiths forge was very comforting to Erza Scarlet. The fact that this particular blacksmith happened to be her favourite, high praise given how many she visited and purchased from, only made it all the nicer.

Having just come in from the early morning sun into this dark, smoky room lit only by a fiery glow, it would feel a little oppressive to most, but Erza like that as well, and as her eyes adjusted she located the blacksmith at the forge.

"Hmm?" the blacksmith looked up as she approached and a smile lit up her delicate, and decidedly cute, face "Oh, it's Erza-chan, hi again."

Erza smiled right back "Eliza" she greeted the blacksmith friendlily.

Eliza ran this shop on her own, doing all the forging, buying materials and decorating herself, after her father passed away, an impressive feat as she was only eighteen. She made good money repairing or crafting new tools but her real passion was weaponry and armours. She and Erza got along like a house on fire.

The girl with short brown hair and blue eyes was always happy to see Erza's face as that meant not only a good, and quite expensive, for Erza, order but also some really challenging work. Imbuing magical properties into armour was not as easy as it looked, it looked like some glowing with your eyes closed and it was a lot more difficult than that. It also meant that she could be creative with the design, ploughs and trowels didn't need much in the way of decoration so it was a pleasant change.

As it was this was the second time this week she had seen Erza, the first time…

Eliza set down the piece she had been working on and stripped off her thick leather apron, laying it over the counter "Well it's done" she said, struggling with something wrapped in a swath of rough fabric and lugging over to the currently no in use anvil and setting the object down "But it's gonna be pretty taxing on you, weight and magic wise, so I wouldn't advise using it for extended periods."

"I understand" Erza nodded, she had been expecting that, in fact she had been expecting nothing less, it would have to be in order to suit her needs.

Eliza pulled apart the material revealing hidden away inside it a…

Erza smiled grimly "How ironic" she mumbled touching the design "It's perfect" Erza told Eliza, lifting it. She winced "Heavy…" she struggled for a moment to find her balance "… Good" she nodded, her smile more genuine, and far more satisfied, now "It feels good."

"Well I'm glad about that" Eliza smiled, she had spent days on that, setting aside everything else, ignoring other orders in order to help out her favourite customer, the least she expected was satisfaction.

Erza smiled grimly again 'This will be your downfall Salamander, this will allow me to defeat you, I know it. I'm ready for you, Natsu Dragneel.'

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"So that's the gist of it" Siegrain said, casually sipping a cup of tea, and now sat behind his desk while the group from Torched Heaven where scattered about his office in varying position. Salamander was sat on the couch repositioned to face his desk, with a cup of tea so full of sugar it would probably kill most people, Blazing Supremacy was sat next him, her arms neatly folded on her lap, meanwhile Fire Fox Spitfire was leaning against the wall near the door, while the King of the Red Haze was standing behind the couch, both of their gazes were focused on Siegrain.

Ayano's on the other hand was switching regularly between glaring at Ultear, who was leaning against Siegrain's desk, and staring intently and Siegrain himself.

He smiled at all of them "Still following?"

Spitfire was the first to speak "Let me get this straight. You want us to go to a place called the… 'Tower of Heaven', that is in fact an R-system, a spell used to resurrect the dead, and defend it from intruders that are being 'let' into the area in question, if not drawn in."

Siegrain nodded.

"The Tower in question is currently being… err… 'managed', by your evil twin Jellal…" Spitfire paused here "If you're both in on this aren't you both evil?"

"I never said he was the only evil twin" Siegrain said with another smile 'I did strongly imply we were separate people though, partly by calling him my twin brother… so it was very strongly. But… he's my twin, I'm his thought projection, details, what do they matter? Quite a bit actually, it's all in the details.'

Spitfire exhaled softly, this guy was infuriating and kind of amusing at the same time how you could be both Spitfire had no idea and this was after extensive studying of someone with the same ability, i.e. Natsu "Alright. So your evil twin and his… 'minions', will attempt to protect it, though your brothers attempt will involve" he coughed, not to clear his throat but as the start of his mental quotation marks "'a lot of sitting around on his arse'. "

"Yes… he's not much good for anything other than that, unfortunately" Ultear giggled, being the only one to fully understand the joke, or rather the self-deprecation Siegrain was laying upon himself. Obviously, who else could he be self-deprecating?

"Right… so our job will be, once your brothers 'minions' have failed, which you are entirely certain they will" Siegrain nodded, they would "to guard the tower and prevent the 'intruders', which you let in, from ascending to the summit and do our 'damndest best to kill them', insert charming smile here" Siegrain nodded, he had smiled charmingly just there.

Natsu raised his hand.

Spitfire sighed "What is it Natsu?" he asked, fearing the answer would only further cement his belief that Natsu was a right proper idiot beneath that crazy, bipolar, murderous Fire Dragon Slayer.

"What's a summit?" and he was entirely correct "Isn't it some kind of gathering or important people? What does that have to do with a tower?" Natsu tilted his head "Is it some kind of place where important people meet in the tower?"

"Along with a gathering, a summit refers to the highest point, the top level of a tower or the peak of a mountain" Alastor said calmly and with a complete lack of annoyance, while everyone else was staring at Natsu like he was stupid "I presume you know that meaning of summit, a gathering of some kind, because you've killed a few?"

"Yep, that gathering of fire mages a year back, that summit thing of those dark guilds that we killed, you remember? Oh and that other summit that I can't remember the name of… Mountain Eshnika or something, I had to kill that as well… although kill that was more blowing the top bit off… was that a mountain summit?"

Alastor nodded.

Siegrain blinked, ignoring Ultear who was trying and failing to supress her giggles "You… killed the summit of a mountain?" he let out his own chuckle "Who requested that? And why?"

"How should I know?" Natsu said, pouting "You think I remember these things? I have trouble remembering my own name."

"It's true" Ayano said sighing "He does."

Confusion, surprise and sheer disbelief ruled his features a moment, than Councillor Siegrain laughed "Ahahahaha! Ah, this is hilarious. Ultear was right, you're going to be a riot Salamander!"

Natsu blushed embarrassedly "Hehe, never been called a riot before…" he frowned "Wiped out a few but…" his frown deepened "Hey Alastor, calling me a riot was praise right?"

Alastor stroked his chin with his free hand "I do not think it was meant offensively…" he said, until he noticed Natsu's now confused face "Yes it was praise."

"GOODY! I like being praised, hehe" all of a sudden his bright childish grin, his blushing embarrassedly face, and his rather cutesy look vanished, replaced by a darker and more serious visage "So, you want us to guard some tower from some people and kill them? That all?"

Siegrain smiled at the change "Essentially, yes."

"Really?" he nodded "Nothing else you want to tell us?" both he and Ultear, whom Natsu looked at pointedly, shook their heads this time "Nothing at all?" another shake "… Okay then! Blistering Trio, let's fuck off outta here…" Natsu stood, then paused "Hey Alastor, can I burn down the building on my way out?"

"I would not advise it."

"Oh… pooey…" Natsu blinked "Which reminds me" he made his way over to Ultear, stopping only when he was stood right in front of her.

Ultear stood upright, facing him face to face and smirking "What is it?" she asked in a soft and sensual tone.

Natsu said nothing but moved in close, closing the gap between their bodies and their faces, till their noses brushed one another and her breasts pressed into his chest, he leant past her face, his warm breath tickling her ear. Ultear let him, thinking he had something to say, whisper rather, to her, threatening, amusing, whatever it was she planned on letting him speak.

But Natsu didn't speak.

"ARGH!" she let out a strangled cry of pain before her teeth bit into her lip to silence the noise. She didn't try to strike him though her hand shifted violently to do just that. She caught it before it could carry out the act. She gave him half a glare as he moved back, her hand clutching at her neck, red blood seeping through her clenched fingers. She recognised the 'farewell kiss' he had given her as retribution for the one she gave him, didn't mean she was any happier about it.

Natsu grinned, his lips reddened by her blood, a drop of it slivering down his chin "Vengeance is sweet" he told her, licking the red from his lips "And so are you" he gave her another grin, flashing bloodied canines this time, and turned to leave.

"One moment" Ultear called, halting them. Natsu turned to look at her from the corner of his eyes, a hint of playfulness in them. Ultear smiled, he wouldn't be so playful soon enough "Stick around town tonight, tomorrow transport will be prepared to take you to the tower" and like clockwork Natsu's expression changed from dark amusement to one of sheer terror.

"T-trans-s-sp-p-p-port?" Natsu looked from Ultear to Siegrain, pleading internally to have misheard.

"Yes, transport" Siegrain responded, smiling calmly "The tower is located in the middle of the sea, so you'll need to take a boat to reach it, a boat we will have prepared by tomorrow. Still Era is not without its pleasures. Go out, have a drink, do… whatever it is people do when they have free time. I don't really know, I don't get out much."

Natsu had ignored everything after 'Yes', and 'Boat', and tears had formed in his eyes "NOOOO!" he screamed "I don't wanna go in a boat! Don't make me go in a boat!" he glared at Ultear "Why do your jobs always gotta involve boats, I HATE BOATS!" Ultear just smiled calmly. Natsu sniffed and glared childishly at her, sniffing and forcing back his tears "This isn't fair" he moaned turning and leaving, looking far more dejected than he had done but a few moments ago.

After a moment two thirds of the Blistering Trio followed, Spitfire chuckling as he thought 'Natsu and transport a match made in heaven, unfortunately Natsu came straight from the depths hell' and Ayano sighing.

Alastor paused at the door, he didn't look back "Ultear Milkovich… is it not?" he did now, his black eyes narrow.

"It is" Ultear told him, forcing a smile through her pained expression.

"Then I believe this is yours" he tossed her the master key the frog-man had possessed

"I am here on the orders of Councillor Ultear… She gave me a key… it's the Master Key, councillor Ultear said that she couldn't be bothered finding the specific one. It opens all the boxes, and the front door as well."

For a moment Alastor and Ultear's eyes met, then Alastor turned his head forwards and left, following after his companions. He caught up to them quickly and fell in step at the back just as Spitfire grinned.

"You know Natsu" he said, making sure every syllable stank of raw and undiluted teasing "you really shouldn't flirt with your clients, I mean it goes against all codes of practise, and is ill advised even for dark mages."

Natsu barely realised he was being teased, in fact he didn't, and didn't notice that Spitfire's grin was a round of teasing in and of itself "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You and that Ultear girl" Spitfire said, grin growing brighter. There was no way Natsu could misinterpret him now.

"Me and Ultear…" Natsu frowned "What about us?"

"You" he pointed at Natsu "flirting with her" he pointed back at the office where Ultear probably still was, she certainly hadn't left by the door which was the most common way of exiting a room.

Natsu just blinked in confusion "Flirting with her? When did I flirt with her?"

Spitfire held back his annoyance, it would fade as he got to teasing the pinkette "Just before."

Natsu was still confused "Just before? You mean…" Spitfire nodded with a grin, finally he had figured it out "That's wasn't flirting, that was biting" Natsu raised an eyebrow "Seriously Spitfire, how could you not realise that? Are you an idiot or something?"

Spitfire's eyebrow twitched 'THAT'S THE LAST THING I WANNA HEAR FROM YOU?!' he shouted in his head, but the sighed "Fair enough, so is there a reason you bit her?"

"She bit me. Vengeance" he explained simply.

"Ah, I see" he nodded, sharing Natsu's pain "It is terrible when a girl bites isn't it? I still hesitate before oral sex just because of that."

Spitfire got a boot in the head, courtesy of a heavily blushing Ayano, a sigh from the usually emotionless Alastor, and Natsu just blinked at him, once again confused "What's oral mean?"

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"So tell me…" Ultear's soft and seductive voice pulled Natsu from his dreams and made him sit up in the bed he had been sleeping in "…how much do you actually know?" she was straddling a chair placed besides his bed, the spine pressed against her chest, her chin leaning on the edge. A smile was set upon her red lips, and her hands trailed circles onto the back of the chair, in full view of Natsu as the back was currently the front.

Natsu yawned "Pretty much everything" he told her "I know that the Tower of Heaven is going to be used to revive Zeref, the same guy who made that plonker I met on Loony Island. I know Erza is going to be used as the sacrifice. I know Jelly and Siegy are one person. I know Erza was once a slave at that tower" he sat on the edge of the bed, bringing his face inches from Ultear's "And I know Zeref can't be revived... because you can't revive someone who isn't dead."

Ultear's lips twitched "Impressive" she complimented "Arachne I presume, that woman certainly is formidable, even Hades is afraid of her, the information she has at least, and she always did seem to favour your guild, at least she has done since you joined" she smiled suggestively at him "Something going on there?" Natsu raised an eyebrow "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I admit being in a… 'relationship' with a woman that much older than you, a century or so if I'm not mistaken, is frowned upon by most people, but you can rest assured that I won't judge. Besides… some girls like it rough."

Natsu smiled darkly "Are you one of them?"

"I might be" Ultear smiled, her tongue slipping out to wet her red lips "Fancy finding out?"

He chuckled and leaned back, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling "Is there a reason you're here Ultear?"

"There are quite a few in fact."

"Oh? Then why don't you start from the top and work your way down?"

Ultear giggled, but a moment passed and she didn't speak, and Natsu didn't seem too eager to break the silence and ask. She spent a moment examining the room, plain, a bit boring, but clean which was nice. She spent another examining Natsu, the muscles in his arms, legs and chest left bare in the boxers that were all he wore, the scar on his neck, the steady rise and fall of his chest. She spent another looking out of the window, the stars were bright tonight, but there was no moon.

Finally she stood, but didn't leave or speak, instead she sat on the bed next to him and lay down, making sure their arms were touching "Master Hades wishes to make you an offer" she told him simply.

"Oh?"

"He wants you to join Grimoire Heart and will offer whatever you desire to get you to accept. So if you want money, wealth, power…" she turned her head to look at the profile of his face "…me… you can have it."

"What if I don't want any of them?"

"That hurts! Its stabs me right in my poor heart to hear such things" she pouted cutely, but when he turned his head to look at her there was no playfulness, he wasn't angry just not in the mood for games "Then what do you want? Erza Scarlet? He'll give you that, fight or fuck her, we don't care. Do you want Torched Heaven? He'll give you that an all, Charmain should be easy to dispose of and no one would oppose you taking char..." her words stopped as a hand wrapped around her throat and a body lay poised over hers.

"EVER THREATEN CHARMIAN, AND I WILL KILL NOT ONLY YOU, BUT EVERYONE SINGLE ONE OF YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE GUILD…" Natsu let out a shaky breath, his eyes burning furiously, the heat he radiated searing Ultear where they touched, about her breasts, on her legs, and around her neck, and making her skin tingle where they didn't. His other hand, which had been holding him up over her, came down to stroke her cheek ever so gently, as if she was something immensely precious, brushing away few stray stands of hair as well "Do you understand me, Ultear?"

Unable to speak for lack of air she nodded, which was tricky enough with his hand around her throat, but he immediately let go, getting off from on top of her and walking away to stand by the window with a word.

"Why?" she asked as she got her breath back. Natsu didn't turn to face her, but did glance back with a raised eyebrow "Why work for him?"

"I have my reasons" was all the answer he gave.

"You fight with him every other day?!" she exclaimed, slapping the bed partially to emphasise her point, partially out of frustration. He was too complex, his reactions too unpredictable, it was exciting and infuriating. She almost laughed 'Sugar and spice…' she mused, thinking of her earlier conversation with Siegrain '…and all things not very nice.'

"Those aren't fights" he told her calmly, his eyes watching the stars "Those are… arguments… Our arguments just happen to get a little more physical, or magical rather, than most peoples do."

"If you joined Grimoire Heart there would be no need for any arguments" she urged.

Natsu laughed, he laughed and laughed and laughed "Does your guild master expect me to obey? Or does he plan on giving up control to me? Because those are the only ways we wouldn't argue, and I'm not noted for obedience. I do what I want when I want, Charmain is the only person I listen to and even then I don't always" he smiled at her "It just wouldn't work out between us."

She felt like laughing at his joke, he sounded like he was breaking up with her, and felt like slamming her head repeatedly into a wall as well. What was it? What was it that she didn't know? What kind of leverage did Charmain have over him and why was he fine with Charmain having that? "Why do you listen to him, Natsu? Salamander? Why do you obey him but won't obey anyone else?"

"I like to think of this little guild as a family" Charmain had told him as they entered a wooden shack, it was small but warm, lit by a golden fire burning in the hearth. A few people sat around and looked up as they entered "We help each other out and look out for each other, that's what makes us different from the other Dark Guilds. We aren't good people, we don't do good deeds, we look out for ourselves and only for ourselves. We are Heaven Defiled."

"Hehe" a brown haired teen patted Natsu's head and grinned down at him "It's a stupid name, right?"

Natsu blinked, shoving away memories he didn't want to relive "I have my reasons" he repeated.

Ultear huffed and lay back on the bed, savouring the warmth of where he had been laying. Natsu remained at the window staring out into the night. And for a while they stayed like that, thoughts whirling in both their heads but neither willing to speak them. There was a light snore behind him and Natsu turned to find Ultear fast asleep on his bed.

He chuckled.

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"Ah Erza you're back!"

Erza looked up as Lucy rushed over to the just now returning redhead, waving some pieces of paper or card in her hand and smiling brightly "Lucy, what's up?" she asked, giving the blonde a kind smile.

"Since he can't use them anymore, what with being my stellar spirit and all, Loke given me these tickets, they're to a famous resort and there's enough for all of us" Lucy smiled brilliantly "We're going to the beach!"

Hey, sorry for this being so very late, I've had a bit of an off period... to be honest I'm not sure I've come off it yet. Anyway the real problem is that I started reading One Piece (which I haven't seen before aside from like the first episode), that combined with AC4 means I have nothing but pirates wandering about my head and more than a few One Piece fic ideas as well.

Anyway consider this an early Christmas pressie for you all. By the way celebrations are in order this fic has, recently, got over 400 reviews, and with this chapter will have over 100,000 words, and I consider those both things to celebrate.

Toodles.