Chapter 26
Ensnared
"FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!" Natsu bellowed.
"PITCH BLACK HAMMER!" Neo Leo yelled.
Natsu and Neo Leo's attacks collided together in an explosion of red and black fire. The impact it gave off forced both the Dragon Slayer and Dark Zodiac Spirit to leap backwards and away from its explosion. Natsu immediately lit fire around his feet and darted towards Neo Leo again. The Dark Lion Spirit mimicked Natsu and lit his Dark Regulus around his own feet. The two both jumped and attempted to kick the other in the face. This only lead to their attacks colliding again. Once again, the impact sent them backwards as it exploded.
Needing to come up with a plan, Natsu landed on his feet and began to run around the interior of the cave, his eyes solely focused on Neo Leo as the Dark Spirit attempted to attack him. Natsu knew from past experience that it was dangerous to stand still in the middle of a fight, especially if he wasn't fighting his opponent. He had to keep moving and come up with a plan to stop this guy.
As he thought of this, Natsu felt his stomach growls and clench. This was a reminder that he had been on his feet almost all day and hadn't eaten anything. He had to get some food or fire in him soon. Fortunately, there were torches of fire all around the room. As he ran past one, he jumped up and snatched it off its stand in the wall. He then shoved the thing into his mouth and swallowed the flame. It might not have been much, but Natsu could feel his power coming back as the fire slithered down his throat and into his stomach.
"Oh yeah," he said as he tossed the stick aside, "now I've got a fire in my belly. Time to get back in the fray."
Natsu slid to a stop before darting towards Neo Leo again. He jumped up and made it look like he was going to hit Neo Leo again. Neo Leo jumped up and prepared himself to meet Natsu's attack. However, at the last minute, Natsu grabbed hold of Neo Leo's arm as the Dark Spirit attempted to punch him. The Dragon Slayer then hoisted himself up above Neo Leo and kicked the Dark Spirit down to the ground, where he crashed with a loud "BOOM".
Seeing his chance, Natsu turned his attention to Ivan. Lighting up fire around his fist, he shot straight downwards toward the wicked man.
"WHERE'S ALU, IVAN?!" Natsu shouted. "TELL ME!"
Ivan just grinned maliciously. Instead, he responded by sending out a black tentacle straight towards Natsu.
Natsu saw the attack coming and managed to twist his body so that it narrowly missed his chest. He then tumbled through the air and landed on his feet, just a few yards away from Ivan.
"You still worried about that little half-wizard?" Ivan taunted. "You should be more concerned about yourself. Especially since you're about to be outnumbered."
Ivan pulled another red key off of his key chain.
"Open, Gate of the Dark Bull!" he commanded. "Taurus!"
Natsu gasped when a Neo version of Taurus appeared before his eyes.
"Taurus, take down this Dragon Slayer." Ivan commanded. "But keep him alive."
"As you wish, Master." Neo Taurus replied obediently.
As Neo Taurus charged at Natsu, the Dragon Slayer leapt out of the way, flipping over onto his hands. He then hand-sprung himself up into the air and took in a deep breath.
"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Natsu shouted.
A stream of intense flames shot from Natsu's mouth and hit Neo Taurus. For a moment, Natsu grinned when he saw his flames wrap around the Dark Spirit. However, his face soon changed to concern when his flames suddenly burst apart and faded. Neo Taurus had somehow summoned a small version of the real Taurus's axe and had cut through Natsu's fire like it was nothing more than butter.
"Pretty impressive, Dragon Slayer." Neo Taurus said condescendingly. "But I'm afraid it'll take more than that to incinerate me."
Neo Taurus rushed at Natsu again. Natsu bent over backwards as that axe swung directly over his face, just barely missing his nose. He then tumbled to the left jumped back up onto his feet.
By this time, Neo Leo had recovered from his face-plant to the ground and was up again. Enraged with being injured in battle, he summoned Dark Regulus to both of his fists and charged towards Natsu.
"You're mine, Dragneel!"
Natsu glanced over to his right and saw Neo Leo approaching him. He then glanced to his left and saw Neo Taurus charging at him, too. Thinking quickly, he waited for just the right moment, when both Dark Spirits were about to strike him. At the very last second, Natsu jumped up and out of the way. Neo Leo and Neo Taurus couldn't stop themselves in time. They collided head on with a loud "BANG" and fell to the ground. Neo Leo moaned and cursed as he rubbed the aching bruise on his head. Neo Taurus just laid down on the ground, dazed and dizzy from the impact.
"Too easy." Natsu snarled.
Ivan gritted his teeth as he watched all of this. By now he could see that he wasn't going to capture his prey with brute force. It was a form of combat that the Dragon Slayer was accustomed to. He would have to use trickery.
And for Ivan, trickery was something he was an expert at.
Ivan grabbed four keys off of his belt. Natsu turned back to face him, and was shocked to find three more Neo Zodiac Spirits appear out of their own gates. The Spirits were of Virgo, Libra, Aries, and Ophiuchus. And just like with the other Neo Spirits, they looked drastically different from the real Zodiac Spirits.
Neo Aries's skin was tan, her hair was straight and longer, and she wore a tattered wool dress with a large chain around her neck. Neo Libra's hair was green and puffed up like cotton candy. She was dressed in a black, skin tight suit with a matching blind fold, and she had on pointed gold boots.
"Ivan can pull off six gates at once?!" Natsu thought to himself with alarm. "Not even Lucy can do that! Where's he getting all this power?!"
"My faithful servants," Ivan said to his Spirits, "Subdue the Dragon Slayer at once."
"Sure thing, Master." Neo Aries sneered. "This'll be fun."
"I've been waiting to dish out some punishment." Neo Virgo said, licking her lips.
All at once, the four newly summoned Spirits charged at Natsu.
"Holy crap!" was all Natsu could say before they attacked.
Natsu only barely managed to avoid being kicked in the chest by Neo Libra, but he almost fell into Neo Virgo's trap because of that dodge. Neo Virgo summoned her whip and attempted to capture him in it's grip. Luckily, Natsu was able to dodge it in midair by bending his body back. However, the moment he landed back on the ground with his hands and sprung himself back onto his feet, Neo Ophiuchus sent out a plethora of stethoscopes and tried to entangle him in them. Natsu, seeing that he couldn't dodge them all in time, lit his whole body up in a blaze of Dragon fire to create a shield around himself.
However, Neo Aries ran around behind Natsu while his attention was focused on Neo Ophiuchus. She took the chain off her neck and threw like a lasso at Natsu.
The next thing Natsu knew, a metal clasp snapped around his neck and yank him back, causing him to choke. With his concentration disrupted, his fiery aura disappeared. He grunted in pain as his body made contact with the rock ground. He quickly reached up and attempted to melt the chain off with his magic when a set of cuffs and chains suddenly appeared around his wrists and ankles, forcing him to spread out flat on his back in an X-shaped position. Natsu looked over and scowled when he saw that Neo Virgo had a set of glowing cuffs in her hands. They matched the ones that had him chained up.
"These chains can't hold me!" Natsu shouted defiantly.
Natsu growled and summoned forth his Dragon Slayer Magic to melt the chains…
…and then all the strength went out of him in an instant.
He went limp with shock, pain, and fear.
Neo Ophiuchus had summoned her syringe as Neo Aries and Neo Virgo chained the Dragon Slayer up. It was filled with some kind of dark purple liquid. The moment Natsu was flat on his back, and just as he was about to set himself on fire again, Neo Ophiuchus stabbed the needle of the syringe into Natsu's belly. It pierced through his jacket and straight into his navel.
Natsu couldn't move. He could hardly breathe. This had caught him by surprise so bad that his mind shut off for a moment.
"Sorry, about this," Neo Ophiuchus sneered, "but it's time for you to be put you under for now. This might hurt a little so try to stay conscious."
Neo Ophiuchus then pushed the end of the syringe down. Natsu screamed in agony as the purple liquid was being forcibly injected into his body. It was like a million icy needles were stabbing at him from everywhere inside him. His belly swelled and distended a little for a moment before Neo Ophiuchus pulled the needle out. His stomach returned to normal, but the pain that injection left behind didn't go away.
Natsu coughed and panted for air. His whole body felt heavy like lead, his limbs ached, his heart was thumping erratically fast, and his abdomen felt painfully stretched. His eyes had a glazed look in them, like he was almost dead. He didn't have the strength to summon his Magic. Whatever Neo Ophiuchus had injected into him had completely sapped him of his strength.
"Nicely done, my servants." Ivan said, clapping his hands together. "Now chain him up to that shrine."
Helpless and drained, Natsu was dragged across the ground and up to the alter. As much as he wanted to fight back, he just couldn't. That poison had worked its way into his system. He was paralyzed, weak, and unable to summon his Magic. All he could do was let these Dark Spirits tie him up inside the middle of that rock circle shrine.
In a matter of minutes, Natsu was chained up like the prisoner he was. He just hung with his arms and legs stretch to their limit in the shackles that were bound to the outer ring of the circle.
He was ensnared. Captured.
"Nicely done, everyone." Ivan said to his Spirits. "You're all dismissed now."
With a swipe of five keys, Ivan closed the gates of the Dark Zodiac Spirits. They all disappeared in a glitter of black and purple lights.
Ivan then turned his attention back to Natsu. He walked up to the Dragon Slayer with a wicked grin on his face. Now that his target had been capture and rendered powerless, he decided to take this moment to gloat.
"I finally got my hands on you," he said evilly. "Oh, what's wrong? Ophiuchus's poison getting to you? That must've really hurt. Not only does it numb your strength, but it also paralyzes your Magic. You should feel the way you do."
Natsu didn't respond. His bangs fell over his eyes and hid them with shadows.
"You know," Ivan continued, "I was planning on storming Fairy Tail and taking a Dragon Slayer by force. But it appeared that luck was on my side. Who would've guess that I would run into the daughter of a Dragon Slayer? All I had to do was snag a piece of her clothing and you came running without a moment of hesitation. It's laughable that you were so easily duped."
"Alu." Natsu finally said, his voice rough and weak.
Ivan stopped his gloated and raised and eyebrow.
"Alu." Natsu repeated, trying to raise his voice. "Where's…Alu? Tell me."
"You're still worried about that brat?" Ivan questioned, genuinely confused. "You're about to have your soul stolen and all you can think about is the little half-wizard? I don't understand why you care about that little misfortune anyway. She's hardly worth anything if you ask me."
Natsu gritted his teeth.
A little half-wizard like her didn't deserve to be in Fairy Tail or any other guild." Ivan said. "Wizards are only useful when they have power."
"Is that why you implanted a lacrima inside your own son?" Natsu spat savagely. "Just because Laxus was weak back then, didn't mean he was useless."
"You're one to talk." Ivan replied. "I bet you and that blonde wizard had a Dragon Slayer lacrima implanted in that half-wizard before she was even born."
"Never!" Natsu tensed, using all of his strength just to shout. "I would never do that to Alu! And neither would Lucy! The power Alu has is hers alone! It was in her blood ever since she was born!"
"So, you're perfectly content with having a dead-weight of a daughter?" Ivan sneered.
"Alu's not dead-weight!" Natsu shot back. "She was never dead-weight to me, or Lucy, or anyone else in Fairy Tail!"
"Of course," Ivan grinned mockingly, "because everyone Fairy Tail 'loves' their members no matter how pathetic they are. You know that keeping weak members in strong guild will only put you in peril. Just like now."
"How's that?" Nastus snarled. He was really getting annoyed at this point.
"C'mon," Ivan replied, "it's because of that little half-wizard that you're in this mess. You just couldn't abandon her even if you wanted to. Because Fairy Tail never leaves any of its members behind. And that's what's gotten ensnared in my trap."
There was a short silence.
"You shut your mouth." Natsu glowered. "I came after Alu because it was my choice. And I have no regrets."
Natsu found the strength to lift his head up. He stared Ivan straight in the eye. His face was full of determined sincerity.
"I never once saw Alu as a misfortune," he said. "And I defiantly never saw her as a commodity. She's one of a kind. She works hard. Puts her heart and soul into everything she does. She may not be strong in Magic, but she has the most powerful heart I've ever seen. So what if she has a Magic Deficiency? That makes no difference to me. I'm just happy to have her in my life. I wouldn't even care if she was born without Magic. Nothing could change the fact of how proud I am of her. I'm more than proud to call myself her father."
There was another long silence. Natsu didn't lift the conviction from his face for even a second. Not even the weariness from the poison made him lose that emotion of pride. He meant every word about what he said, and he was sticking to them. Nothing was going to change his mind.
Finally, Ivan gave a sneer.
"Well, aren't you sentimental," he said harshly. "But you're also delusional. And I've grown tired of this idle chat. Say good night, Dragon Slayer."
Natsu braced himself for what was to come as he watched Ivan leapt back and summon a black tentacle. He then released it, and it headed straight for Natsu's heart.
Just a few more seconds, and Natsu would be soulless.
However, before it made contact with Natsu's chest, something suddenly burst through the ceiling and shot straight down. White fire cut the tentacle in half just in the nick of time. The part that was severed away from the main body writhed for a moment like a dying snake before disappearing completely.
Ivan staggered back in surprise before looking back in time to see a pink and green haired girl land gracefully on her feet in front of the Fire Dragon Slayer. Natsu gasped in shock when he saw the person who saved him stand up, wipe away some tears from her face, and place herself protectively between him and Ivan.
"Alu!" Natsu exclaimed.
It was Alu. No doubt about that. But how did she come from?
"So, you're still alive." Ivan glared at the little female wizard. "Guess I shouldn't be too surprised, seeing as how stubborn you are. Though I must say, you're looking kind of different. You certainly didn't have that eye before."
Alu just scowled viciously at Ivan, ignoring his comment. It was clear to see that she was very, very angry.
"If you or your Spirits ever lay a hand on my dad again," she growled fiercely, "I'll kill you!"
"You really think you can take me on, half-wizard?" Ivan scorned. "I can easily destroy you with just a single move."
Alu took a firm fighting stance. She clearly showed she wasn't backing down.
"Hit me with your best shot!" she challenged. "I can take it! I won't let you steal my dad's soul!"
"Then let's see if you can stand up to this!" Ivan shouted.
Ivan took grabbed two keys off his belt and swiped them through the air.
"Open, Gates of the Dark Maiden and and Ram!" he commanded. "Virgo and Aries!"
In an instant, Neo Virgo and Aries appeared. Alu looked shocked for only a second when she saw Neo Virgo again, but she quickly gathered her wits and focused on the battle that was coming.
"Alu, no!" Natsu strained to yell. "Get out of here!"
"No way!" Alu retorted. "I didn't come all this way just to leave you behind! I can take these guys!"
"Heh," Neo Virgo grinned wickedly. "I'd like to see you try. Let's see how long you can hold out before you beg for mercy."
Alu narrowed her eyes.
"Bring it on!" she goaded. "I'm all fired up!"
Alu then leapt into the fight without a second thought.